WILMINGTON — Roughly 200 participants waved signs and chanted along 17th Street last week in protest of immigration and customs enforcement officers nationally, but also to draw attention to any local presence. The protest ended with a “die-in” — which had protestors outlining in chalk the bodies of people in attendance, in the parking lot of the Customs and Border Protection Office on Medical Center Drive.
“We are here, we are memorializing these folks,” Immigrant Allies Forum leader Katie Randall said, confirming the protest was held in honor of Alex Pretti, a veteran ICU nurse who was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.
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People gathered Jan. 30 in front of Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center before marching to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office on Medical Center Drive. The CBP office was closed upon arrival, but didn’t deter chanters: “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state.”
They also held a “die-in,” with people lying on the ground, as others traced their bodies, signifying those who passed away while in ICE custody. The form of protest was popularized in the 1960s and ‘70s during anti-war movements to draw attention to injustices and causes like the AIDS crisis.
“We have hateful people harping online and saying terrible things about our fallen comrade at arms. But we know that it’s people like Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good who represent the very best of us,” John Herrmann of Indivisible Southeast North Carolina said. “The very worst among us have taken control of the government, and they’re using the power of the state to crush dissent.”
A dozen advocacy organizations were part of the nationwide movement for ICE to cease aggressive activities. There were more than 300 protests nationwide Friday calling for end ICE’s to end the violence.
According to The Guardian, who sourced information from ICE, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Civil Liberties Union, American Oversight and Physicians for Human Rights, 32 died in custody in 2025 and eight people were killed while interacting with ICE so far in 2026.
The local protest was referred to as the “brain child” of Randall and the Immigrant Allies Forum — which provides legal assistance, immigration advocacy, and organizes public action. Though organizers also were from Indivisible Actions Southeast North Carolina and co-hosted alongside Brunswick Indivisible, ILM Action Network, ILM Democratic Socialists of America, Indivisible Wilmington, the lowercase leaders, Make NC Work, National Black Leadership Caucus, North Carolina AFL-CIO, SE North Carolina Women Forward, Siembra NC, and Women Organizing for Wilmington.
According to Randall, Immigrant Allies Forum began planning the protest three days after Pretti’s death. The starting point in front of the hospital honored Pretti’s role as a “helper,” as Randall explained it, while the final location was a message for local agents.
“Most folks don’t know that we have a CBP office here in Wilmington, and we wanted to bring visibility to that. We have ICE agents in Wilmington. We have CBP agents in Wilmington,” Randall told Port City Daily. “I see this almost like a preventative action — letting folks know that there are people here who are very upset about what’s happening elsewhere and we don’t want that kind of thing happening in Wilmington.”
CBP agents enforce immigration laws in Wilmington at Port of Wilmington and ILM Airport and nationwide at borders and past entry points.
The protest on Friday drew in honks of support along 17th Street and incited a heated argument among drivers at a red light. Against two drivers nearby, one motorist argued in favor of the protest saying she watched the video of “ICE murdering American citizens.”
The community gathering brought in several generations of Wilmingtonians, including University of North Carolina Wilmington students. This included Kiara Brecht and Lisa Watson, two social work majors.
“It’s important to emphasize with our profession as social workers that it’s a part of our values and ethics to stand up for the community and to be politically active,” Brecht said. “We need to be outspoken, and we need to protect those who are most vulnerable. That is part of the [National Association of Social Workers] code of ethics.”
Aside from drawing community attention, Randall and other members of the advocacy network hoped to address New Hanover County’s contract with the federal agency to hold ICE detainees while deportation cases are being processed. The New Hanover County Detention Center holds detainees from the county but also neighboring areas like Columbus County, Alamance County, and even Raleigh.
As of December 1, 2024, local jails are required to hold detainees for up to 48 hours upon federal request in the state of North Carolina, according to House Bill 10. However, the Global Detention Project has documented detentions in New Hanover County from as early as 2017. Oversight documents from before December 2024 published by ICE state that NHC Detention Center has been contracted by ICE since 2012, under the oversight of the Atlanta office’s enforcement and removal operations director.
The detention center’s contract is not the same as the 287(g) program, which affords local law enforcement the ability to execute immigration laws. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office is not a part of the program, though officers are now required to check the immigration status of arrested individuals due to the passage of H.B. 318 in 2025.
Port City Daily reached out to the NHC Sheriff’s Office to ask how many immigrants were being detained at the county jail and inquired into the county’s contract but did not receive a response by press.
Randall commented how arrests in the Cape Fear region are often a result of traffic stops, which could be influenced by racial profiling. According to NC Local, between Jan. 20 and Oct. 15, 2025, ICE made 68 arrests in the county.
As last reported by Port City Daily, local arrests in the Cape Fear list some immigrants being detained on the way to work or while leaving their home, according to information provided by an ICE activity map operated by Siembra.
Before protesters marched from the medical center to the customs and border protection office, Herrmann spoke to those who gathered.
“We have law enforcement officers being judge, jury, and issuing a sentence,” he said. “The current administration has caused people to feel they have to hide in the shadows. People are afraid to go to work, to go to school, to seek medical care, because the government is snatching people off the streets without due process.”
He added that while what has been happening in Minneapolis and hasn’t reached Wilmington’s doorstep yet, the advocacy network is prepared if the same pushback arrives.
“I would rather die fighting for a free county than submit to living in an unfree one,” Hermann said.
Hermann added that while the new Wilmington City Council composition — wholly Democratic now since the 2025 municipal election — was more sympathetic to the network’s arguments, the county commissioners were still “compromised.” The five-member board is Republican-leaning, 3-2.
“That’s something we’re trying to encourage voters in New Hanover County to change in their fall election,” Hermann said. “They’re not really looking out for the greater good.”
With a third No Kings Day incoming March 28, what’s next for Herrmann and Indivisible SENC is trying to organize small-scale projects. Specifically, he wants to identify vulnerable areas and routes in the community to place “allies” there. He listed an example of assigning volunteers by bus stops to protect children and families from ICE agents and random stops and ensure children arrive at school safely, particularly in areas and school districts with higher Latino populations.
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