A crippling fear gripped the Durham community last week. When United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement came knocking on residents’ doors, Alexandra Valladares was one of many on the receiving end of calls for help. 

Valladares is a member and organizer with RadarSafe Durham, a local ICE watch group and reporting system. She said there were over 20 raids in different parts of the city last week. 

The fallout of ICE presence in Durham was tangible, with school attendance facing a dramatic drop and many businesses closing to protect employees. In one instance, Valladares said that when ICE attempted to raid a local factory, the bosses were able to negotiate with border control, herding them off. It was a rare success story in a week of loss.

“Families were definitely very scared, and they were calling, they were sending messages about sightings,” Valladares said. “We realized that four people were taken by border patrol.”

Trainings for immigrant communities have been hosted throughout the week. These sessions educated  the community about its Fourth Amendment rights and how they are applicable in the workforce. 

During a typical shift, Valladares said RadarSafe receives assistance from the Raleigh branch, which directs calls from the main line. From there, the closest volunteers are the boots on the ground, showing up when families call for help. They act as a representative and advocate for those targeted by ICE. 

“There’s been families with moms crying on the phone,” Valladares said, “saying ‘Please, please come out. Please, as soon as you can. Send somebody, if you can. This is an emergency.’ I can hear children in the background crying.” 

Many of the calls they receive are from people who feel trapped at their workplace, as ICE lurks outside. Even though certain areas of a workplace can be designated as private areas, ICE often violates those boundaries, pushing inside. 

“The stress and the anxiety is super heightened, because it’s a little different in the sense that a home is considered private,” Valladares said. “They don’t have to open the door [at home] unless there’s a warrant.” 

In these scenarios, timing is everything. Obtaining exact locations and details about a raid can dictate the response RadarSafe can provide. Additionally, for those who are scared to leave their homes, RadarSafe and other immigrant rights organizations are working to distribute food and resources. The Durham Community Care Collective is made up of organizations working to provide food and raise money for impacted residents. 

“Our vulnerable community members are also looking up for other vulnerable community members, and our community members are looking out for one another,” Valladares said. “Many times they were calling in not just crises, or an SOS for themselves, but also for their neighbor. And I found that to be beautiful.”

Mariana Vázquez-García, an immigration attorney in Durham, said that for the first time, she’s regularly carrying around her passport. She advises others to do the same. 

“The minute they ask, ‘Where were you born?’ If I decide to answer the question, I’ll say ‘Mexico,’ that will trigger a question,” Vázquez-García said. “If I decide to remain silent, that will trigger another question. So that’s what I’ve seen, and it’s causing chaos in the community.” 

For Durham residents that are not U.S. citizens, but may have asylum or citizenship cases pending, she suggests carrying around proof of the case, and its pending status. A tool that may come in handy if the worst happens.  

Vázquez-García said that those who entered the U.S. requesting asylum, are now in “panic mode” as they turn up to their court-dates, hoping to take steps towards citizenship, only for their case to be terminated, leaving them to face on-sight detention. 

If someone is detained, Vázquez-García said that their chances of release depend on a variety of factors. If someone has a citizenship case pending with the US, they may be able to force their case to be seen by an immigration judge. If someone has lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years, or two years waiting on an asylum claim, has children or a spouse in the U.S., and no serious criminal record, they may be able to ask for a cancellation of removal once detained. Still, there are no guarantees. 

Now is the time to tighten your circle, and prepare for the worst case scenario, she said. If the unimaginable happens, she advises that Durham residents make plans with their families. Find out if you have the potential for recourse, get in contact with an attorney, and make sure there is someone to claim your assets, and God forbid, your loved ones. 

If there’s no chance for a detained individual to fight for their citizenship, and chance to stay, Vázquez-García said having documents from their birth-country could aid them in ensuring they are at least deported to where they are originally from, rather than held in a detention center, in limbo.

She said the current administration claims the ICE campaigns are aimed at deporting criminals, when in reality, the majority of those being deported have not faced serious criminal charges. 

As ICE enters businesses across Durham, Vázquez-García said there’s a good chance they aren’t using real, court-approved warrants, but rather their “own” documents that simply say the word “warrant.” 

“It doesn’t seem to matter to immigration, to these officers,” she said. “They go in, they detain, and then they deal with the consequences.” 

However, Vázquez-García said that seeing as ICE agents are often masked, and rarely give out any kind of identifying information, consequences appear to be limited.

