A crowd in Winston-Salem rallied Thursday against the ongoing immigration raids, calling for unity and support as anxiety grips the community.

A federal immigration crackdown based in North Carolina’s largest city that authorities said led to hundreds of arrests is now over, a local law enforcement agency said Thursday.

Federal agents have now arrested more than 250 people during an immigration crackdown in North Carolina centered around Charlotte, the state's largest city. Those totals released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are about double the arrest figures announced earlier this week.

For the rest of this week, volunteers will welcome students at school and act as lookouts should immigration agents show up. Many parents are keeping their children home out of precaution.

The Department of Homeland Security says the number of people arrested in Charlotte since Saturday is now more than 250. Border Patrol agents started sweeping the city five days ago, looking for people present in the country illegally. The Border Patrol has not responded to WFAE’s questions about the identities of those arrested, what they’re charged with or where they’ve been taken.

U.S. Customs and Border patrol agents fanned out across the Triangle Tuesday, leading many businesses that serve or are run by immigrants to close or reduce staff.

The expansion of immigration enforcement in North Carolina worries some Latino residents in the Triad.

The latest estimates from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools show more than 30,000 students were absent Monday, the first school day since Border Patrol deployed in Charlotte.

As part of a sweeping immigration crackdown in Charlotte this week, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a Nicaraguan man who had been working as a car mechanic in east Charlotte. Records reviewed by WFAE didn't show any criminal history for the man — consistent with Border Patrol statistics that show a majority of those taken into custody did not.

Customs and Border Patrol agents arrived in Charlotte over the weekend. Democrats in the N.C. General Assembly blasted their actions during a Monday press conference.