Written by: Sam Garrett
Note: Out of an abundance of caution and the fear associated with the subject matter, some of the proper names and places of business for individuals interviewed are intentionally excluded from this story.
On November 18, federal agents arrived in Boone to sleep for one night. It is unclear whether those agents were with ICE, CBP or another agency.
The internet, office and church conversations over six days since were full of incorrect information. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations are confirmed to have occurred in Caldwell County on November 19. It is not confirmed that the agents in Boone performed those operations. The following are facts available at time of publication:
Timeline of events
Tuesday, November 18, 2025:
- Multiple federal immigration officials arrived in Boone and Blowing Rock and checked into at least four local hotels.
- The word spread throughout the High Country within hours.
- Two confirmed conversations took place between local businesses and federal agents about access to I-9 documents for their workforce.
- At least five restaurants closed for the night before dinner.
- Social media activity related to the sightings increased.
- A protest took place on Blowing Rock Road with over 100 participants displaying signs and lifting their voices.
- A smaller group of those protestors made their way to the entrance of the Fairfield Inn and congregated around the entrance.
- Boone Police Department was called to Fairfield Inn and the group disbanded.
- Multiple vehicles drove around Fairfield Inn honking their horns and yelling, “Fuck ICE” until well after 2 a.m.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025:
- Federal immigration officials met in the parking lot at Shoppes on the Parkway, donned tactical gear and drove southbound out of Watauga County on NC Highway 321 before 11:00 a.m. The group consisted of at least nine SUVs and one Sprinter-style van transporting more than 20 agents.
- The majority of Mexican restaurants in the High Country closed for the day.
- Many hotel cleaning staff communicated that they would not be working on Wednesday or the remainder of the week.
- Many Christmas tree farm workers called out.
- A noticeable number of Hispanic/Latinx students did not attend K-12 schools.
- A group of approximately 50 protesters assembled on Blowing Rock Road in the late afternoon, without incident.
Thursday, November 20, 2025:
- Some Mexican restaurants remained closed all day and evening.
- Some Mexican restaurants closed during the day and opened for dinner.
- A large protest took place at The Jones House at 5:00 p.m. with well over 300 participants.
Several stories and accounts of alleged incidents spread over the internet on November 18 and 19. Following hours of phone calls and face to face conversations, High Country Press has determined the following “accounts” of events are false:
- Students being pulled from classes at Appalachian State University by immigrations agents
- Agents enlisting the help of Boone Police Department or the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office to conduct raids
- Agents forcing Boone Police Department to arrest individuals who took pictures of them at hotels
- Agents conducting investigations at Appalachian State University’s or Watauga High School’s campuses
- Agents making two arrests at Lowe’s Home Improvement. The two names of the “arrested” individuals seem to be fake.
- Agents having a confrontation in Blowing Rock which required the Blowing Rock Police Department to intervene and escort agents back to their hotel
- The photos of “ICE” with Ashe County sheriff’s deputies; The photos relate to a large-scale drug trafficking bust that took place last week. Agents are not involved in that drug bust or those raids.
High Country Press spoke with Sheriff Len Hagaman right after his monthly local law enforcement executives meeting on Thursday, November 20. The meeting included chiefs and command staff of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, Boone Police, Blowing Rock Police, Seven Devils Police, Beech Mountain Police, Appalachian State Police, and the UNC Hospital Police.
“I have not received any information from ICE,” Hagaman said. “I think it is clear that they are in Charlotte and Raleigh, but nothing about here.”
Hagaman reported his contact with other law enforcement revealed no collaboration with ICE or CBP.
“From what I understand from my counterparts, local law enforcement authorities in Mecklenburg and Wake counties have not been, nor do they expect to be asked to assist, as it is a federal government operation,” Hagaman said.
He also mentioned that weeks prior, the local law enforcement executives received a presentation from the Immigrant Justice Coalition. The coalition’s representatives spoke about its mission and their faith based project.
“It is important to continue our many years of working together as a community and that our dialogue and trust continue,” Hagaman said.
