In November 2025, Charlotte experienced the largest immigration arrest operation in its history. During Operation Charlotte’s Web, fear and uncertainty led thousands of immigrants to shelter in place to avoid being detained and separated from their families. That was the case for Yolanda Núñez, a single mother who was seven months pregnant and had three children, who did not leave her home for nearly a month.
“I didn’t even go to the medical appointment I had for my baby girl, and my children didn’t go to school for 15 days. I didn’t go to work because I thought they were still making arrests, and then I had to stop working because I was only a few weeks away from giving birth… The help we received was food from Iglesia Guadalupana, from my children’s school, from the clinic, and the social worker who gave me things for the baby,” she told La Noticia.
During that month, her small business selling Honduran food to construction workers — which generated between $80 and $100 a day — came to a halt. She described having to make difficult decisions, such as rationing food and paying only the rent while utility bills piled up.
When Yolanda learned about the City of Charlotte’s announcement of a $100,000 fund to support families affected by the detentions, she felt it would provide a solution to her situation and give her hope. But that hope was shattered when she discovered that she, like many affected immigrants, did not qualify. Six months later, she is still paying off the debts she accumulated, although she now knows she is only $845 away from paying off the remaining gas bills for heating.
“The City of Charlotte did not provide funds”
During Charlotte’s Web, between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21, more than 1,300 immigrants were detained, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Fear of family separation led immigrants like Yolanda to stop going to work, taking their children to school, and even attending medical appointments or buying food.
In response, local organizations, community leaders, and churches supported thousands of families with food, transportation, and other forms of assistance. Amid the fear and acts of solidarity, the City announced a $100,000 emergency assistance fund to help households affected by the detentions pay rent and utility bills.
The City said the funds would be administered by Crisis Assistance Ministry (CAM) and directed to families identified by four organizations:
- La Coalición Latinoamericana
- Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy
- OurBRIDGE for Kids
- Carolina Migrant Network
Six months later, Crisis Assistance Ministry informed La Noticia that it never received those funds.
“The City of Charlotte did not provide emergency assistance funds to Crisis Assistance Ministry to support families affected by the recent economic instability related to immigration enforcement operations. Our data collection policy did not align with the City’s requirements for individuals to receive funding. However, Crisis Assistance Ministry did provide support to affected families during this period of economic crisis in Charlotte, as intended.”
Only three families received help — but not from the City
La Noticia asked the City about this, and Jack VanderToll, the City’s media relations manager, responded:
"Crisis Assistance Ministry did not receive funds because there were very few households (three, to be specific) that applied for and were eligible to receive the city’s emergency funding during the 12-week period the funding program was open"
Those three families received financial assistance, but from Crisis Assistance Ministry funds, not from the City. According to sources close to the matter, each family received between $800 and $900, for a total of less than $3,000.
With the $100,000 announced by the City, approximately 111 to 125 families could have been assisted if a similar amount of $800 to $900 had been allocated per family.
Requirements and difficulties accessing the fund
After the announcement of the funds intended to help immigrant families, it was clarified that, to receive assistance, individuals had to meet the following requirements:
- Provide proof of household income.
- Present a Social Security number.
- Show a photo ID.
Interested families had to contact the community organizations directly, and the program began on Nov. 24. In just two days, La Coalición Latinoamericana received 1,700 calls from families facing financial hardship, many of them directly affected by the detention of relatives.
José Hernández París, executive director of La Coalición Latinoamericana, explained that the organization decided to focus on the families most severely affected — specifically those whose direct family member had been detained and who had been the household’s primary breadwinner.
“We appreciate the initiative to try to help these families, but in their eagerness to show that the City cares about the community, they issued a premature press release, and the requirements they established were strict, because I think they were politically afraid of being penalized at the federal level for offering funds to communities that might be undocumented,” Hernández París told La Noticia.
He added: “To qualify, there were fairly strict requirements. For example, someone in the family had to be at least 18 years old and have a Social Security number. So, many (undocumented) families did not qualify.”
He also explained that managing the funds became more complicated because, in order to receive assistance, families were required not to be behind on rent payments — a condition many could not meet after losing jobs or work hours during the immigration operation. This further limited access to the City’s resources.
“Many of the families who called or who had a detained relative had already lost their income and were behind on November rent, and now they’re also behind in December. We’re talking about families accumulating $4,000 in rent debt,” the executive director of La Coalición Latinoamericana said in December.
They required applicants to be documented
La Coalición Latinoamericana referred 31 affected families to apply for these funds with Crisis Assistance Ministry (CAM). Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy also confirmed to La Noticia that they referred several affected immigrants. As of publication, La Noticia asked OurBRIDGE for Kids and Carolina Migrant Network whether they had guided affected families in applying for this assistance, but they did not respond.
We asked both the City and CAM about the criteria or requirements families had to meet to qualify for the program, which ultimately benefited only three people during the 12 weeks it remained open.
The City responded that the eligibility requirements, authorized by Deputy City Manager Shawn Heath, were that families had to:
- Live in Charlotte.
- Have a household income not exceeding 80% of the area median income, based on household size.
- Complete and sign a form declaring they lost income between Nov. 14 and Nov. 23, 2025, due to immigration enforcement actions.
- Present a valid photo ID.
- Show a Social Security card.
For its part, CAM responded: “We reviewed applications according to the City’s guidelines. Those guidelines required the individual to be documented, which prevented the use of municipal funds.”
Now, the $100,000 that was not used to help families affected by immigration detentions will instead be allocated to the City’s Innovative Housing Program to support low-income households with repairs, rent, utilities, and housing counseling.
Meanwhile, for families like Yolanda’s, that assistance could have made a real difference.
“I pay $1,400 here and live with my children, so it would have helped us because I was out of work,” she concluded.
Para leer este artículo en español, visita el siguiente enlace.
Shifting Ground is a reporting project from the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative. The series explores how federal policy and funding changes are impacting Charlotte residents, neighborhoods, and organizations — and how communities are responding.
Follow more stories at charlottejournalism.org/shiftingground and join the conversation at upcoming community events.
Do you have a story to share or a question you’d like us to answer?
Write to us at editor@lanoticia.com or call/text 704-568-6966. Shifting Ground is a collaborative journalism project by the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative. The series explores how changes in federal policies and their funding are affecting Charlotte residents, neighborhoods, and organizations — and how communities are responding.