Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina sent a letter to Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demanding answers and details about the work of U.S. Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration an Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents in the state.
The letter, sent Monday, Feb. 2, focuses on operations carried out by those agencies in North Carolina, on the “Charlotte's Web” operation conducted in November, and on operations in Minnesota that have turned violent and tragic.
“Interior enforcement carried out by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must be effective, disciplined and fully compliant with constitutional and statutory limits. While these agencies have historically met that standard, recent operations raise serious questions that require direct oversight,” the senator wrote in the letter.
Tillis said the CBP operation in Charlotte resulted in the arrest of several criminal undocumented immigrants with extensive criminal records “An outcome I applaud,” he said.
According to DHS, during the weeklong Border Patrol operation in North Carolina - from Saturday, Nov. 15 to Friday, Nov. 21 - 425 “criminal undocumented immigrants” were arrested.
However, the senator noted that at the same time, multiple public reports allege that U.S. citizens were detained, subjected to force and suffered personal and property damage.
“I seek to clarification as to whether these reports are merely disingenuous accounts from partisans who do not share our commitment to a secure border, or if they reflect substantiated incidents,” he wrote.
Tillis referred to incidents involving two Latino U.S. citizens whose interactions with CBP in November were filmed and went viral on social media.
One case involves Willy Aceituno, who was detained twice on the same day by agents, who broke the window of his vehicle in a parking lot on South Boulevard during the CBP operation.
He also referred to a case in Cary, where 18-year-old Fernando Vasquez was arrested at his workplace and later left in a wooded area , and his belongings were thrown on the ground.
“If these accounts are inaccurate, North Carolinians would welcome that clarification. If they are accurate, then they represent a breakdown in safeguards that demands corrective action. Either way, the absence of clear, encounter-level data has made objective evaluation difficult and unnecessarily eroded public confidence ,” the senator said.
Related: North Carolina leaders demand reforms and justice after ICE and Border Patrol violence
Transparency and Accountability Gap
Although the letter does not cite the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs Border Protection (CBP) agents in Minneapolis, it does demand a comprehensive production of data on every agency interaction in the field, including with U.S. citizens.
He said reports of inappropiate conduct “point to a broader transparency and accountability gap in DHS interior enforcement operations”.
Tillis, who has decided not to seek re-election and will retire at the end of this term, has been a critic of Secretary Noem and White House advisor Stephen Miller, calling them "sycophants" and "incompetent."
However, he has praised border czar Tim Homan, even stating in the letter that his success at the border has not been reflected in the interior of the United States.
Related: Government considers seven new ICE detention centers, three in North Carolina
Requests answers by March
In the letter, the senator asks Secretary Noem for written answers and the production of detailed information on every arrest and interaction during the operations in North Carolina and Minneapolis by the federal agencies, including: stops, arrests, questioning, searches, releases, use of force, incidents of property damage and interactions with citizens.
He says the responses must arrive before March 2, 2026, the date scheduled for the secretary to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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