Case Summary
A federal damages claim was submitted under the Federal Tort Claims Act on behalf of Willy Wender Aceituno (also a plaintiff in the class action litigation), a U.S. citizen whose car window was shattered by immigration agents who then handcuffed and detained him despite having already confirmed his citizenship minutes earlier. Filed with the ACLU-NC and Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, PLLC.
Why It’s Important
In November 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would be sending U.S. Border Patrol agents to Charlotte, North Carolina. Just like in Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, federal immigration agents weren’t coming to “keep the peace.” They came to make people afraid, to break up families, and to send a message. Charlotte was the first Southern city targeted in this manner. SCSJ was, and remains, part of an ecosystem populated by directly impacted people, immigration and criminal justice advocates, non-profit organizations, faith communities, and ordinary, everyday citizens who quickly rallied, organized, and responded.
One response to “Operation Charlotte’s Web” has been litigation in federal court, where SCSJ is seeking accountability for immigration agents’ violent, unlawful tactics on behalf of those who were assaulted, detained, and arrested without legal justification.
Federal agents operating without accountability sets a dangerous precedent, one where any community, in any city, can be targeted with unlawful force and no consequence. This case is about more than the individuals who were harmed in Charlotte; it’s about whether immigration enforcement can operate outside the bounds of the Constitution, and whether communities across the South will have any legal recourse when it doesn’t.
