RALEIGH, N.C. — Men wearing vests and green uniforms were seen detaining people around the Raleigh-Durham area Tuesday, but an escalated operation like the one in Charlotte for the past three days did not materialize.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell had said late Monday that officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection were already in Raleigh.
But Tuesday, a senior administration official told NBC News that Customs and Border Protection did not have plans for an operation in Raleigh at this time. Gregory Bovino, the U.S. Border Patrol commander at-large overseeing the Charlotte operation, planned to remain there, the official said.
Asked about the conflicting information, Cowell’s spokeswoman referred to comments Cowell made Tuesday at a meeting of the Raleigh City Council.
“Our law enforcement partners have confirmed that Border Patrol is in Wake County — there have been several confirmed sightings — and Durham County,” Cowell said. Wake County includes Raleigh.
She urged residents to stay safe, call in any illegal activity they see, protest peacefully and “just be kind to your neighbors today.”
Cowell’s words follow several days of an escalated immigration crackdown in Charlotte dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web” — using the title of a beloved children’s book — that had resulted in 207 arrests as of Monday night, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The enforcement action has also led to complaints from local residents and groups that federal agents used heavy-handed tactics and profiled residents, including U.S. citizens, frightening residents and leading to the closings of several businesses in the area.
DHS did not immediately reply to questions about whether Border Patrol was in Raleigh or about videos posted by an immigration group that appear to show the presence of immigration enforcement in Raleigh and surrounding areas.
Siembra NC, an advocacy group for immigrants, posted video and photos of what appeared to be some Border Patrol arrests in Cary, Raleigh and Durham. The agents in the videos are masked with green uniforms and vests. In at least one photo, an officer’s U.S. Border Patrol patch can be clearly seen.
The organization said it confirmed the detentions of landscape workers in Raleigh, construction workers at the Lightbridge Academy in Cary, people who were walking on a sidewalk in front of a restaurant in Raleigh and others at apartment complexes.
In Durham, Elisha Muhammad, a staff member at All My Children day care, said in a statement issued by Siembra that they had to lock down the facility temporarily when they saw immigration officers outside.
“This is not fair that our innocent kids and parents suddenly have to hide, this shouldn’t be this way,” she said.
Nida Allam, chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, told NBC News she witnessed the detention of three men behind a business. She said that when she arrived, the officers, who she said appeared to be members of Border Patrol, were already placing three people in cars. She said that she asked whether they had a warrant and that they told her they did not need one. They also told her the men were being detained because they were in the country illegally and are flight risks.
Allam, a naturalized citizen, said she shook with nervousness as she got out of her car and recorded video of the agents detaining the men, which she posted on social media.
“I’m a naturalized citizen. I was shaking to see Border Patrol. … It’s terrorizing all our communities,” she said.
Faith and community leaders and elected officials condemned the enforcement activity at a news conference late Tuesday and praised residents who answered the call to participate in virtual training so they could act as observers and documenters of the arrests.
In Charlotte, students staged a schoolwide walkout in protest Tuesday. Some held signs and some dressed in black, NBC affiliate WCNC reported. A number of students did not show on Monday as Customs and Border Protection agents continued making arrests around the city.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools said Tuesday that 30,399 students were absent Monday, according to its unofficial count, which must be finalized by the state. That is about a fifth (21%) of the 141,166-student population listed on the school district’s website. By contrast, the average three-year absence rate as of December is 7.85%, WFAE public radio reported.
On Monday, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged federal officers to “target violent criminals, not neighbors walking down the street going to church or putting up Christmas decorations.” He also urged Raleigh residents to remain peaceful and to record and report to local law enforcement “if you see something wrong.”
“Stop targeting people simply going about their lives because of the color of their skin as you are doing in Charlotte,” said Stein, a Democrat.
DHS said that all the people arrested in Charlotte had broken immigration laws and that some had serious criminal records, including gang membership, aggravated assault, possession of dangerous weapons, felony larceny, assault, drunk driving and other crimes.
“We will not stop enforcing the laws of our nation until every criminal illegal alien is arrested and removed from our country,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
During the enforcement operations in Charlotte, agents smashed open the car window of a U.S citizen who was not opening his car door. The man, Willy Aceituno, told Noticias Telemundo he had just been stopped and was asked for his identification by a separate group of immigration agents who had seen proof of his citizenship minutes before the incident with his window took place. DHS accused Aceituno on social media of “trying to distract officers so others could evade the law.”
Aceituno and advocacy groups said the arrests and the questioning of Charlotte residents’ immigration statuses appeared to be based on skin color and race.
“Around me there were people, there were Americans, some Black, some Chinese, and they all told them, ‘Hey, ask me for my papers,’ and I told the agents, ‘Hey, ask them for their papers. Why are you only asking for mine?’” He said he was the only Hispanic in the group and the only one asked to show his identification.
NBC News reached out to DHS about the allegations of racial profiling and complaints of federal agents’ use of force.
