Siembra NC said two Durham Public School students and their parents were deported earlier this week. The group said that family had been in the U.S. since 2022, seeking asylum from Honduras.
“They should be able to work with dignity and with the communities that they love and have cared for for so long,” said Leila Zak, a Duke sophomore. “They should also not have to fear being ushered into detention centers and fear returning to (Honduras).”
But it just so happened the summit took place in Asheville, North Carolina, where activists had already asked, “What would it take to make this the safest state for immigrants in the south?” as Andrew Willis Garcés, senior strategist with the immigrant justice organization Siembra NC, puts it.
Unable to drive herself because of a high-risk pregnancy, Kimberlin Lemus said she had already missed her appointment with the Mecklenburg County health department weeks before.
Outside of the Melvin Municipal Building located in Greensboro, North Carolina, hundreds of local residents gathered to honor the lives that have been lost across the nation due to ICE-involved shootings, more specifically to celebrate the life of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good who was killed during an ICE operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7, 2026.
