{"id":4296,"date":"2026-08-04T22:05:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4296"},"modified":"2026-08-04T22:05:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:05:54","slug":"this-is-a-kidnapping-says-aunt-of-man-arrested-in-pisgah-national-forest-ice-raid-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4296","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is a kidnapping,\u2019 says aunt of man arrested in Pisgah National Forest ICE raid"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A family member of a man detained by ICE in a Pisgah National Forest operation says he is in the country legally with no criminal record, calling the arrest a \u201ckidnapping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4295\">\u2018Animal in a zoo.\u2019 Venezuelan woman describes South Florida immigration detention<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Argenis Torres Rosales was visiting the Wilson Creek reservation area in the national forest \u2014 about 90 minutes north of Charlotte \u2014 with his coworkers on Sunday, July 26, according to his aunt, Wuendy Rosales, of Hickory. Immigration officials arrested 13 people at the popular recreation area.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rosales told The Charlotte Observer that Caldwell County Sheriff\u2019s officers pulled Torres Rosales over at the entrance of the creek, and asked for his license and registration.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce it was checked by the sheriff, law enforcement came to his car and asked him to get out of the car, because he has been arrested,\u201d Rosales said. \u201cThey [said] that he didn\u2019t have a legal status in the U.S. So he was pulled out of the vehicle and placed into a passenger van, a white van.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>She said her nephew, now 27, arrived in the U.S. from Venezuela in 2023 under a Biden-era program that granted humanitarian parole to immigrants from certain countries. He then applied for asylum, and obtained a work permit that was valid through 2030, she said. He was currently an employee at a foam manufacturing company in Conover, she said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>N.C. House Speaker Destin Hall, who represents Caldwell County in the General Assembly, had praised the operation in a July 28 Facebook post.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA gang of previously deported illegal aliens were arrested in Caldwell County after choosing to break the law and illegally come back to the US,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe individuals arrested had criminal records and a history of endangering the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rosales disputed that, and said she reached out to Siembra NC \u2014 an organization that supports Latinos legally and politically in North Carolina \u2014 after seeing its Facebook post about the arrests.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy nephew is not a criminal. My nephew is a hardworking young guy, trying to make a living in the United States,\u201d Rosales said. \u201cHe has done all his paperwork all the time, with no problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In a statement, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement for this story that Torres Rosales was arrested at Wilson Creek, and said he had previously entered the country on a visa in 2015 but was removed \u201cafter it was discovered he was planning on engaging in unauthorized work in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>DHS did not respond to further questions Monday about whether Torres Rosales had a criminal record and legal authorization to be in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4293\">\u2018This is a kidnapping,\u2019 says aunt of man arrested in Pisgah National Forest ICE raid<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Immigration advocates called the arrests \u201cbizarre and cruel,\u201d and said this was the first time this kind of operation had occurred in the state. The recreation area is a popular place for Latino visitors.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they\u2019re trying to get the worst of the worst \u2026 why are they targeting sunbathers on a perfect Sunday afternoon in the national forest?\u201d said Andreina Malki, defense manager for Siembra NC. \u201cMy thought is that this is a desecration of our most beautiful resources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Malki said she had \u201cpersonally checked criminal records\u201d for several of the people detained, and could not find any criminal history on the federal or state level.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Stefan\u00eda Arteaga, the co-executive director of Carolina Migrant Network, said she\u2019s heard from people who hid in the forest and ran away in fear during the arrests.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was 100% targeted and intentional to target Latino families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Siembra NC and faith leaders from the North Carolina foothills organized a vigil at Hudson United Methodist Church in Hudson on Saturday, Aug. 1, for the  people arrested.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The vigil was followed by a car caravan to Wilson Creek \u2014 where faith leaders prayed over the water and led a moment of silence \u2014 and a \u201cknow your rights\u201d training at the First United Methodist Church in Granite Falls.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Sandra Salazar, who arrived at Wilson Creek shortly after the ICE operation began, spoke at the vigil about her experience and attended the training. She is the co-founder of Hands of Hope, a nonprofit organization that assists those in need in western North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want transparency, and I think we deserve transparency as a community from our leaders representing our communities,\u201d she said to The Charlotte Observer.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rosales was clear about what she believed happened to her nephew.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a kidnapping. They kidnap[ped] my nephew,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s how I look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4291\">\u2018We need help.\u2019 Copper thieves troll the Midlands targeting telephone poles<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement was in the country legally and had no criminal record, his aunt said. Immigration advocates are concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018This is a kidnapping,\u2019 says aunt of man arrested in Pisgah National Forest ICE raid - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4296\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018This is a kidnapping,\u2019 says aunt of man arrested in Pisgah National Forest ICE raid - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A man arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement was in the country legally and had no criminal record, his aunt said. 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