Durham residents express concern after customs arrests in neighborhood

Some Durham residents expressed their concerns Thursday about a U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation in their neighborhood.

Alisa Cullison said she was walking her dog on Thursday morning near West Delafield Avenue and Farthing Street.

“This morning, I saw something that was rather unsettling,” Cullison said.

Cullison said she saw a car driving around in circles.

“I’d never seen this car before,” Cullison said. “There were also several pickup trucks doing the same thing, lingering, turning around, stopping in front of offices where I know that’s not where that car belongs.”

Cullison said one of the cars stopped in front of her house. She said it made her nervous and it prompted her to reach out to other neighbors, including Emily Ingebretsen.

Ingebretsen said she saw people in police vests arresting men in her neighborhood. The officers had their faces covered and had guns and Tasers, Ingebretsen said.

“I decided to come over and ask them what they were doing in our neighborhood because there were concerns,” Ingebretsen said. “They didn’t really give me an answer. They said they were performing [a] law investigation, a legal investigation.”

WRAL News reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Durham County Sheriff's Office and the Durham Police Department to learn more about what happened Thursday.

WRAL News asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection the following questions:

- What happened Thursday?

- What charges brought officers to the Durham neighborhood?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided a statement.

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducted a targeted enforcement operation in the Durham, NC, area today, resulting in the detention of several individuals identified as illegal aliens," the statement reads. "All detainees are currently being held at a federal detention facility pending deportation hearings."

Durham police declined to answer any questions, saying none of its officers were involved in any customs-related operations. Also, the Durham County Sheriff's Office said its deputies were not involved in Thursday's operation.

Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams said he's also looking into what happened on Thursday.

Ingebretsen said she noticed one of the agents had a U.S. Customs and Border Protection badge.

Ingebretsen said she saw men removed from homes wearing cuffs and chains.

“It was really upsetting to see,” Ingebretsen said.

Siembra NC co-director Nikki Marín Baena said she did not know why customs officers took the men from their homes. Siembra NC is an organization that says it fights against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE], abusive employers and landlords and discrimination and criminalization of the Latinx community in North Carolina.

“We say not to speak to someone who does not have a judicial warrant with your name on it,” Baena said. “Do not open the door to someone who does not have a judicial warrant with your name on it.”

Siembra NC received calls Thursday about the law enforcement presence in Durham.

“If these people truly were criminals, judicial warrants signed by a judge would not be difficult to get,” Baena said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said they arrested 11 people identified as illegal aliens. Those people were being held at a federal detention facility pending deportation hearings.

Cullison said she and her spouse chose to live in the Durham neighborhood due to its diversity and the kindness of the people there.

“It really hurts to no end that I couldn’t do more because that is not how I understand community should be,” Cullison said.

“I think it’s just insane to watch your neighbors get plucked out of thin air during the middle of the day,” Ingebretsen said. “That’s not normal.”

Thursday’s news comes after an ICE arrest last weekend in Raleigh. ICE said agents took a 24-year-old man into custody who is a suspected member of a violent gang from Venezuela.