Here’s a look at what we know about Border Patrol’s push into Raleigh, the effects of the raids so far, and some guidance on what you can and can’t do legally if you are confronted by federal agents or witness a raid in your community.
After disrupting communities and making over 200 arrests across the Charlotte area the last few days, Federal Border Patrol agents arrived in Raleigh on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon, reports of Border Patrol sightings have trickled in more slowly than in Charlotte, but the move to North Carolina’s diverse and booming Triangle area expands a national operation that, while claiming to target violent criminals, seems to mostly sweep up parents taking their kids to school, construction workers, and people just going about their lives.
The immigration rights groups Siembra NC built an interactive website that tracks arrests and encounters with federal immigration agents. The site on Tuesday afternoon showed a dozen arrests across the Triangle area, including outside a Home Depot in Cary and a shopping center in Durham.
City and local law enforcement officials said that federal agents had not communicated the details, scope, or duration of their plans, but the story unfolding in North Carolina is not the first chapter of a new tale. North Carolinians have already seen how this story plays out in the last several months in Chicago and Los Angeles. North Carolina knows the script by now.
Social media was full of videos from Charlotte over the weekend showing masked Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents breaking car windows, dragging people from their vehicles, and pointing guns at passersby. Nearly every video also showed community members shouting at the masked agents, honking their horns as warnings to area residents, and recording the arrests. Large protests popped up across the city as a result.
Here’s a look at what we know about the push into Raleigh, the effects of the raids so far, and some guidance on what you can and can’t do legally if you are confronted by federal agents or witness a raid in your community.
‘You have a First Amendment right to film’
Gov. Josh Stein urged North Carolinians to peacefully bear witness to any seemingly illegal or “inappropriate” behavior on the part of federal officials.
While immigrant rights groups and local officials focused on legally pushing back against the influx of federal agents on Tuesday, they also offered guidance on how to bear that witness safely and legally.
NC Rep. Phil Rubin, a Wake County Democrat and former federal process, spoke to Cardinal & Pine outside the General Assembly about these and other issues.
@cardinalandpine Late Sunday, NC Gov. Josh Stein called out the masked federal immigration agents creating an uproar in Charlotte. Follow Cardinal & Pine for more on this developing story.
Yes, you have the right to film, Rubin said, but no you can’t block a federal agent’s actions.
“You can film things that are going on in public around you, you have a first amendment right to film,” Rubin said.
“What you can’t do is you can’t get in the way of what they’re doing. You would potentially get arrested if you did that.”
“So don’t try and get in between law enforcement officers and push your way in. If they tell you to step back, step back. But you’re allowed to record,” he said.
Filming is not only legal, he said, but is an essential part of bearing witness, whether in Raleigh, Charlotte, or Chicago.
“You saw some of the videos that came out of that, that were very, very, very important in helping people understand what was really going on. And so everyone’s role in this is to document that,” he said.
The footage might not just be important for informing the public, it could also be the key to successful litigation later.
“Because this is not the way law enforcement usually [behaves],” he said.
Ask for a warrant signed by a judge
It can be complicated, but the bottom line is that federal agents need a warrant signed by a judge to come into private property.
In most cases, any agent who knocks on your door will need a warrant signed by a judge in order to come in over your objections.
“You have a right under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution to be free from unreasonable Search and Seizure,” Rubin said.
“If they knock on your door, you have a right to say no, you can’t come in.”
But you lose your Fourth Amendment protections if you invite them in without a warrant.
If agents say that they DO have a warrant, don’t open the door until you’ve inspected it, because the kind of warrant they have is very important.
To enter private areas of your home or business, federal agents need a judicial warrant, which means a warrant for a specific place and action approved and signed by a judge.
“Not an administrative warrant, not a warrant that’s signed by the ICE agent. A warrant that is signed by a judge that says that they’re allowed to come in your home,” Rubin said.