As easy as it is to say “don’t open your door to them,” that’s rarely the way these raids play out, she said. Seeing as wrongful detentions are running rampant, it’s up to the community to stay aware and informed in a concerted effort to limit this unlawfulness, and protect one another.

There are a variety of accessible nonprofit organizations working to provide legal counseling for impacted communities, Vázquez-García said, in addition to consulates and embassies, which can function as a beneficial resource. 

Vázquez-García said that above all, if detained, you have the right to remain silent, and advises vulnerable communities not to sign anything. Under any circumstances. 

“Immigrants built this country, and immigrants will continue to build this country, so long as we help each other and make sure that we’re there for each other as needed,” Vázquez-García said. “Which is more than ever right now.” 

Angie Santiago, another volunteer monitoring ICE activities, said that what Durham is witnessing is a campaign to send Border Patrol to cities and regions that do not reside on borders. 

The challenge of ICE watch, Santiago said, is getting the word out to impacted communities in a way that isn’t obvious. Many volunteers are  part of more than one group, collaborating with as many organizations as possible to lend a helping hand. They work to identify the presence of Border Patrol and alert vulnerable populations, including Siembra and RadarSafe. 

“Then there’s different responses,” Santiago said. “Either we could blow the whistle, alerting other people, or go in and document the process as witnesses.” 

Santiago said that in areas with a high concentration of Latino residents, ICE agents were more heavily stationed. This included grocery stores, churches, and even schools. 

“We’ve had a history of them pulling students from school and deporting them,” she said.  

Santiago said these organizations aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Students are still absent from school. Businesses are still closed. Latino employees are still calling out. Until there is a collective sense of normalcy, patrols will continue. 

“We’re still actively patrolling,” Santiago said. “The language of past tense is what we’re challenging right now, because it’s still an active campaign, okay? And we’re not back to normal.” 

A local organizer and member of The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) in the Triangle, who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, said that after ICE touched down in Charlotte for “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” PSL led emergency mobilization efforts. These efforts included protests to provide support for the North Carolina immigrant community.

Days later, when they discovered ICE was headed to Raleigh, the protests became more personal. By Tuesday of last week, as immigrant communities in East Durham and North Raleigh faced arrests, PSL called for emergency organization. The call  drew over 1500 participants and national coverage in a handful of hours, the source said. 

“We’re taking risks,” the organizer said. “We know that there could be consequences, like we’re seeing, but at the end of the day, if we don’t do anything, then it’s just gonna continue to happen.” 

PSL’s work last week wasn’t done until Durham was “shut down” at the hands of the infiltration. Entirely. 

After Tuesday’s protest, PSL organizers came together to determine their plan of action moving forward. They decided that business cannot cary on as usual. They began assembling a Durham-wide mass mobilization called “SHUTDOWN DURHAM FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS,” planned for that Friday. 

Despite having only one day to prepare, volunteers poured out in droves. Businesses shut down early to allow employees to attend. Hundreds of students participating in Durham-wide walkouts joined the gathering.  Durham officials, who had planned to host their annual tree-lighting in the same place at the same time, canceled out of solidarity, the organizer said. The mobilization generated thousands more volunteers than the previous protest.

“It’s really powerful to show people that, when we come together and we organize, we can actually win,” the organizer said. 

Compared to Tuesday’s rally, which was heavy with sadness and anger, the organizer said Friday’s protest felt stronger, “militant” and determined — an offensive nature of healing.

Following the protests, the organizer said that more people made efforts to get involved, seeing how the community came together in the face of fear. 

“I have worked with a lot of other DACA recipients or undocumented youth who have that fear,” the organizer said. “And I think it’s important that we give them confidence and optimism in our communities, and be like, ‘Yes, there’s risk, but also, this is our responsibility.’”

Looking forward, Siembra NC says they have received word that 50 ICE agents will be deployed to the Triangle in the coming days.

“If we don’t do anything, then it’s just gonna continue to happen,” the organizer said. “If everyone’s just scared, then, yeah, they’re gonna win.” 

If this fear hasn’t struck you personally, it may seem easy to turn a blind eye to this injustice. But, if there’s one thing these last few weeks in Durham have proven, it’s that it is imperative you do not. 

“Yesterday I received a lot of messages saying, ‘Oh, you must be relieved that they’re out of town and that it’s over,’” Santiago said. “It’s not over. It’s a permanent presence and a permanent policing of the Latino community. So it isn’t over.” 

Edited by Harry Crowther