Protesters take to the streets in North Carolina as immigration crackdown in state expands

The city’s Mayor Janet Cowell said Tuesday there had been “confirmed sightings” of Customs and Border Protection agents in Wake County and Durham County. Local outlets also said agents were spotted in the Research Triangle, expanding from their operation in Charlotte, where agents arrested 130 people over the weekend.

“If you are a criminal illegal alien in North Carolina, your days of terrorizing Americans are OVER,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned in a social media post Tuesday.

It’s not immediately clear how many people were arrested Tuesday. The Independent has asked DHS for more information.

Advocacy group Siembra NC reported that federal agents made arrests in Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Charlotte Tuesday.

Elisha Muhammad, the director of All My Children child care center, said Tuesday that Durham location went into lockdown after seeing federal agents in the parking lot.

The staff alerted parents that “we did not want anyone to come and pick up anybody because, as always, our safety is our kids,” she said at a news conference. “It’s really sad that our kids can’t go to school freely and learn freely, and love on each other and their friends freely.”

Nida Allam, chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, told NBC News that she witnessed what appeared to be CBP agents putting three men into cars. She told the outlet that she asked the agents whether they had a warrant, to which they replied that they didn’t need one because the men were in the country illegally.

“I’m a naturalized citizen. I was shaking to see Border Patrol ... It’s terrorizing all our communities,” she told NBC News.

In Charlotte, in the wake of a flurry of arrests over the weekend, students at East Mecklenburg High School staged a walkout in protest of federal immigration operations, WCNC reported.

Local and federal officials condemned the federal immigration activity in North Carolina.

“Federal immigration officials have the authority to enforce immigration law. But they do not have the right to terrorize our communities, traumatize our children, or trample on the Constitution,” Sydney Batch, the state Senate Democratic Leader, said in a statement.

Democratic Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, who represents Durham, denounced the federal authorities’ tactics, calling them a “profound abuse of power, a violation of civil rights, and a stain on our democracy,” she said in a statement. “I call upon federal authorities to cease these operations immediately and demand full investigations into every allegation of racial profiling and abuse.”

Governor Josh Stein called on “federal agents to target violent criminals, not neighbors walking down the street, going to church, or putting up Christmas decorations. Stop targeting people simply going about their lives because of the color of their skin, as you are doing in Charlotte,” the governor wrote on X.

The Department of Homeland Security objected to allegations that federal law enforcement officers are engaging in “racial profiling,” labeling such claims “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.”

Asked why federal agents are targeting his state, Stein told reporters Tuesday: "They haven't sat down and explained to us why they're here, how long they're going to be here, what their purpose of being here is.”

The governor added: "We don't know pretty much anything. They're operating in the shadows."

The department has said that it chose North Carolina for its latest immigration operation because of its “sanctuary” policies, which can limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents.