Dozens of Winston-Salem residents gathered on a Waughtown street corner Thursday to protest the federal immigration crackdown that has swept across North Carolina this week.
Car horns and whistles sounded as demonstrators waved flags and held signs reading “Your ancestors were immigrants too” and “These are human lives.”
Organizer Marilyn Lacunza says many community members are in hiding and businesses have shuttered as Border Patrol carves a path through the state.
“No one should have to deal with the fear of being attacked just because you're taking your kid to school, or, you know, you're getting them something to eat or just simply putting gas in your car.”
Lacunza says some residents are volunteering to patrol streets and report any ICE sightings as Border Patrol shifts operations away from Charlotte. The whistles are a nod to that grassroots alert system.
"Usually the whistles are used in the community to sound the alarm that there is some ICE activity, to let the people that don't want to be near ICE flee from an area," she says. "And then the people that are allies and come and aid and make sure that they're treated like humans.”
Hundreds have been arrested since the crackdown began in the state this week. Advocates say they’re bracing for more enforcement activity in the coming days.