This story has been updated.
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U.S. Customs and Border Control agents have been deployed in Wake and Durham counties.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell confirmed multiple sightings of immigration enforcement agents in Raleigh and Durham at a city council meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam posted a video on social media that showed a confrontation with Border Patrol agents who were taking people into custody at a shopping center on Avondale Drive in Durham.
" What I saw was painful and infuriating," Allam said at a press conference later that evening. "Customs and Border Patrol agents were heavily armed, masks covering their faces, kidnapping three men right here in Durham, refusing to show a warrant, refusing to explain anything. They acted like they were in a war zone — not in a neighborhood where families were shopping and working. Durham is over 1,300 miles from the border. None of this was about securing our borders. None of it was about enforcing the law. It was a show of force meant to scare people."
Members of Siembra NC, an immigrant worker rights group, said there have been at least a dozen arrests made in the Triangle Tuesday. The group hosted a press conference with various community leaders at the All My Children child care center in Durham, where Border Patrol officials had been sighted in the parking lot, said Elisha Muhammad, the center's program director.
Muhammad said they told parents not to pick up their children and had the building under lockdown until 5 p.m.
"The school that we run — they're preschool, they're younger than preschool," she said. "It's really sad they have to live in fear of attending school to be with their friends, to get their education."
The actions in the Triangle follow immigration enforcement agents arresting more than 130 individuals in Charlotte last weekend. In an operation it calls "Charlotte's Web," Department of Homeland Security claimed that 44 of them had criminal records.
As WFAE reported Monday, it is unclear how long the immigration enforcement operation surge will last in the Charlotte area and it's had a chilling effect in immigrant communities, prompting businesses to lock their doors and folks to stay home instead of going to school or work. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system reported nearly 21,000 absences on Monday.
"While the Raleigh Police Department is not involved in immigration enforcement, we are committed to protecting our residents and to following the law. I can confirm that RPD has not participated in any immigration planning activities," Cowell said in a statement Monday night. "Above all, Raleigh is a safe city, with crime down year-over-year. Public safety is a priority for me and this City Council."
The Triangle branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation announced Tuesday morning that they are organizing a rally at Moore Square in Raleigh at 5 p.m. to protest the presence of immigration enforcement activity in the area.
Gov. Josh Stein also released a statement that his office is aware of border control agents coming to Raleigh.
"Once again, I call on federal agents to target violent criminals, not neighbors walking down the street, going to church, or putting up Christmas decorations," Stein posted on Facebook. "Stop targeting people simply going about their lives because of the color of their skin, as you are doing in Charlotte."
Other NC Democrats have released statements decrying immigration enforcement tactics, while state Republican leaders have expressed support for them.
The North Carolina Association of Educators, along with its Wake chapter, also called on state leaders to protect students and their families.
"We also must be clear about what is happening: the Trump Administration is intentionally stoking racial fear to push a billionaire-backed political agenda," the organization wrote in a statement Tuesday morning. "Fear is being used as a tool to fracture working-class communities — to pit Black, Brown, and white families against one another. In Wake County, we refuse to let that strategy succeed. We are committed to building a multiracial working-class coalition that stands united to protect public school families and defend our community. When we stand together across race and background, fear loses its power."
Siembra NC, an immigrant worker organizing group, has developed an app called OJO Obrero to track activity from Border Control agents. The group has also conducted several ICE watch trainings across the state this year in response to increased activity from the Trump Administration.
A group of Durham organizers also have formed a school-based community response network to prepare for potential Border Control actions in the area.
