As President Donald Trump's administration continues efforts to remove people who are in the country illegally, one specific group in North Carolina is paying close attention. There’s a large population in North Carolina who’ve come here from India. 

What You Need To Know

  • The deportation of some Indian migrants sent shockwaves through much of the Indian American community in North Carolina

  • Indian Asians are the largest minority representing Asia in North Carolina

  • Local leaders are now coaching fellow Indian Americans on how to handle an ICE agent knocking on their door 

Chari Kambara offers a taste of his Indian homeland in Cary at the Bharath Cafe. The businessman said he’s lived in America for more than 27 years, but said there’s a growing concern over deportations and how they’re being handled.

“Even though they are legal and have a legitimate Visa, the problem is they don’t know who or when they will get stopped,” Kambara said.

However, the assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security said no raids are happening against people who are here legally.

Still, Kambara said recent arrests of people has him worried.

Group volunteers with Siembra N.C., a grassroots organization designed in 2017 to combat Trump’s immigration policy during his first term, said several people of Indian origin were arrested in Durham last week.  

Emily Ingebretsen lives in the area and shared what she saw.

“They were covered in tactical gear with guns, tasers and cuffs. We then saw several men coming out in cuffs and some of them were actually in chains. Which was really upsetting to see,” Ingebretsen said.

A similar scene of a separate deportation captured on video showed more than 100 Indian migrants in shackles boarding a plane.

When asked about the shackled deportees, DHS Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin explained the institution’s logic behind this form of restraint for transporting them home.

“The use of restraints on detainees during deportation flights is a standard ICE protocol and an essential measure to ensure the safety and well-being of both detainees and the officers/agents accompanying them," McLaughlin wrote in a statement. "Our practices align with those followed by other relevant authorities and is fully in line with established legal standards.”

The greater Indian American community is afraid that they will be viewed as criminals as more people are detained and deported.

“Sends a message that every Indian that's been done (to), this has committed a crime. And that's not necessarily true,” Morrisville Town Councilman Steve Rao said.

Rao said he and other local leaders are partnering with organizations like the North Carolina Association of Indian Americans to educate people about their rights.

Their advice is to keep proper documentation on you at all times, and know what to do if someone does show up to your front door.

"I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls as a community leader, public official, longest serving Indian American elected (in North Carolina). There is anxiety and fear among business owners who are scared or frustrated because they don’t know what is going to happen,” Rao said.

The Pew Research Center reports the third largest population of unauthorized immigrants come from India with 725,000 people in the states. 

The Triangle in particular has one of the state’s largest number of Indian Americans employed in the technology workforces here on an H1B1 visa.

Rao is concerned highly-skilled labor could stop coming to avoid the hassle and perceived risk.

He said the economic consequences could be devastating.

“We don’t want them going to Canada or other places,” Rao said. “But when you just show up on the doorstep, nobody really knows these things so that’s why there is all fear and anxiety.”