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This piece was published in partnership with Western North Carolina’s JMPRO Community Media.

Immigrant parents in Western North Carolina were shocked by news reports that a young Texas girl died by suicide after her peers bullied her over her family’s alleged immigration status. There was no way to know that the same tragedy would unfold weeks later in their own state. 

Jocelynn Rojo Carranza died on Feb. 8, five days after her mother, Marbella Carranza, found the child unresponsive in their Gainesville, Texas, home. The 11-year-old was a student at Gainesville Intermediate School, where classmates threatened to call immigration “so they could take her parents away and she would be left alone,” Carranza told CNN. An investigation by the school district found that this was not an isolated incident. Later the same month, news unfurled across Durham, North Carolina—long considered one of the state’s most progressive communities—that eighth grader Gabriela Aparicio Ortega died by suicide after being bullied by her peers at Durham School for the Arts. She was 13. 

According to her parents, Gabriela left behind a letter naming the students who bullied her and describing “comments that reinforced her feeling of exclusion,” Enlace Latino NC reported.  

During a memorial for the Durham teen last month, Alexandra Valladares, a spokesperson for the family, said there was an “urgent need” for the local district to promote diversity and offer “adequate interpretation services, especially in the current political climate surrounding immigration,” according to Enlace Latino NC.

President Donald Trump, one of the most anti-immigrant presidents in modern American history, has sparked a wave of xenophobia, nativism, and animus toward Latinx immigrants since first taking office in 2017. During his second term, Trump promised mass deportations, and his administration has taken unprecedented—and often unlawful—actions against Latinx immigrants, including detaining Venezuelan immigrants at Guantánamo Bay and transferring them to a prison in El Salvador in defiance of court order. Dozens of these immigrants have active asylum cases.

The Trump administration’s cruel and chaotic immigration policies take a toll on the mental health of children, and children, including Jocelynn’s and Gabriela’s classmates, are not immune to hearing the president’s dehumanizing, anti-immigrant rhetoric. For both girls, two critical issues emerge: the exclusion and intimidation of immigrant students and their families both inside and outside schools, and the communication challenges that prevent many immigrant parents from reporting bullying incidents at their children’s schools.

Through conversations with immigrant parents in Western North Carolina, where 9.5% of the 800,000 people who live in the region are Latino, JMPRO Community Media and Prism learned that the deaths of Jocelynn and Gabriela feel like a turning point for immigrant and mixed-status families in the state. According to dozens of parents across rural and urban areas spanning five counties, families are now having difficult conversations about xenophobia, bullying, and their uncertain futures in the United States. 

“Her father hates Latinos” 

JMPRO Community Media and Prism spoke to dozens of parents in Western North Carolina about navigating parenthood and life under the Trump administration. For safety reasons, we are not using their full names.

Most of the parents said they are feeling the impact of the administration’s policies and media narratives about them; many said they are now considering power of attorney documents in case they’re detained or deported.  

“We’ve tried to explore options for our daughter because she was born here, and we don’t want her to be alone,” said Ms. M, the mother of a 15-year-old. “We’ve looked for alternatives in case we’re detained as immigrants, so we can leave her with someone we trust.”   

Schools do not always feel like safe spaces for immigrant parents, especially now that the Trump administration rescinded the sensitive locations memo, allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out arrests and raids in places once considered off-limits, such as schools, churches, and hospitals. 

One parent we’re calling Mr. R said he doesn’t feel entirely comfortable being on campus. 

“[It] depends on the situation,” he said. “If I need to stay, I do, but I avoid interacting with others and only speak to important people, like the principal or teachers at a school meeting.” 

Ms. M detailed that it’s not merely personal discomfort, but rather being made to feel uncomfortable.  

“In some places, Americans look at us in an intimidating way. Since we’re not from here, sometimes we simply avoid their gaze because we feel insecure,” she said. 

Mr. R told JMPRO Community Media and Prism that the onslaught of anti-immigrant policies coming from the Trump administration has increased his anxiety and disturbed any sense of peace he once had. 

“Not even in your own home,” he said. “You can’t live in peace. You can’t go anywhere. You’re afraid to be on the street.”

Mainstream media outlets that do not question or push back against assertions made by Trump administration officials regarding its wide-scale and often unlawful targeting of Latinx immigrants further skews public opinions toward the community. 

According to a recent report from Pew Research Center, roughly one-third of 5,123 U.S. adults surveyed said all undocumented immigrants living in the country should be deported, and 81% of surveyed Republicans said law enforcement officers should be allowed to check a person’s immigration status during routine activities like a traffic stop—effectively endorsing racial profiling. 

Latinx Trump voters are not immune to racial profiling by ICE. Jensy Machado, a naturalized Virginia resident who voted for Trump, was wrongfully detained by the federal immigration agency last month. 

According to one first-generation Latina, who was born in Florida and now resides in North Carolina, under the Trump administration, it’s almost as if “it doesn’t matter” if you were born in the United States. 

“If they stop me and say I resisted arrest or something like that, they can take me and it’s their word against mine,” she said. “Who are they going to believe? When it starts to get dark, I prefer not to be on the street alone. That’s why I’m grateful for ‘spring forward’ because when it gets dark early, I don’t want to be outside unless I have a white person on the phone or with me in the car.”

Longtime North Carolina residents such as Ms. E, who has lived in the U.S. for 40 years, said they feel scrutinized in public. 

