Charlotte businesses are on edge following the launch of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” a surge of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity that began over the weekend.
The results so far have been immediate: lost revenue, shuttered businesses, and a community gripped by anxiety. Federal officials have offered few details about the operation’s duration or specific geographic targets, leaving immigrant families and local advocates scrambling to understand the scope of the effort.
The economic fallout
Greg Ascuitto, executive director of CharlotteEAST, sees the situation from a bird’s-eye view. His organization oversees roughly 67,000 residents and a commercial corridor including Central Avenue, Plaza, and Eastway Drive—home to 650 storefronts, 400 of which are independently owned.
“Elected officials think of us as the quarterback agency for the geography,” Ascuitto said…