WRAL

Federal immigration agents are on the ground in Raleigh and plan to conduct operations in the area Tuesday, according to Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell.

According to Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are also conducting operation in Durham.

The operations by ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have drawn swift criticism from many residents across the Triangle. Several protesters organized in Raleigh’s Moore Square to protest CBP’s and ICE’s presence in not just Raleigh, but the wider Triangle area.

“My ex-husband’s undocumented, and my daughter is first-generation on his side. It breaks my heart,” said Anastasia Soto, a protester at the rally. "This morning, she came down the steps. She was crying; she didn't want the police to take her dad when he left for work."

After a Raleigh in Moore Square, protesters then marched through downtown and to the Capitol Building. Some said they called out of worked because they were concerned they would be profiled.

"I actually called that at work today," said Adrianna Peralta. "I was scared as a U.S. citizen. I'm also scared because, you know, just because of the color of your skin, they want to say you're not from here."

The Raleigh Police Department told WRAL News that there were no arrests on Tuesday at the Raleigh protest.

Durham leaders speak out against immigration operations in the city

In Durham, religious and education leaders spoke out against immigration operations in the city after a school went into lockdown. According to city leaders, the lockdown was caused by immigration agents in the area.

"We put up signs to let them know they could not come in our buildings," siad Elisha Muhammad at All My Children, a childcare facility in Durham. "We just ried to gather together and make sure the kids were not aware of what was going on outside. We didn't want they to be aware so we continued our day inside."

Durham County Commission Chair Nida Allam told WRAL News that she has seen video of Immigration Enforcement Action playing out in other places. She learned from grassroots organizations that customs agents were at Beauty World on Avondale Drive.

Allam said she feels fear in the community around these situations.

"This is them coming in with full masks on their face, not identifying themselves, trying to just instill fear,” Allam said. “And we in Durham County are a welcoming community."

Williams is encouraging residents to do what Allam did - film these encounters with immigration enforcement, and document however they can.

North Carolina congressman calls on residents to avoid interfering with immigration agents

In an interview with WRAL Politifact reporter Paul Specht, Rep. Tim Moore, R-North Carolina, called on residents to avoid interfering with any of the immigration operations and avoid calling immigration agents "Nazis and terrorists and all this ridiculous stuff."

"If there's an issue with what law enforcement has done, then that'll work itself out through the courts," Moore said. "But it's not for people to just, you know, decide that they're going to jump in and get involved and somehow get in the middle of that. That is a very dangerous, reckless and criminal thing for anyone to do."

Moore reiterated that he was told that CBP and ICE agents were only looking for people who had a criminal record when they got to North Carolina, people with repeated criminal offenses and those who had been deported before and came back.

According to reporting from The Associated Press, more than 200 people were detained in Charlotte as part of what federal officials are calling “Operation Charlotte’s Web.”

When asked about why immigration agents were in North Carolina and not along the border between the United States and Mexico, Congressman Tim Moore, A Republican representing North Carolina and former speaker of the NC House, said immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally do not stay near border towns.

"They tend to move somewhere else, and the fact that we are one of the fastest-growing states in the country, There are those out there who will employ folks who are not here legally," Moore said.

Reaction from state and congressional lawmakers

These are reactions from lawmakers about the decision: 

Gov. Josh Stein told WRAL that his office is aware of the reports about Border Patrol bringing its operation to Raleigh. He released the following statement: 

"I call on federal agents to target violent criminals, not neighbors walking down the street, going to church, or putting up Christmas decorations," Stein said. "Stop targeting people simply going about their lives because of the color of their skin, as you are doing in Charlotte.

"To the people of Raleigh: remain peaceful, and if you see something wrong, record it and report it to local law enforcement. Let’s keep each other safe."

U.S. Rep. Tim Moore, R-North Carolina, spoke with WRAL News on Tuesday, and said the immigration operations were part of a campaign promise from President Donald Trump.

"What you have is  a situation where the American people voted for President Trump, who said one of his top priorities was going to be to secure the border and to look at you to making sure that folks who are here illegally, who, particularly those who are committing crimes, are deported. Well, he's keeping that promise," Moore said.

U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, provided a statement on Tuesday.

“America is a generous country, but we must ensure that those who come here do so legally. We must enforce America's immigration laws after years of Joe Biden's open-border policies invited a flow of drugs and crime. Border Patrol's operations have resulted in the arrests of several individuals with criminal histories or who had previously been deported. Responsible enforcement measures, carried out in an orderly manner, are critical to protecting American lives and our communities here in North Carolina."

NCGOP spokesman Matt Mercer also provided a statement to WRAL News:

“If these reports are accurate, it’s a clear sign of the failures enabled by former Gov. Roy Cooper and radical Democrats will finally be taken seriously," Mercer wrote. "Cooper on three occasions vetoed bills to require local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE detainers.

"President [Donald] Trump promised voters his administration would remove violent illegal criminals from our country and he is following through and enforcing the law."

In November 2024 when Cooper was still governor, North Carolina lawmakers voted to override the veto of House Bill 10. It requires sheriffs to work with federal immigration officials to detain people who are in the U.S. illegally in some circumstances.

Under the law, county sheriffs need to hold in detention anyone who is in the U.S. illegally, if federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests it. Most North Carolina sheriffs already did this, but some — including those in Wake, Durham and Orange counties — have argued it’s unconstitutional to hold someone once they’ve made bail.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, D-North Carolina, released a statement.

“Deploying CBP [Customs and Border Protection] to major American cities doesn’t make us safer," Ross wrote. "Indiscriminate immigration raids are useful for sowing fear and generating headlines, but totally ineffective at protecting us from criminals and terrorists.

"When the Trump administration spends money and manpower to randomly sweep people off the streets and target people based on the color of their skin, more felons go free, and there are fewer resources available to combat real threats.

“If reports are true that CBP is in Raleigh, I will work with state and local partners to protect our residents from violations of their rights by federal immigration officers. It’s time for CBP to go home and stop attacking our communities.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Harris, R-North Carolina, appeared on several shows Tuesday about the immigration operations in the state. On a podcast, Harris told Fox News host Will Cain that the operations, "can only be a good thing for bringing down crime. It can only be a good thing for restoring confidence in the people."

"When you look at the the people they're taking off the street, and you look at these criminal illegal aliens in Charlotte, that can only be a good thing," Harris said.

U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-North Carolina, posted a statement on the social media platform X.

"I am outraged by the continued and expanding deployment of U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents in North Carolina," Foushee wrote. "Our cities are not border cities, and our state is not a war zone."

WRAL anchor/reporter Ashley Rowe spoke Monday with Eisha Jain, an immigration professor at the UNC School of Law. Jain shared her concerns about the Charlotte arrests. 

Rowe asked Jain about what people need to know if the enforcement operations come to the Triangle area.