Advertisement
In mid-November, when the federal government’s aggressive tactics against immigrants shifted to North Carolina, Unitarian Universalists and their longtime social justice partners were ready to respond.
As Border Patrol agents arrested more than 270 people in Charlotte in what the Department of Homeland Security dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” they encountered strong resistance, including trained patrols who alerted the community of federal presence, recorded detentions, and escorted vulnerable populations to school, work, and church. When agents began detaining immigrants in Raleigh and Durham, they met similar pushback.
Over ten days, November 15 to 24, more than 5,000 people were trained in resistance tactics by Siembra NC, which began during the first Trump administration to support the Latine community against aggressive anti-immigrant tactics, said Rev. Sadie Lansdale, minister at UU Church of Greensboro (UUCG). Her congregation has worked closely with Siembra NC for years.
Throughout November, UU congregations across the state hosted numerous trainings on organizing neighborhood patrols—known as ICE Watch—and “Know Your Rights” trainings for workplaces, said Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, executive director of UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina. And UUJNC received a $20,000 emergency grant from the UU Service Committee, which UUJNC has distributed to its immigrant justice partners, she said.
Nearly 1,000 people attended two virtual trainings in November in which Protect Rogers Park, a community defense network in Chicago formed to protect immigrant communities from ICE, shared successful strategies, Lansdale said.
And on November 20, the North Carolina Council of Churches, which includes nineteen denominations across the state, held a press conference where clergy, including Rev. Amanda Weatherspoon, minister at UU Community of Charlotte, “talked about how our faith speaks to values of resisting Border Patrol and ICE,” Weatherspoon said.
“I think Customs and Border Patrol really underestimated North Carolina,” Lansdale said. “They didn’t know what was coming for them.”
By the end of November, the intensive federal presence in North Carolina appeared to have calmed down, according to Garcia-Sampson, Lansdale, and numerous media reports.
“I think Customs and Border Patrol really underestimated North Carolina,” Lansdale said. “They didn’t know what was coming for them.” Many who participated in the resistance “are just normal people who are pissed off” by how immigrants are being treated, she said.
“People are on patrol constantly,” Garcia-Sampson said. “We have our whistles and our vests. It’s a massive presence.”
“People are on patrol constantly,” Garcia-Sampson said. “We have our whistles and our vests. It’s a massive presence.”
And more than 2,500 people participated in organized efforts to escort vulnerable people to work and school in multiple counties across the state, Lansdale said.
Upcoming efforts will include pressuring local and state officials to push back against “this federal overreach,” which is not only harmful to immigrants but everyone in the state, including the negative impact on the economy from people afraid to work, shop, and go to school, said Lansdale.
‘Thousands of People Have Powerfully Met the Moment’
In a November 19 news release, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called Operation Charlotte’s Web “a major win for the residents of Charlotte,” stating it made arrests of “numerous criminal illegal aliens with extensive immigration and criminal histories.”
However, less than one-third of those arrested in the operation were classified as criminals, according to CBS News, which analyzed DHS data.
And nationally, 65 percent of people booked into detention by ICE since October 2024 have no criminal convictions at all, and more than 93 percent were never convicted of violent offenses, according to an analysis of non-public ICE data obtained by the non-partisan Cato Institute.
Since no one knows where federal agents will appear next in North Carolina, the goal is to ensure that every city is ready to respond, Garcia-Sampson said.
“Not to mention, Border Patrol leaving [North Carolina] means they’re going somewhere else,” said Weatherspoon, whose congregation has been involved with immigration as a justice issue for many years.
“The story is about sustained trust and relationships within this network that allows UUs to powerfully contribute to what’s happening now.”
“We are thick in an urgent crisis, and we’re in a marathon at the same time,” said Garcia-Sampson, who noted that UUJNC is part of Blueprint NC, a progressive ecosystem of over 85 partner organizations as well as allies working on a variety of social justice issues.
“The real story of our movement isn’t that thousands of people have powerfully met the moment but that this is a sustained movement rooted in a lot of trust and a lot of collaboration,” Garcia-Sampson said, “and that these types of trainings and preparation and readiness have been happening for a very long time here. This week was really a test of that network, and it brought thousands and thousands of new people into the work.
“The story is about sustained trust and relationships within this network that allows UUs to powerfully contribute to what’s happening now.”