Flush with billions of dollars from federal funding, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expanding its permanent presence on the ground by opening field offices and creating new detention centers. A majority of these divisive ICE projects are happening in the South, including several proposed facilities in North Carolina. But communities, from large metropolitan areas to rural small towns, are pushing back.

Featuring:

• Aaron Sánchez-Guerra, race, class & communities Reporter at WUNC News
• Cal Bryant, editor at the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald
• Eric Westervelt, senior editor-correspondent at NPR

Links:

• WUNC News: From rural towns to urban centers, proposed ICE detention facilities face local opposition
• NPR: Mapping ICE's expanding footprint, and the communities fighting back

Cover photo: Lifelong Ahoskie, North Carolina resident Kim Hoggard participates in a protest on Saturday, March 14, 2026 against a proposed immigration detention facility in Hertford County. Credit: Aaron Sánchez-Guerra

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