'This is a kidnapping,' says aunt of man arrested in Pisgah National Forest ICE raid

Diamy Wang, The Charlotte Observer on Aug 4, 2026

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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 “kidnapping.”

Argenis Torres Rosales was visiting the Wilson Creek reservation area in the national forest — about 90 minutes north of Charlotte — 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.

Rosales told The Charlotte Observer that Caldwell County Sheriff’s officers pulled Torres Rosales over at the entrance of the creek, and asked for his license and registration.

“Once 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,” Rosales said. “They [said] that he didn’t 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.”

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.

N.C. House Speaker Destin Hall, who represents Caldwell County in the General Assembly, had praised the operation in a July 28 Facebook post.

“A gang of previously deported illegal aliens were arrested in Caldwell County after choosing to break the law and illegally come back to the US,” he wrote. “The individuals arrested had criminal records and a history of endangering the public.”

Rosales disputed that, and said she reached out to Siembra NC — an organization that supports Latinos legally and politically in North Carolina — after seeing its Facebook post about the arrests.

“My nephew is not a criminal. My nephew is a hardworking young guy, trying to make a living in the United States,” Rosales said. “He has done all his paperwork all the time, with no problems.”

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 “after it was discovered he was planning on engaging in unauthorized work in the United States.”

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.

Immigration advocates called the arrests “bizarre and cruel,” 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.

“If they’re trying to get the worst of the worst … why are they targeting sunbathers on a perfect Sunday afternoon in the national forest?” said Andreina Malki, defense manager for Siembra NC. “My thought is that this is a desecration of our most beautiful resources.”

Malki said she had “personally checked criminal records” for several of the people detained, and could not find any criminal history on the federal or state level.

Stefanía Arteaga, the co-executive director of Carolina Migrant Network, said she’s heard from people who hid in the forest and ran away in fear during the arrests.

“This was 100% targeted and intentional to target Latino families,” she said.

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.

The vigil was followed by a car caravan to Wilson Creek — where faith leaders prayed over the water and led a moment of silence — and a “know your rights” training at the First United Methodist Church in Granite Falls.

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.

“We want transparency, and I think we deserve transparency as a community from our leaders representing our communities,” she said to The Charlotte Observer.

Rosales was clear about what she believed happened to her nephew.

“This is a kidnapping. They kidnap[ped] my nephew,” she said. “That’s how I look at it.”

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