Seven mayors from across North Carolina – including Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Durham – have signed a joint statement declaring “unwavering opposition” to recent raids by federal immigration officials.

ICE officials said last week that more than 200 individuals had been taken into custody during recent raids and that not all of those arrested had criminal backgrounds.

“The ICE raids have struck terror in the hearts of many of our valued community members,” the mayors wrote in the statement released Thursday. “They have broken apart families, separating parents from their children.”

The raids occurred after several elections for sheriff were won by candidates who pledged to end their office’s participation in a program that holds undocumented immigrants past the date of their release to allow for ICE to take the individual into custody.

Orange County has not participated in the program in recent years. The races for sheriff in Durham and Wake counties came down to candidates who were on each side of the argument over the program. The sheriff pledging to end the practice won in both of those races. Sheriffs in other large counties also rode their promises to end the program to election victories.

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood was targeted in a press release by ICE for the practice last year after an individual was arrested by federal officials after serving a prison term in Orange County and being released. There was also concern last spring during a series of ICE raids around the region, even as some sheriff’s offices at the time participated in the holding program.

“We cannot stop ICE from operating in our cities, but we can and must speak out against these raids which destabilize neighborhoods, traumatize children, hurt many innocent people, and create distrust of law enforcement,” the mayors wrote. “The negative collateral consequences of these raids on our cities is enormous.”

Joining Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger and Durham Mayor Steve Schewel in signing Thursday’s letter were mayors from Asheville, Burlington, Fayetteville and Greensboro.

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