At least 10 people detained at Columbus County checkpoint, NC advocacy group says

At least 10 people were arrested or detained Thursday evening during a license checkpoint operation in Tabor City, according to Siembra NC, an immigrant rights advocacy group. 

The checkpoint took place near N.C. Highway 904 and Pireway Road between about 5:30 and 7 p.m., Siembra NC said. 

Video obtained by the group shows a man wearing a badge standing near two men sitting in the grass next to a road. The seated men’s hands are behind their backs. 

Multiple witnesses told the organization that Latino drivers were asked where they were born, and people who could not produce state identification were arrested. Witnesses also reported that passengers, not just drivers, were questioned about their immigration status and asked to provide citizenship documents, and some were detained.

Javier Carbajal, an electrician who encountered the checkpoint while driving home with his coworkers, said he presented his driver’s license but was ordered out of his car and patted down by a sheriff’s deputy. 

He said a passenger in his car was also questioned about his documents and was arrested after he couldn’t produce them. 

“We are electricians. We were just coming home after a long day of work,” he said. 

Carbajal also reported seeing multiple other people put inside a van. Two other witnesses told Siembra NC they saw Latino men on the side of the road with their hands in zip ties. 

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As of Friday, several families who contacted the advocacy group were still trying to determine where their family members had been taken. Families reported contacting detention centers in Onslow, Columbus and New Hanover counties without finding some of the detainees, Siembra NC said. 

The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office participates in the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency’s 287(g) Task Force, which allows local law enforcement to perform some federal immigration enforcement tasks with ICE supervision. 

The sheriff’s office declined to confirm the checkpoint or the arrests. The office said it could not release information because it was part of an ongoing investigation. 

The incident follows a similar checkpoint in Tabor City earlier this month, when Siembra NC said at least three people encountered by law enforcement were moved into ICE custody. 

The organization said it’s continuing to document Thursday’s arrests and is working to determine where detainees were taken and which agencies were involved.