Aquí, juntos: Supporting our neighbors
Carrboro Town Council reaffirms support for immigrant communities | Know your rights: resources to support community safety
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the Triangle on Tuesday caused the cancellation of some school, business, and community events in Carrboro and considerable stress for residents. Although alerts circulated about activity in Carrboro, none were confirmed. Attendance across Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools was down slightly on Tuesday compared to a typical day (366 more absences than usual; about 3.5%). The superintendent issued a statement of support for immigrant families.
The Carrboro Town Council meeting Tuesday evening opened with Mayor Foushee reading a joint statement from the mayors of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and the Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners denouncing "actions that sow fear among community members, undermine our local community safety efforts, and infringe on the human rights of our most vulnerable friends and neighbors."
Next, the Council unanimously approved a resolution reaffirming "the town’s support of immigrant communities and Carrboro’s status as a 4th Amendment Town, urging business, schools, and governments to adopt similar policies." You can view the recorded meeting and hear the supporting statements in full.
What is a 4th Amendment workplace? The 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Carrboro Town Council proclaimed the Town of Carrboro a 4th Amendment workplace on May 20, 2025. The proclamation states, "the Town Manager is to direct Town staff to uphold the 4th Amendment at their workplace and report back to Council any needs or barriers to effective training on the 4th Amendment for any departments; that we encourage all Town of Carrboro workplaces to join this effort to ensure respect for the Constitution and discourage Federal overreach into local communities."
Siembra NC created a toolkit to help businesses protect themselves and their employees. They define a 4th Amendment Workplace as one that: 1) Knows ICE needs a judicial warrant (not administrative) to enter private areas; 2) Trains staff to assert their constitutional rights during search & seizure operations; 3) Protects all workers, regardless of immigration status.
Siembra NC also runs a hotline to report ICE activity: 336-543-0353.
El Centro Hispano wants community members to know that they can call at any time to express any needs they may have: (919) 687-4635. Carta poder gratuita (POA) llamen al (919) 283-6062; Citas gratuitas con un abogado o información y recursos legales llamen al (919) 307-1995.
*Updated to include information from the CHCCS District and El Centro Hispano.