Immigration and Customs Enforcement's conduct in North Carolina and across the country following the deaths of two men during separate encounters with officers this month in Texas and Maine.
Participants said they joined the protest to speak out against recent incidents involving immigration enforcement.
Marching through the streets of downtown Raleigh, Bob Anderson said he felt compelled to take action.
"The innocent civilians who have been executed by federal law enforcement started with Alex Preti and Renee Good.
And now there's Joan and Lorenzo. And when is it going to stop," Anderson said.
The protest comes after the deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the United States for more than three decades and was shot and killed in Houston, and 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine.
Both incidents followed traffic stops.
Organizers said the shootings have heightened fear within immigrant communities and fueled criticism of ICE's enforcement practices.
"No, it's really scary. You know, I think people see the video that there's so much evidence of them just not showing the right like if you any person saw someone masked up and unmarked vans like you just said, trying to arrest you, trying to kidnap you.
So people will freak out and try to, you know, protect themselves, run away," organizer Victor Urquiza said.
The demonstrations also come as ICE enforcement policies remain the subject of national debate. ICE agents were initially directed to pause traffic stops following the shootings, but the Trump administration later reversed that decision.
Some protesters argued that changes to the agency's practices are not enough.
"So it's important that we keep clear what our goal is, and that's abolishing ICE. You know, that's our our demand. I think more and more people are realizing that even people who weren't for that years ago are now kind of realizing that's like the popular sentiment," an organizer said.
The issue has also drawn attention in North Carolina following the passage of Senate Bill 153, which requires state cooperation with federal immigration authorities and ICE.
Gov. Josh Stein initially vetoed the legislation, but lawmakers overrode the veto, and the measure became law nearly a month ago.
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