When Border Patrol agents carried out large-scale operations in Charlotte in November 2025, the consequences were quickly felt throughout the local economy. Many supermarkets, bakeries, stores and restaurants were forced to close entirely. Business owners reported a sharp decline in customers, workers stopped showing up for their jobs out of fear of being detained, and some businesses experienced significant financial losses.
In the months that followed, many establishments were still struggling to recover. Meanwhile, several community organizations launched campaigns to encourage spending in the affected commercial corridors.
Now, new research from the Brookings Institution concludes that the economic effects seen in Charlotte are not isolated cases. The study found that cities experiencing the largest increases in arrests by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also suffered employment losses that extended far beyond the people who were detained.
Among the metropolitan areas included in the analysis is Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, a region spanning parts of North Carolina and South Carolina and home to one of the largest immigrant communities in the Southeast.
Immigration Raids Hit Employment in North Carolina: Charlotte Was Among the Hardest-Hit Cities
The Brookings study examined 86 metropolitan areas where ICE arrests increased significantly during the first half of 2025. Researchers compared employment trends in those cities with similar urban areas that did not experience comparable increases in immigration enforcement activity.
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia was identified as one of the nation's “surge cities” — places where immigration arrests increased sharply compared with levels recorded in 2024.
According to the researchers, affected cities experienced employment levels that were 0.73% lower than they would have been without the increase in ICE activity.
In the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metropolitan area, researchers estimated a loss of nearly 10,000 jobs.
More Than Half a Million Jobs Lost
Nationwide, the study estimates that increased ICE activity was associated with the loss of approximately 668,000 jobs across the 86 cities analyzed.
One of the study's most notable findings is that the scale of job losses far exceeded the number of people arrested.
According to Brookings, ICE carried out approximately 52,000 additional arrests in the cities studied. However, each additional arrest was associated with the loss of roughly 13 jobs in the local economy.
The authors estimate that between 51,000 and 297,000 of those lost jobs would have been held by US-born workers.
“The increase in immigration enforcement cost 668,000 jobs,” the report concluded.
The Impact Extends Beyond Detained Immigrants
Researchers argue that the economic consequences of immigration raids are not limited to the people who are arrested.
According to the study, the presence of highly visible enforcement operations, workplace arrests and fear within immigrant communities can cause workers to avoid traveling, miss work or temporarily withdraw from certain economic activities.
Fear of possible detention also affects consumer spending. Families reduce visits to restaurants, stores and other businesses, particularly those that depend on local economic activity.
This pattern was reported by business owners in east Charlotte following the Border Patrol operation carried out in 2025. Several owners told Enlace Latino NC that their sales declined significantly because many residents stopped leaving their homes or avoided areas where they believed immigration agents might be present.
Construction and Restaurants Among the Hardest-Hit Sectors
Brookings found that the largest employment losses were concentrated in industries with a high share of immigrant workers.
The sectors most affected were construction and accommodation and food services. Both industries rely heavily on immigrant labor in many cities across the United States.
However, the effects were not limited to those sectors.
The study also found employment declines in industries with relatively low concentrations of immigrant workers, including arts, entertainment and recreation.
According to the authors, this demonstrates that the economic effects of immigration raids spread throughout the local economy by reducing consumer spending, investment and business activity.
A Debate That Goes Beyond Immigration
The study's findings challenge one of the most common arguments used to justify increased immigration enforcement: the idea that the departure of immigrant workers would create more job opportunities for US-born workers.
According to Brookings, the data shows the opposite.
Rather than leading to a replacement of immigrant workers with US-born workers, cities that experienced the largest increases in arrests saw an overall decline in employment.
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After the storm
A year ago, Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina. The Latino community responded with something stronger than the storm: solidarity.
🎧 In this episode, learn how Latino organizations transformed crisis into resilience.
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