Federal immigration officers arrested a woman outside Trinity Food Mart in Durham on Thursday, Nov. 5. Siembra NC believed agents were seeking a specific person.
The arrest took place at a corner store across from a school. Siembra NC viewed the operation as targeted.
A Stop Outside Trinity Food Mart
Enlace Latino NC reported that the detention occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 5 at Trinity Food Mart, 402 W. Trinity Avenue. When that account went up, her name, the reason for the stop, and where she had been taken were not publicly confirmed.
Siembra NC told Enlace Latino that three Homeland Security Investigations agents, a division of ICE, arrived in vehicles with tinted windows, including two black Nissan Altimas, and arrested a woman after approaching her vehicle. Siembra volunteers confirmed that an unmarked vehicle had been left behind by an officer.
Images and videos from the scene circulated on social media. The arrest spread fears of a larger immigration operation in the city.
What DHS Disclosed
DHS disclosed no criminal convictions against her. The department also did not provide further details about where she is detained.
Errands, A Phone Call, And A School
Andreina Malki said Martinez-Gonzalez was running errands and making purchases in the area when she was arrested. After the detention, Martinez-Gonzalez made a quick phone call. Agents took her phone.
Her family knew she had been detained and did not know where she was being taken. Malki contacted them soon afterward, and the family sought legal support for her case.
The arrest disrupted operations at Central Park School for Children, across the street from the food mart. School officials had not promptly responded to WUNC's request for comment.
Malki said fear grows when people think an indiscriminate immigration operation is underway. The reported scene already had a store, a school across the street, and a woman detained near her car.
Two Detentions And A Larger Count
INDY Week reported that two ICE detentions in the Triangle last week stoked fears of a broader crackdown, though advocates said they had found no evidence that immigration agents were making indiscriminate arrests in the area. Siembra NC said it had not confirmed other Triangle arrests that week. Siembra NC said the Durham arrest appeared to be targeted.
The other detention began with a car accident in Pittsboro on Nov. 2. INDY Week identified the man as Wagner Juan Saldaña Rojas and reported that he was transferred to ICE custody two days later.
ICE said it arrested and deported more people during a recent 12-month period than at any time in its 23-year history. WUNC reported that the agency deported 483,200 people in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 9% over the previous high of 442,640 in the same period a year earlier and 78% over 271,480 in 2024.
More than 65,000 people are in immigration detention, a figure WUNC described as a record amid a nationwide immigration sweep by the Trump administration. NPR, cited in that reporting, has said people in detention have no criminal convictions in about 70% of cases. The Durham account is more particular: a felony re-entry charge, no other charges disclosed by DHS, and, as of Nov. 12, a family that did not know where Martinez-Gonzalez had been taken.
