Brandon Brown, a candidate for the United States Senate, released the following statement on recent ICE and Border Patrol raids in Charlotte, NC and Rock Hill, SC:
"Over the past several days, communities in Charlotte and Rock Hill have witnessed an alarming escalation of federal immigration raids. Families have been detained in public spaces, workers apprehended on their way to their jobs, and neighborhoods left shaken by a coordinated show of force. Dozens of people have been arrested, many with no record of violence or threat to public safety l, only the desire to build a life for themselves and their children.
This is not happening quietly. Agents have arrived in unmarked vehicles. They’ve moved through communities with masks covering their faces. Schools, churches, and local businesses report residents too afraid to go outside. People are calling hotlines asking whether it’s safe to pick up their children. Community leaders are begging for transparency while federal agencies refuse basic answers. Charlotte and Rock Hill are now living through something many of us hoped we had left in history books.
And that is exactly why I am speaking out.
These actions draw uncomfortable but necessary parallels to an era of American terror that targeted Black communities across the South. The Ku Klux Klan once roamed through our towns, using fear, disguised identities, and coordinated intimidation to control, destabilize, and silence vulnerable people.
Today, we are watching a federal agency equipped with masks, heavy tactics, and the power of the state behave in ways that echo that same terror. In a recent video I said, “While the Klan covered their faces with hoods, the members of ICE and the Border Patrol cover their faces with masks, because they know the hurt they’re inflicting on innocent families.”
I stand by that comparison because the lived experiences of families in Charlotte and Rock Hill demand that level of honesty.
● The Klan forced people into hiding; today, immigrant families are barricading themselves indoors out of fear.
● The Klan separated families; today, parents are being taken while children wait at bus stops unaware they will never see their mother or father again.
● The Klan operated without accountability; today, ICE and Border Patrol deploy into cities that are not border regions, offering no explanation for why these communities were targeted.
This is not law enforcement. This is state-sponsored intimidation.
We must also be clear: Charlotte is not a border town. Rock Hill is not a border town. Federal agencies descending on these communities without warning, without data, and without any plan for community safety is an abuse of authority. These raids are not about national security. They are about political theater. They are about fear. They are about punishing the most vulnerable while ignoring root causes and real solutions.
This moment calls for courage.
I am calling for:
1. An immediate suspension of all raids in Charlotte and Rock Hill.
No family should be terrorized by a militarized immigration force operating in secrecy. 2. Full transparency from federal agencies.
Communities deserve to know why these raids were initiated, who authorized them, and what metrics are being used to justify this level of intrusion.
3. State and local leaders to mobilize legal, humanitarian, and community support.
People need rights trainings, emergency hotlines, shelter access, and legal representation. Now.
4. Faith leaders, educators, and residents to document and report every interaction with federal agents.
Accountability begins with evidence.
A government that terrorizes families cannot claim to protect freedom.
As a son of South Carolina, as someone who grew up hearing firsthand stories of what unrestrained power looked like during the Jim Crow era, I refuse to let history repeat itself under a different name and a different mask.
These families, our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, and fellow worshippers deserve dignity, safety, and humanity. What is happening in Charlotte and Rock Hill is not just an immigration issue. It is a moral issue. It is a civil rights issue. And it is a defining test of who we want to be as a country.
I stand firmly with the families affected. I stand with the community advocates and local leaders demanding answers. And I stand against any attempt to use fear as a tool of governance.
We will not be silent. We will not look away. And we will not allow masked intimidation by anyone, under any badge to define our future.
Candidate for U.S. Senate, South Carolina"