On Friday, High Country Press spoke with a bartender and manager at a local Mexican restaurant in the afternoon after they reopened. The bartender reported working at the same restaurant for over 20 years and expressed appreciation to be back to work.
“It’s good that we are back to work,” the bartender said. “So many people need the money they make every day.”
Discussing the events from earlier that week, he referenced the widespread fear experienced by even people who have all their paperwork and are citizens, including his daughter.
“My daughter went to school, but we had a neighbor take her,” he said. “She was not sure what was going on; she is young and in elementary school.”
Similarly, the restaurant manager, also employed there for over 20 years, explained why the business decided to close for a couple of days.
“We had to close [because] we did not have enough help,” he said. “People like to eat here, but when you have full tables and not enough people to work, people get upset. We had to close. We didn’t want to let down our customers.”
The restaurant tried to allow some employees to work even when they were closed to the public.
“We are open seven days a week, so we decided to let some people work and clean and do basic repairs in the kitchen,” he said. “It was nice to get some things done in the kitchen.”
He discussed his concern for his staff.
“People didn’t feel safe on Tuesday and Wednesday and they don’t feel safe today,” he said. “People need everything they earn each week to survive; taking two days off is hard – hard to pay bills.”
He questioned why agents would come to Boone and said he had a guess.
“I heard the head of ICE is from Watauga County,” he said. “Maybe he wanted his friends to see where he grew up.”
The restaurant manager has been in the United States for many decades and has all his paperwork. Like many others, he expressed confusion.
“I have all of my paperwork, but people are still scared, even with paperwork.”
By mid-afternoon on Wednesday, numerous civic, religious and nonprofit organizations created what was described as an underground food railroad to provide food and supplies to families staying at home out of fear or employer closures. One organization helping feed families was Foscoe Home Team. High Country Press spoke with Sherrye Trice, executive director at Foscoe Home Team.
“On Saturday, after we closed, we were stocking shelves and a man peeked his head in our door and said, ‘I know you’re closed. I’m sorry, but we are hungry,’” Trice said.
Trice explained the man, joined by his wife, two children and a grandparent, had not worked all week, was terrified of ICE and was afraid to leave their home to get food.
“We did not ask for ID and we did not hesitate,” Trice said. “We gave him groceries for the weekend and asked him to come back on Tuesday. Hunger crosses all borders. Foscoe Home Team is a safety net for the High Country.”
Yolanda Adams, the executive director of Q’Pasa Appalachia, has been in contact with law enforcement throughout the week. Q’Pasa Appalachia was notified last Sunday that ICE/CBP had been conducting operations in Charlotte and they could be coming to the area. It was confirmed on Monday that they would be in Boone starting on Tuesday.
“I have been a part of this community for decades [and] we work together and help each other,” Adams said. “This was the case during Covid and Helene; those events impacted everyone. This was different; this was just impacting a part of the community – the Hispanic and Latino community.”
According to Adams, Q’Pasa is focused on advocacy and education. Education is one of their biggest tasks.
“A lot of the fear was based on misinformation and the lack of knowledge,” Adams said. “Everyone’s immigration story is a maze; no two paths are the same. The rules change constantly and the system is incredibly broken.”
Many people who do not know the Hispanic community have misconceptions about how they treat criminals.
“People think we want to hide criminals,” Adams said. “Why would we want those people in our community? We don’t want them in our homes or community.”
Q’Pasa has worked with local law enforcement agencies, arranging community gatherings to work together. One message from law enforcement has been, if a person has someone living with them who has a warrant or is wanted, they should not let them live with them as the collateral damage is too great.
According to Nancy Crawford, executive director of Q’Pasa Appalachia Avery, “We work with law enforcement so we can have a level of trust and respect.”
Government estimates in July of 2024 show 54,997 people live in Watauga County and, according to Adams, around 11% are Hispanic/Latino. That suggests there are a little more than 6,000 members of that community in Watauga County.
A bright spot from last week’s visit by federal agents is that hundreds of people connected on a Q-Pasa WhatsApp group, more than doubling the number of members to 978. The core communication group for Q’Pasa provides information about available resources.
