ICE, Forest Service, and Caldwell County deputies arrested 13 people at a North Carolina national-forest recreation site

On July 26, 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers, and Caldwell County, North Carolina sheriff's deputies arrested 13 people during an immigration-enforcement operation at Wilson Creek, a popular swimming and recreation area in Pisgah National Forest in Western North Carolina. ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams said the initial request for the operation came from Forest Service Law Enforcement, which asked ICE and the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office to assist; the Forest Service declined to confirm who initiated the operation. Williams said it was the first time in his nearly eight years with ICE that the agency had worked with the Forest Service in North Carolina. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the 13 arrests in a statement crediting the joint operation with the Sheriff's Office and the Forest Service. ICE said some of those arrested had criminal records but did not specify who or how many; ICE also declined to release the names of those detained.

Among those arrested was a father taken into custody in front of his partner and their 4- and 10-year-old children. Local Latino-advocacy volunteers with Latinos Aventureros, a group that had spent months after Hurricane Helene helping clear and reopen Wilson Creek for public recreation, said the operation left a "real sense of betrayal" and that families now fear using the site. "A huge part of our work has always been telling Latino families: These public lands belong to you, too," said the group's Vivianette Ortiz. "If people are afraid to walk through that gate, then meaningful access has already been damaged." The Sierra Club condemned the operation, warning that expanding 287(g) agreements and ICE funding "could bring similar operations to more communities and public recreation areas." The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office has held a 287(g) cooperation agreement with federal immigration authorities since 2020.

The operation occurred in a region still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which struck in September 2024 and left Western North Carolina short of federal disaster aid nearly two years later, and one month before the area hosted a G20 finance ministers' meeting the administration cited as evidence of the region's recovery. Forest Service law enforcement officers report through a separate regional chain of command from the forest supervisors who oversee other Forest Service activities and, per agency policy, have no authority to enforce immigration law themselves, though the agency says it "routinely partners with Federal, State, Tribal and local police" on other matters. ICE's cooperation with other law enforcement agencies nationwide has expanded sharply under the current administration, from 150 agencies with formal agreements at the end of the first Trump term to more than 1,100 as of this year, according to NBC News reporting cited by WFAE.