North Charleston, South Carolina — Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a two-night operation in Charleston County early this week, predominantly in North Charleston, according to eyewitnesses.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and Highway Patrol (SCHP) helped with the operation. SLED stated that it assisted in an operation on Sunday, Nov. 2 and Monday, Nov. 3, and images and video of the operation on Monday evening show many SCHP vehicles and state troopers.
What happened?
According to the Charleston chapter of the Community Service Organization, an immigrant advocacy group, several persons were held Monday evening along Rivers Avenue and Remount Road. One eyewitness told CSO she saw SLED appear to pull over “exclusively Latino-appearing drivers” before ICE allegedly moved in with unmarked vehicles. SLED declined to comment beyond verifying the dates, location, and their participation in the operation, directing further requests to Homeland Security Investigations and ICE, who have yet to react.
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety stated that SCHP was requested to join in the operation, and two troopers were assigned to perform traffic stops.
According to CSO, ten separate occurrences were documented, and at least one eyewitness stated that a “very distraught” youngster was left behind as people were driven away in vans. It is unclear how many persons were detained in total during the operation, but those arrested were most likely transported to a nearby ICE office or other detention facility for processing.
A North Charleston Police Department officer was seen in the vicinity during the operation, but department spokesperson Harve Jacobs claimed the officer was checking on a state trooper who did not respond to dispatch. The officer departed the area after confirming the trooper’s well-being and realizing he was part of an active ICE operation. Jacobs stated that no NCPD officers were participating in the ICE operations. Similarly, a Charleston County Sheriff’s Office car was seen during one of the events, but it was simply passing through the area and stopped when they noticed other law enforcement, according to a sheriff’s office spokesperson.
Lili Allen said she was heading home from work in North Charleston Monday afternoon when she stopped for gas and noticed a number of marked and unmarked vehicles in the parking lot across the street. She said she went to investigate and started shooting with her phone, discovering two people in handcuffs surrounded by law enforcement. She said that many of the agents had their faces covered and refused to answer her questions about who they were with.
“I looked a little bit more and there was a third person, and they were just standing there,” she told me afterwards. “They had what I assumed to be a loved one who was distraught a few feet away. I went to see how she was doing, and she was visibly unhappy, saying, ‘My friends, they took my friends.'”
Allen stated that she had “know-your-rights” cards written in Spanish in her car and intended to distribute them to those being arrested.
“I wanted them to have the option. And one man was already shackled, so he glanced at me and opened his mouth, allowing me to place the card in his mouth because he couldn’t pick it up with his hands,” she explained. “So, I’d argue that the dehumanizing moment was needless, right? As if they were standing there being cooperative, and this individual needed to open his mouth to acquire this card. It didn’t sit right with me.
Alex Panfilovich, a Belarusian immigrant and dual citizen since 2022, lives and works in the neighborhood and says she sees law enforcement frequently, but when she saw unmarked SUVs with Highway Patrol vehicles, she suspected ICE was there. She stated that she pulled over to record as agents and troopers detained two males outside a laundromat on Rivers Avenue.
“I have never seen or heard of ICE agents being assisted by someone who should be policing traffic, but that happened on Monday night,” Panfilovich told reporters. “It was very scary to watch.”
She also stated that she and another individual filming the incident were requested to stand aside while authorities searched the detainee’s vehicle.
“It’s clear that ICE is ramping up activity in the Lowcountry,” she told reporters. “They’re not trying to hide it anymore.”
Concern with racial profiling.
Since the US Supreme Court’s decision in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem on September 9, activists and concerned citizens have been warning that ICE is racially profiling people for detention. The case contended that Department of Homeland Security agencies in Los Angeles engaged in racial profiling, suspicionless stops, unwarranted raids, and illegal workplace operations. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to overturn a lower court’s ban on these “roving patrol” techniques.
“It’s scary to see people snatched away from the community when they are just going home, living their lives, going to work, going home, taking their kids to school, being unable to go to the DMV or the grocery store when it’s been so easy for me,” Panfilovich went on. “And it’s pretty clear why this is happening.”
“When driving while Brown becomes a basis for detention, our community loses trust in law enforcement,” said Dulce J. López, the ACLU of South Carolina’s Immigrant Rights Advocacy Strategist. López claims that Highway Patrol capturing Latino drivers and handing them over to ICE blurs the line between local and federal law enforcement by utilizing 287(g) agreements.
These agreements between local and state authorities and ICE enable them to locate, hold, and arrest individuals for potential deportation, which is typically the responsibility of the federal agency. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office rejoined the 287(g) program in March, while the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, which includes SCHP, requested participation in August, according to The State newspaper. According to the ACLU, SCDPS works on the “Task Force Level” of the agreement, effectively converting state troopers into ICE agents.
CCSO works under the “Warrant Service Officer” level of 287(g), which permits ICE officers to train and certify deputies to execute civil immigration warrants on behalf of ICE for anyone held at the Charleston County jail, regardless of arresting agency. “It enables our agency to assist in the removal of individuals in custody who have committed serious crimes and are in the U.S. unlawfully,” CCSO said in a statement back in March.
Regardless of 287(g) partnership levels, Lucía Peña, co-founder of CSO, says the impacts of operations like those on Sunday and Monday echo through the immigrant community well after the masked men and unmarked vehicles leave.
“The fear persists,” Peña stated. “Families are afraid to drive to work, take their kids to school, or even get groceries – it’s deeply unsettling.”
