Interview with Erik Valera
As ICE steps up its deportations, we are hearing reports from around the country about folks feeling afraid to send their kids to school, report to work, or even just go to the grocery store or a place of worship. They no longer feel safe in environments that we typically think of as being safe spaces. Yet these are hardworking and taxpaying residents caring for their families and contributing to their communities and economies.
Everyone contributes to our communities through taxes—regardless of immigration status. Many people without a Social Security number work as independent contractors, own small businesses, or use an IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to file their state and federal income taxes, even if they don’t have legal immigration status. On top of that, we all pay sales tax every time we buy goods or services. Homeowners pay property taxes directly, and renters pay them indirectly through their rent. These contributions are enormous. A recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that undocumented workers in North Carolina contribute nearly $700 million in state and local taxes each year.
ICE detentions and deportations are tearing these hardworking, taxpaying families apart. When a parent or caretaker is detained or deported, their children can feel anxiety or depression. They may have trouble sleeping or concentrating at school. Families live with the constant fear of not knowing where a loved one is, whether they are safe, or if they will ever see them again. In some cases, children who are U.S. citizens are placed in foster care; or they are left to care for themselves. It’s all very stressful and takes a toll on the financial and emotional well-being of these families.
I was eager to hear from a community leader who has been advocating for immigrant communities for years. Erik Valera speaks out about how critical it is to understand the plight of immigrants in our communities. The views that Erik expresses in this interview are his own.
Can you share examples of the emotional trauma you are hearing about in Chapel Hill-Carrboro?
I talked to someone who told me that their 10-year son called them at work, in the middle of the son’s school day, crying. His friends were telling him that he was going to get deported. These kinds of conversations are just speculative, but they raise anxiety and fear within the immigrant community. Parents are nervous too. They have seen schools and workplaces targeted across the country, and they are afraid it will happen here. We’re not completely safe from ICE either.
There can be lots of confusion around a family’s immigration status. In some families, this is not a topic of discussion that parents have with their children. Some teens may not know their status, or that of other family members, until they go to the Division of Motor Vehicles for the first time – and discover that they don’t have the needed documents, or discover that their family is of mixed status. That’s a lot to take in during a routine trip to the DMV to get a learner’s permit or driver’s license.
What are some of the steps being taken locally to relieve the fear around ICE?
Siembra NC is helping to create 4th Amendment Workplaces. Carrboro just set the bar. On May 20, 2025, the Carrboro Town Council passed a resolution supporting 4th Amendment Workplaces requiring a judicial warrant to enter non-public areas or access non-public records. This is not just an issue for the immigrant community. This is about everyone’s civil rights, worker safety, due process, and basic constitutional protections. No one should face a warrantless search at their place of business. I applaud Carrboro Town Council for approving the resolution and urge Chapel Hill Town Council to follow suit. The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro can and should encourage local businesses to be trained as 4th Amendment workplaces.
Siembra has also launched ICE Watch, a program that trains folks to call a 24-hour hotline (336-543-0353) if they suspect ICE activity in their neighborhood. Siembra will then come to the neighborhood to investigate. If they verify that ICE is there, word spreads fast. Protesters are quickly mobilized. This is what happened recently in Durham when Siembra learned of ICE Agents at the County Courthouse and spread the word on social media. Hundreds of people showed up to protest. We need neighbors to form these kinds of citizen watches, to put more eyes on ICE and help protect due process and civil rights.
We also need more eyes on the General Assembly. Tell me about the status of some of the anti-immigration bills being considered in Raleigh.
HB 10 was approved in the last session. It permits ICE agents to request that local law enforcement agencies hold someone for up to 48 hours past their scheduled release time so that their immigration status can be checked.
HB 318, approved this session over the Governor’s veto, takes it one step further. It makes it mandatory for local sheriffs to cooperate fully with ICE, under an even broader set of circumstances than HB 10, or face the consequences such as a loss of state funding or even lawsuits. The Democrat [Carla Cunningham] who joined Republicans to reverse the Governor’s veto should be primaried.
These anti-immigration bills approved by the General Assembly are not just eroding trust in local law enforcement; they are eroding trust in all of local government. I say this because local government works best when people believe it’s there for everyone. When certain groups are singled out, that trust breaks down.
Public health programs lose participation, social services can’t reach everyone who needs help, and even public safety takes a hit. People are afraid to call the police when they are in danger – or even when they are a victim of a crime – for fear of putting their family at risk of deportation. In the end, everyone in the community feels the impact of this legislation.
The Democratic Party seems to be grappling with how best to block these sweeping changes in immigration, at the state and federal levels. Why is that?
There is division within the party between established Democrats and Progressives. The division is causing lots of infighting. It’s very frustrating. There is way too much talk and not enough action. We’re getting in our own way. We must develop more leadership from within the party. We must get more people from within the immigrant community to run for office. We need to help them stand up and become a voice for those who are being targeted, bullied, and deported.
Our country has seen this before; it’s not all new. But we’ve never seen it manifest itself in quite this way. We’re moving toward authoritarianism. That’s very scary. The silence from the Democratic Party during this time is deafening.
We need leaders willing to step up and speak out, especially at the local level. Local government is often the first and last line of defense. Local leaders are the defenders of community values. If we lose trust in local government, and if we allow our shared community values to erode, we’re really in trouble. We need to find a way to come together – in shared spaces like libraries and coffee shops – to help maintain trust in local government and in all of those we count on to protect us.
