Tabor City, NC — At least 10 people were arrested or detained during a late-September checkpoint in Columbus County, according to immigrant-rights group Siembra NC, which says Latino drivers and passengers were questioned about their immigration status.
The checkpoint operated near N.C. Highway 904 and Pireway Road between roughly 5:30 and 7 p.m. Witnesses told Siembra NC that some drivers were asked where they were born and that passengers were also asked to provide documentation.
Javier Carbajal, an electrician traveling home with coworkers, said he showed his driver’s license but was ordered out of his vehicle and searched. He said a passenger was arrested after being unable to produce documents. Other witnesses reported seeing men restrained with zip ties and several people placed in a van.
Families later told advocates they had difficulty determining where some detainees had been taken. The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office declined to confirm the arrests, citing an ongoing investigation.
The sheriff’s office participates in ICE’s 287(g) Task Force program, which authorizes designated local officers to perform certain federal immigration-enforcement functions under ICE supervision.
The incident has prompted civil-liberties concerns from advocates, who argue that questioning passengers about immigration status and detaining people without clear public information warrants closer scrutiny. Similar enforcement practices elsewhere in North Carolina are already being challenged in federal court.
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