Q&A: NC lawyers warn immigrant communities to stay home amid enforcement sweeps in Raleigh

Federal immigration agents are conducting operations in Raleigh and Charlotte, prompting strong caution from North Carolina attorneys.

WRAL News spoke Wednesday with Raleigh-based immigration attorney Ann Robertson about the federal immigration operations.

“My advice [to clients] is stay home,” Robertson said. “Do not leave your house. Do not leave your apartment. Stay home. If someone knocks on your door, do not answer the door.”

Robertson added, “Once they [the immigration agents] leave, I’m going to tell my clients, ‘You can go back to work, you can drive your kids to school, just be careful.’”

What do we know about who is being targeted?

“It is clearly racial,” Robertson said. “There is no question it’s racial profiling. All you have to do is look at all the videos of who is attacked.”

The Department of Homeland Security has said it is focusing on North Carolina because of so-called sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents. The Trump administration has said agents would be looking for people who are known gang members or have outstanding criminal charges.

Chapel Hill-based immigration attorney Chris Barnes told WRAL News that immigration agents can approach and speak to anyone.

“Anyone that’s willing to speak to them, if they’re asking questions and you’re answering questions, then they can speak with you,” Barnes said. “Hopefully, they are concentrating their efforts on people who they deem to be threats to public safety and national security, in that case, you would think they’d have a target or a certain person that they feel may be working at this job site, may be shopping at this place [or] may be living at this place.”

Barnes mentioned that agents might have the person’s name or a photograph of who they’re looking to detain.

What are the various types of legal status that people can have?

Citizenship

“The best one is citizenship,” Robertson said. “Though we have more than one instance of U.S. citizens being detained, but that will protect you from deportation, hopefully.

Permanent resident status

“The next category is permanent resident status, and the name says what it is,” Robertson said. “Permanent means the rest of your life, resident means you can reside in the United States and that is your status.

“That is really, really good status, and many people use the nickname green card. You can lose your green card for criminal convictions, if there were any kind of [fraudulent] actions.”

It's called a green card because the first version of the permanent resident card, introduced in 1946, was printed on green paper.

Other categories, including non-imminent visas

“The other categories are what we call non-imminent visas, and there are more of those than there are letters of the alphabet,” Robertson said. “[There are] lots of categories. A lot of people are able to have those and those are legal status.”

“What’s a problem that I think some people don’t understand is once they submit their application to one of these, while they’re waiting to get that answer, they’re not here legally,” Robertson said. “There are a lot of people who are in the middle of the process, and they’ve been detained or kicked out.” 

How do people prove their legal status? What documents should they have available if asked?

 Charlotte-based Tedesco Legal founder Mary Lynn Tedesco said it’s important for people to carry their documents with them.

“Even if you’re a U.S. citizen, it’s important to have your U.S. passport on you to be able to show that just in case you are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Tedesco said.

Documents that prove citizenship: A U.S. passport, a certificate of naturalization or a certificate of citizenship.

Permanent residency: Green card

Non-imminent visas: A form that shows approval. Robertson said to carry the original, not a copy. Employment authorization documents are also helpful, Robertson said.

“Everyone should be carrying documentation, in all honesty,” Robertson said. “We know Hispanics are being targeted.”

Tedesco said it’s difficult to advise people who are earning their citizenship status. She said the process can take many years.

What to do if approached by an immigration agent

All people in the United States have constitutional protections, including the right to remain silent when questioned or arrested by immigration officers.

The National Immigrant Justice Center published a list of things people can do to protect themselves and defend their rights if approached by an immigration agent.

Create a safety plan

• Identify emergency contacts and memorize their phone numbers.
• Protect your child's school or day care with an emergency contact to pick up your child.
• Provide authorization in writing for your emergency contact to make medical and legal decisions for your child.
• People looking for someone detained by ICE can use the agency’s online detainee locator.
• Learn about guardianship considerations

The National Immigrant Justice Center urges anyone stopped by law enforcement to stay calm and don’t argue, resist or fight the officer. The center urges people to keep their hands where police can see them and tell the officer if you need to reach into a glove compartment or for a wallet to show papers.

The center also urges people not to lie about their status or provide false documents.

Barnes said if a U.S. citizen is detained with no documentation on them, they would have to remain silent or contact an attorney.

If someone is detained, are they able to contact an attorney or a family member?

“The problem is it's happening so fast, people are being detained, there is a list for people being detained,” Robertson said. “By the time you find out where the person is, they may be in El Salvador. By the time you find out where the person is, they might be on a plane leaving.

“We have not been very successful being able to stop many of these after they’ve been detained.”

What’s the timeline of the process to become a U.S. citizen?

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services lists 10 steps to naturalization on its website. The site lists eligibility requirements along with exceptions and accommodations.

“In order to get legal status in the U.S., you have to go through certain processes and many of them take very, very long,” Robertson said. “Just a simple thing like a receipt notice would help. That shows you’re trying to move ahead.

“We’re having situations where it’s taking six weeks or longer just to get a receipt notice. So, the process itself at the very beginning is backlogged.”

Robertson said the process could take as long as 25 years for some people.

“While you're in the process, there is a possibility you could be picked up for being undocumented,” Robertson said. "Part of the problem is you can’t help someone unless you can talk to them, unless you can reach them.

“Once they get detained, you have to find the person. So, there’s really not much that can be done once the person gets detained.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] has an online detainee locator.

However, Tedesco said it can take more than two days for a detainee to show up in ICE’s online system.

“We also have employers that are relying on workers,” Tedesco said. Those employers are often left in the dark if someone is detained.

Tedesco said a “fair number” of people detained in Charlotte had lawful status. She didn’t say how many times this happened since operations began days ago in Charlotte.

“These CBP [Customs and Border Protection] officers are obviously not necessarily verifying status first and then taking an action,” Tedesco said. “It’s like, ‘we’ll take you first, we suspect,’ and then figuring it out.”

Tedesco said the federal immigration operations in the state are “terrorizing communities.” She said she’s heard the immigration agents could go to the Asheville area by the end of the week.

Where are those who are detained held?

Barnes said immigrants are typically moved directly to Georgia, other detention facilities or local jails until their final destination. According to Barnes, immigrants are typically taken to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, which has an immigration court.

Tedesco said North Carolina and South Carolina do not have any ICE detention center facilities. She said Alamance County does hold some ICE detainees.

However, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that, effective as of this past Sunday, the Alamance County Detention Center will no longer accept ICE detainees.

In a letter to ICE, Johnson cited recent changes to North Carolina law brought about by the House Bill 307 governing pretrial release, electronic monitoring and detention of individuals charged with violent offenses, taking effect on Dec. 1, 2025.