Mayor says federal immigration agents will expand enforcement action in North Carolina to Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Federal immigration authorities will expand their enforcement action in North Carolina to Raleigh as soon as Tuesday, the mayor of the state capital said, while Customs and Border Protection agents kept operating in Charlotte following a weekend that saw more than 130 people arrested in that city.

Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said Monday that she did not know how large the operation would be or how long agents would be present. Immigration authorities have not spoken about it. The Democrat said in a statement that crime was lower in Raleigh this year compared to last and that public safety was a priority for her and the city council.

“I ask Raleigh to remember our values and maintain peace and respect through any upcoming challenges,” Cowell said in a statement.

U.S. immigration agents arrested more than 130 people over the weekend in a sweep through Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, a federal official said Monday.

The Trump administration already conducted immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago. Both of those are deep blue cities in deep blue states run by nationally prominent officials who make no secret of their anger at the White House. The political reasoning seemed obvious.

The move into North Carolina was more surprising.

The mayors of Charlotte and Raleigh are both Democrats, as is the governor, but none are known for wading into national political battles. In a state where divided government has become the norm, Gov. Josh Stein in particular has tried to get along with the GOP-controlled state Legislature. The state’s two U.S. senators are both Republican, and President Donald Trump won the state in the last three presidential elections.

The Department of Homeland Security has said it is focusing on North Carolina because of so-called sanctuary policies in a handful of jurisdictions. Those policies limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents.

But some observers say focusing on a place with less confrontational politics may be part of the equation.

The White House “can have enough opposition (to its crackdown), but it’s a weaker version” than what it faced in places like Chicago, said Rick Su, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law who studies local government, immigration and federalism.

“They’re not interested in just deporting people. They’re interested in the show,” he said.

The Trump administration made Charlotte, a Democratic city of about 950,000 people, its first focus for a North Carolina immigration enforcement surge it says will combat crime – despite fierce objections from area leaders and declining crime rates.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Border Patrol officers had arrested “over 130 illegal aliens who have all broken” immigration laws. The agency said the records of those arrested included gang membership, aggravated assault, shoplifting and other crimes, but it did not say how many cases had resulted in convictions, how many people had been facing charges or any other details.

U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Democrat who represents part of Raleigh and some of its suburbs, said Tuesday that the deployment of federal immigration agents in North Carolina “is a profound abuse of power, a violation of civil rights and a stain on our democracy.”

Worries have spread in the area’s South Asian community, which includes many people who were drawn to the Research Triangle region by high-tech jobs.

Satish Garimella is mayor pro tempore in Morrisville, a few miles west of Raleigh. Close to half of the town’s population of more than 30,000 is Asian.

Garimella, who grew up in India but is now a U.S. citizen, said the expected arrival of immigration agents is “creating a lot of panic in the community.” He recommended that people, including middle- and high-school age children, now carry identity cards, copies of passports and other documents showing their immigration status.

“You just don’t know when you will be questioned and what things are needed,” said Garimella, a product manager for a pharmaceutical company. “Even a person who is a citizen is not immune.”

Officials have released no information about operations in Raleigh.

A handful of cities and counties in North Carolina have found themselves part of America’s debates over crime and immigration, two of the most important issues to the White House.

The most prominent was the fatal stabbing this summer of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light-rail train, an attack captured on video. The suspect was from the U.S., but the Trump administration repeatedly highlighted that he had been arrested previously more than a dozen times.

While the Department of Homeland Security has said it is focusing on the state because of sanctuary policies, most North Carolina county jails have long honored “detainers,” or requests from federal officials to hold an arrested immigrant for a limited time so agents can take custody of them.

Nevertheless, some common, noncooperation policies have existed in few places, including Raleigh and Charlotte, where the police do not help with immigration enforcement.

In Mecklenburg County, the jail did not honor detainer requests for several years, until after state law effectively made it mandatory starting last year. Wake County, where Raleigh is located, had a similar policy.

Matt Mercer, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Republican Party, said in a text message that the arrival of immigration agents to Raleigh would be a sign that failures by “radical Democrats will finally be taken seriously.”

DHS said about 1,400 detainers across North Carolina had not been honored since October 2020, putting the public at risk.

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Sullivan reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers Erik Verduzco in Charlotte, Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.