E.B. White’s granddaughter is speaking out after the title of the author’s classic novel Charlotte’s Web was used to label immigration enforcement operations in North Carolina.
Martha White issued a statement to CNN after federal immigration officials adopted the name of her grandfather’s 1952 children’s book for recent raids in Charlotte.
On Nov. 15, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” saying the effort “will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to the Tar Heel State because they knew sanctuary politicians would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.”
The following day, Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino referenced a passage from the book in a post on X about the Charlotte operation: “Wherever the wind takes us. High, low. Near, far. East, west. North, south. We take to the breeze, we go as we please.”
White, who serves as the literary executor of her grandfather’s estate, emphasized how sharply the operation contrasts with the spirit of the novel. Charlotte’s Web tells the story of the friendship between a spider named Charlotte and a pig named Wilbur, whom she saves from slaughter. The book received a Newbery Honor and is widely regarded as one of the most important works in American children’s literature.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(503x0:505x2):format(webp)/Charlottes-Web-111825-873c681b01f4479889a87842c64dc73b.jpg)
“[My grandfather] certainly didn’t believe in masked men, in unmarked cars, raiding people’s homes and workplaces without IDs or summons,” White said in her statement. “He didn’t condone fear-mongering.”
She added that the author, who died in 1985, “believed in the rule of law and due process.”
“It’s important to know when to speak up,” White continued, “to expose the lies or misperceptions (the rule of law still applies in Sanctuary Cities, by the way), and when to deny the limelight that feeds the cruelty.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/DHS-Charlotte-111825-4aabe705f6924e7f82834a51fb99f059.jpg)
Her comments come as officials carry out a series of immigration raids across the country, including in cities such as New York and Los Angeles, as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on immigration.
In Charlotte, federal immigration authorities took more than 130 people into custody over the weekend, according to DHS. On Nov. 17, Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell announced that officials planned to continue enforcement operations in the state capital as well.
