Recent Durham ICE raids spark concern amongst Triangle Indian American community

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A crackdown on illegal immigration has become a major focal point of the Trump administration. And Thursday's raid in Durham is raising concerns among the Triangle's large Indian American community.

Neighbors captured video on Thursday morning in a north Durham neighborhood as three men neighbors said were from India were detained after ICE crews swarmed their car and then their home.

We now know that a total of 11 people were taken into custody from different raids in Durham.

"It always makes you anxious when people are coming in and visiting homes and taking people into custody not knowing where they are. These are people that we've known in our community," said Morrisville Councilmember Steve Rao.

Rao said the raid had many in the Indian American community talking. He said many tech companies in the Triangle rely on highly skilled H1B visas, and sometimes a failure to renew or an overstay can easily change someone's status.

"I think it's really important for businesses to learn from this now and understand that they got to make sure that when they hire someone, go through the background check, make sure that they haven't committed any crimes, make sure that they've gone through the legal immigration process or that they had their paperwork in order," Rao said.

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But they're also concerned about the tactic of raiding homes.

"It's sad because they came here to work hard and then contribute to society," said Kiran Kolavennu, president of the North Carolina Association of Indian Americans.

Their group just hosted a webinar with its attorneys, informing the community on how to handle immigration paperwork and visas, but also what to do if they interact with immigration enforcement.

But regardless, the group said they just want the community to feel safe.

"We are all immigrants, although I am a citizen and most of us progressed to become citizens, but everyone here in Triangle, we are asking them family, friends be alert as to what's going on," Kolavennu said.

As for the 11 people, we know that they've been taken to a detention facility pending a deportation hearing. And ABC News has learned for our region, the facility - which houses only men is typically in Atlanta.

We should learn more once their federal case is processed.