Immigrant and refugee community members are facing escalating attacks from ICE and Border Patrol. Although officials claim they are targeting people with criminal records, our communities are witnessing something very different: Green Card holders, people with Work Permits, and even U.S. citizens being detained or deported. These abuses have created deep trauma, fear, and uncertainty for families across North Carolina.
People’s Power Lab organizers bring decades of experience defending Black and Brown immigrants from South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa who call the Triangle and other regions of North Carolina home. Our organizers have played a key role in building coalitions for the release of two immigrants from ICE detention in Raleigh, NC – Mosa Hamadeesa and Abdoulie Sowe, and supported a coalition for the release of Greensboro-based immigrant Mohamad Naser.
Over the years, PPL has built trusted relationships with Rohingya, Afghan, Syrian, Somali, Congolese, and other refugee communities. Our members work long hours in demanding jobs or are denied fair employment entirely; many struggle with access to healthcare, face barriers in education, and deal with unsafe housing, lack of transportation, and other systemic injustices.
Our trust with community members is rooted in solidarity—not charity. We provide food and furniture distribution, homework support, translation assistance, help with healthcare and employment applications, and more. Our ultimate goal is to empower the impacted people so they become their own leaders. Because of these deep connections, we learn firsthand about the crises our people face and develop strategies with them to overcome them. Some of these challenges include immigration threats, police targeting, healthcare emergencies, over-disciplining in schools, and other harms that often remain invisible to policymakers.
To protect our communities, PPL has organized Know and Defend Our Rights workshops in homes, community centers, mosques in Raleigh and Cary, and other gathering spaces. These workshops equip people with essential information about their rights and offer movement-based strategies to resist anti-immigrant attacks. Alongside food distribution, we also share “Know Your Rights” materials so families can be prepared before a crisis hits.
In the past eight years, we have documented multiple ICE detentions and worked with grassroots partners to secure the release of three community members—two from Wake County and one from Guilford County.
Our organizers continue to lead Know and Defend Our Rights workshops and serve as ICE Verifiers with Siembra NC, Comité de Acción Popular, and Education Justice Alliance. We also collaborate with Muslims for Social Justice, Black Workers for Justice, Project South, Southern Vision Alliance, and SEIRN to strengthen a statewide movement capable of defending and uplifting our people.
We invite you to support People’s Power Lab so we can continue developing the leadership of working-class immigrants and refugees who are protecting and defending their own communities. We aim to raise $100,000 by the end of 2025 in order to continue our organizing work for protecting and defending immigrant and refugee community members in the Triangle area of NC and beyond. You can make a tax-deductible donation HERE. The Light House Project (EIN: 30-0875802) in Cary, NC, serves as PPL’s fiscal sponsor. For more information, email us at peoplespowerlab@gmail.com.