If they do have that warrant, you should let them in, Rubin said, “but you can still tell them that you object. You do not agree to a search.”
There have been several reports across the country of ICE and Border Patrol agents refusing to show an ID or badge, but they cannot legally refuse to show you the warrant, Rubin said.
Rubin also urged community members not to say anything without a lawyer present.
“You have a right to remain silent,” Rubin said. “You can just say, ‘I’m invoking my right to remain silent. I’d like an attorney.’ And then you don’t have to answer any other questions.”
Criminals or neighbors?
Border Patrol officials arrested more than 130 people over the weekend, calling the operation a successful fight against gangs and violent criminals. Then they posted photos of 11 of the people who’d been arrested. Two were gang members, the US Department of Homeland Security said.
Of the 130 people arrested, 44 had criminal records and 86 did not. So the number of people arrested without criminal records was about double the number of people with criminal records. DHS officials announced more arrests on Monday, bringing the total to more than 200.
Trump officials have frequently said that ICE raids across the country target “the worst of the worst,” but several reports show that 72% of people in custody nationwide as of Sept. 21 had no criminal record.
Rubin, who used to pursue charges against violent offenders, said that the Border Patrol videos so widespread on social media did not at all look like the kind of precise, targeted raids law enforcement usually employs when seeking specific violent criminals.
Pulling people randomly out of cars, going up to people in parking, asking for their papers—that is not targeted, it’s profiling, he said.
“Look at the videos of what they’re doing,” he said. “It looks very indiscriminate. It doesn’t look to me like when I’ve seen us targeting a violent criminal.”
He continued: “Rolling up at a Home Depot, throwing someone in a van and driving away based on their skin color. That’s not targeting people based on violent behavior.”
If this was actually a campaign aimed at people with specific violent records, the reaction from the communities would also be far different, Rubin said.
“If they were coming here and they said, ‘yeah, we’ve got this list of 10 violent offenders that we’ve identified, they are here unlawfully and we’re gonna find them and we’re gonna take them away,’ this would be a very different situation,” he said,
“I don’t think most people would object to that.”
But such a targeted operation would be conducted with full cooperation with local law enforcement, he said.
Neither the Mecklenburg nor Wake County sheriffs or police officials have been told anything by federal agents.
“That’s another big change here,” Rubin said.
“This is indiscriminate use of force by federal agents, seemingly based on people’s skin color. It’s the antithesis of our values.”
Widespread absences
The chaos and disruption caused by raids extended to schools, with reports of agents targeting school pickup and drop off lines. Mecklenburg County Schools officials on Tuesday said that nearly 30,000 students missed class on Monday, nearly triple the tally of a typical day.
On Tuesday, Wake County Schools posted a message seeking to reassure the community that schools remained a safe place.
School officials said they would comply with all state and federal laws, but would hold federal agents to the same standard.
“Building leaders have been reminded of the procedures that law enforcement agencies must follow when interacting with students on campus,” the statement read. “If law enforcement seeks access to a school, we will consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance with applicable laws.”
Above all, Wake County Schools officials said they wanted to ensure a safe learning environment for all children.
“Our primary focus remains on the well-being, safety, and education of every student we serve, regardless of their background,” the message said.
“Our district does not ask for or record information about the immigration status of any family,” the post continued. “We are equally committed to ensuring our schools remain safe and welcoming spaces for all students and families.”
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, called the immigration operation a violation of the obligation to provide a safe learning environment to all children.
“Schools are sacred spaces,” the statement said, and every raid near school grounds “endangers children and traumatizes families.”
The North Carolina chapter of this national story could be short or it could be long, either way there’s work to do, NC. Rep. Rubin said.
“Even though I’m a legislator, I feel powerless to do much to stop this from happening, and I hate that. But what I can do is use my voice and what I can do is try and lend a hand where I can. So I think one thing that’s on my mind is how do I make sure I’m doing everything I can do?
He added: “And that’s something that we can all think about.
