No confirmation of ICE coming to Raleigh, Wake sheriff says
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- The Wake County sheriff said Monday he hasn’t been told ICE agents are coming to the area.
- Immigrant rights group Siembra NC said Saturday that agents would arrive Monday.
- The sheriff urged residents to cooperate with any ICE personnel who do arrive.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office has not received any notification of ICE agents coming to the county, Sheriff Willie Rowe said Monday.
Posts about agents’ possible arrival in the Triangle began circulating online this weekend after immigrant rights group Siembra NC said it had learned Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be in the area starting Monday. Siembra co-director Nikki Marin Baena would only say the information came from “a source that we trust,” The News & Observer previously reported.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents conducted “Operation Charlotte’s Web” in the Charlotte area for about a week last month. Those agents also traveled to the Triangle area in making at least 370 arrests in North Carolina, the vast majority in and near Charlotte, The N&O reported.
“The presence of ICE personnel in Wake County is not new,” Rowe said in a statement Monday. “Our office has not coordinated with ICE regarding any potential operations, and our deputies do not conduct immigration enforcement.”
Rowe urged residents to cooperate with ICE agents if they do conduct operations in Wake County.
“We do not want anyone in our community to fear interacting with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office,” he wrote. “We will continue to discharge the duties of this office in a lawful, professional, and respectful manner to help keep our community safe.”
Rowe also asked residents to avoid sharing unverified information on social media.
Siembra NC has encouraged anyone aware of potential ICE activity to call its hotline at 336-543-0353 and visit the website Ojo Obrero (Look out, workers) for updates.
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 1:08 PM with the headline "No confirmation of ICE coming to Raleigh, Wake sheriff says."
