Opinion: Has the campaign of fear against Latinos in NC awoken a sleeping giant?

Brutal treatment and indiscriminate policing by federal law enforcement shown across social media has galvanized thousands of Latinos in NC and beyond. 

Ding! “Walmart-CH-All clear as of 8:45 AM.” 

My phone notified me of the text, one of many I would get as I drove around parts of North Carolina last week looking for immigration enforcement. 

I had been trained not too long before at a local church. When I got there, the line moved quickly, two rows of volunteers waiting to be let inside the large church that served as our gathering spot. There were young people excited to do something, and older people who felt they needed to get involved. 

At the top of the lines were two young Latina women taking down the names and information of people of all races and ethnicities who wanted to be trained on how to respond to the crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) patrols that swept across North Carolina last week. 

At my training, more than 250 volunteers had shown up to learn how to track and verify rumors of patrols in their neighborhoods, notifying the larger group using their phones. 

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As fear gripped the Latino community, people of all stripes were eager to do something about it, if only to be the eyes and ears of the country’s mass deportation policy that had come to their backyard in North Carolina. I was one of them, learning how to dispel rumors from my car, input what I saw on my phone, and coordinate with others on locations to make sure they were clear of ICE and CBP so that people could move around again in those areas. Once I got involved, my phone never stopped dinging with information from a network of volunteers. 

It still hasn’t stopped. 

As ICE and CBP pushed deeper into the heart of North Carolina, their overreach has sparked a powerful response. 

Latino residents—many of whom had rarely taken part in civic life—are now galvanized, stepping forward, organizing, and receiving training to confront the cruelty unleashed on their communities by federal agents. Many are young U.S. citizens, and a part of the second generation that has grown up here. They are joined by white and Black allies who are horrified by the images filling their phones. What began as a reaction to aggressive enforcement is rapidly becoming the foundation of a broader movement with the potential to reshape the political and civic landscape in the South and beyond.

Ding! “Lowes Home Improvement parking lot. Clear as of 10:30 AM.” I am not the first to point out that while Latino population numbers have increased in North Carolina, their impact in the voting booth has not. Nationally, Latinos are almost 20% of the population; we are 11% in North Carolina and the state’s fastest-growing demographic. 

And yet, the Latino vote decreased by 2% in 2024 compared to 2020. The answer as to why is simple. We are a young population with a median age of 25, and young people are too busy having families and building their careers to get too involved.

With the crackdown and the brutal treatment of people by ICE and CBP, that may now be changing. Nothing has galvanized the Latino community more than to see people who look like them have their car windows smashed, thrown to the ground, and taken away by armed masked men. The images are shocking not only to Latinos but to millions around the country, regardless of race. I suspect only the most hardened MAGA supporters tolerate these images of abuse. 

For U.S. citizen Latinos like me, the message is clear from Washington: If you look Latino you are not or ever were a true citizen, and you are subject to detainment. Our citizenship is conditional. Our presence undesirable. Our expulsion necessary. 

Fear paints our Carolina skies. But the reaction in the form of organizing and involvement from thousands of newly-engaged Latinos shows that this cruelty may have a lasting and unforeseen impact on North Carolina politics. 

In 1994, California, then a red swing state much like North Carolina, passed Proposition 187, which sought to deny education and other services to unauthorized immigrants, mostly Latinos. The response to the referendum galvanized Latinos to turn out and vote in record numbers along with allies. It turned California blue ever since. This latest crackdown is showing signs of a similar massive shift in North Carolina today. 

Awakening the sleeping giant of Latino voters and their allies across the country to turn out and participate in political civic life might be Trump’s legacy, as it was with Gov. Pete Wilson and California in the 1990s. 

We shall see what the lasting consequences are. One thing is for certain; my phone is dinging nonstop. And the call will be answered. 

Ding! “Can we get someone to check the grocery store parking lot? 12:00 noon.” 

Paul Cuadros is an award-winning investigative reporter and author whose work has appeared in The New York Times and National Public Radio, among other national and local publications. This column is syndicated by Beacon Media and is available to republish for free on all platforms under Beacon Media’s guidelines.

 

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