David Jackson, chief executive officer of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce and Tim Futrelle, mayor of Boone both issued statements about the situation, which are included here in their entirety.
A letter from David Jackson
ICE Dear Boone Area Chamber of Commerce members
Dear Boone Area Chamber of Commerce members,
Over the past 14 months, we have seen our community come together in ways that have been nothing short of inspiring. The action of neighbors helping neighbors has been more than a catch phrase, it’s been an intentional decision of how we choose to respond for one another as a community. Many residents were born and raised here while some, like me, have arrived in our community from other parts of the state, country, and world, and now call the High Country home. It’s in that spirit of connecting with those that share the special bond of place where we have benefited from strong and genuine human connections that have been our sunshine on the good days and have helped us through difficult challenges when necessary.
As many of you have seen, broad immigration enforcement activity has escalated across North Carolina over the last several days, and our community has been directly impacted by fear, anxiety, and even misinformation. Reports indicate that individuals detained in areas around Charlotte and Raleigh have included everyday workers—crew members installing holiday decorations, grocery store employees, and individuals picked up near churches, apartment complexes, and businesses.
As a Chamber, we believe it is essential to support a stable, reliable workforce and to ensure that employers have the information they need to protect their teams and their operations. For decades, businesses across our region and the nation have relied on the contributions of immigrants who work hard, pay taxes, and help fuel our local economy. Indiscriminate enforcement actions create uncertainty for employers and employees alike and do not provide a productive path forward.
We call on our federal and state leaders—on both sides of the aisle—to pursue practical, lawful, and workable solutions that strengthen our nation’s security while supporting the businesses and workers who keep our economy moving. Clear, consistent pathways for legal immigration and workforce stability benefit employers, families, and our entire community.
We also encourage our local community to be mindful about realities of what the last few days have been like for our neighbors and valued members of our community who have been thrust into a world of uncertainty and fear. Just as much as we strive to see practical action around immigration, we must be rooted in facts. We’ve seen business disruption over the last several days impacting numerous sectors of our economy. Many of our residents have legal status, work visas, or are on a proper path to legal citizenship. Families need to know exactly what is happening, and I want to thank members of our local law enforcement community, Q’Pasa Appalachia, and Watauga County Immigrant Justice
Coalition for providing fact-based answers in the past 72-hours. We’ve been able to provide reassurance and reasonable action steps to those that are trying to deal with another community disruption. Many of these businesses are among those still battling back from the storm’s impacts, and this latest swirl of emotion and activity is eroding much needed progress.
To help you navigate the current environment, we invite you to join an emergency employer call hosted by the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) on Friday, November 21 at 11:30 AM Agenda includes practical legal guidance, community perspective, lessons we’ve learned alongside Chicago employers during recent CBP operations, and how employers can help deliver a clear message to lawmakers: With the border secure, it’s time to secure the workforce.
David Jackson President/CEO
A letter from Tim Futrelle
Mayor Tim Futrelle Issues Statement on I.C.E. Presence in Boone
As Mayor of Boone, it is my understanding that at this time the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (I.C.E.) is not conducting formal operations inside Boone’s jurisdiction. However, I want to be unequivocally clear: I strongly oppose any unannounced or unnecessary activities by I.C.E. within our town limits. Boone is a community built on trust, cooperation, and the fundamental belief that every resident deserves safety and dignity.
The Town of Boone is fully capable of maintaining public safety and fulfilling all necessary duties. The Town has not requested federal law enforcement intervention, nor has any circumstance warranted it. Unannounced or unnecessary operations by I.C.E. undermine community trust, create fear, and disrupt the relationships our officers work hard to build with all members of the Boone community. These actions do not reflect our values or support the work we are committed to doing here at home.
At this time, I am formally requesting that I.C.E. refrain from any law-enforcement activity within the Town of Boone unless such actions are explicitly coordinated with and requested by local leadership, in accordance with established protocols and demonstrated need. We request that federal agencies respect the autonomy, expertise, and authority of local officials who know this community best.
Boone remains committed to being a welcoming, safe, and united town for every person who calls it home.
Sincerely,
Tim Futrelle, Mayor of Boone
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