“Sometimes, you can see it in their gazes. They think you are undocumented. But honestly, I don’t pay attention to it,” Ms. E said.   

One Western North Carolina parent, Ms. S, said she has experienced “a lot of discrimination” in the state. Not only has it worsened under the Trump administration, she said, but it has also impacted both her willingness to leave her home and how she parents her children. 

“I no longer go out as much because I am afraid of being stared at or getting unpleasant looks. I have seen other families treated with disdain as well. There have even been cases of discrimination in schools, and that is not right,” she said.

I explain to them: That person is racist. They don’t want us in this country, so if we’re careless, they might attack us.

Ms. M, immigrant mother in Western North Carolina

It’s difficult for children to notice certain social dynamics or understand why their parents might be more on edge or guarded in some situations. In part, this is why Ms. M instructs her children to simply stay away from specific people they encounter in public, and she doesn’t mince words about why. 

“I explain to them: That person is racist. They don’t want us in this country, so if we’re careless, they might attack us,” explained Ms. M. “So what I do is move away so that person can’t see me. Sometimes, we practically hide with my children.” 

Effectively telling their children to “stay away” is advice JMPRO Community Media and Prism frequently heard from parents. Ms. L, another Western North Carolina parent, recalled a conversation she had with her young daughter. 

“She told me that [a friend] told her that her father hates Latinos and that he voted for Trump because he wants them removed,” Ms. L said. “Imagine my daughter getting along with the girl, but [what] if her father finds out?”

“The kids call him a monkey”

While immigrant parents may not feel safe at their children’s schools, until the deaths of Jocelynn and Gabriela, they assumed their children were. Ms. M said she has always trusted that her child was OK at school while she was at work, but now she finds herself worrying about bullying and the effect it could have on her teen.  

Some Western North Carolina parents said they know their children are being bullied at school, and the response from teachers and other school officials has been mixed. Ms. T said she recently had a conversation with her son about what he has been experiencing at school.

“He told me that even with coaches, some don’t tolerate racism and react to offensive comments from teammates, but others simply ignore them,” she said. As a parent, she said, “you can feel it” when something is going on with your child. 

Often, the bullying is explicitly xenophobic; other times, it’s compounded by the race and ethnicity of the student. One Western North Carolina resident we’re calling Junior shared that his granddaughter was bullied at school for being an immigrant. He described a classmate “talking badly” about his granddaughter, and she would often come home on the verge of tears.

According to Ms. M, there’s a boy at her child’s school who is being severely bullied, and he’s “suffering a lot.” She said she tried to speak to teachers at the school about it, but they haven’t done anything to stop it. The boy was born with a condition, Ms. M said, and his peers make fun of him for it. “But I think it’s also because he’s Latino,” she said, noting that the kids call him “a monkey” and make jokes about slavery. 

Racist bullying, of course, isn’t unique to the Latinx community. About 22% of the North Carolina population is Black, and many areas of the state remain deeply segregated. 

The fact that a 12-year-old boy … feels that his appearance, his height, and his race generate fear in others is heartbreaking.

Ms. T, immigrant parent in Western North Carolina

Ms. T described the racist bullying her son receives while attending a majority white school. 

“He’s one of the few African American children in his school, and I’ve noticed that as he’s getting older, he’s received more racist comments and experiences,” she said. 

She explained that on Valentine’s Day, her son told her that girls don’t like him because he’s “tall and dark-skinned,” and girls are afraid of him. “The fact that a 12-year-old boy, who’s just about to turn 13, feels that his appearance, his height, and his race generate fear in others is heartbreaking,” Ms. T said.     

“We’re often ignored” 

“So, what can we do?” In light of the deaths of Jocelynn and Gabriela, this is the question many immigrant parents in North Carolina find themselves grappling with. Their frustration feels palpable, especially for those who say school officials have previously dismissed their concerns.  

“The Latino community is sometimes afraid to report these situations in schools because we’re often ignored,” Ms. S said. “We’re seen as a minority in this country.” 

Whether trying to report incidents of bullying or seeking to engage in their child’s school activities, immigrant parents face additional challenges, such as language barriers, hostile interactions with other parents, overwhelming work schedules, and a general lack of knowledge in how best to navigate school communication systems. 

Ms. J, who works in education helping Latinx parents, said that interpretation can go a long way in reducing barriers, but most schools are ill-equipped to serve immigrant parents. 

“Schools typically don’t have Spanish-speaking staff, especially at the reception desk. … So when parents call, there’s no one to speak to, and they have to wait until someone returns their call,” Ms. J explained. “A lot can happen during that time, and by the time they finally get [someone], it may be too late or the situation may have already progressed too far.”

While the challenges of life under the Trump administration sometimes feel insurmountable, immigrant parents who spoke to JMPRO Community Media and Prism said there are lessons to take from Hurricane Helene, the Category 4 storm that decimated large portions of Western North Carolina in September. 

Immigrants were deeply impacted by the hurricane, and while recovery efforts are still underway seven months later, it’s clear that the crisis created an overwhelming sense of solidarity across the region. Neighbors came to each other’s aid, bilingual support groups were formed to address the mental health needs of families who lost everything, and high school students even started groups to help fellow students impacted by the storm who were also new to the country.   

There is nothing stopping North Carolinians from funneling this same kind of energy into helping to protect and support immigrant families in their communities. There has perhaps never been a more urgent time—and children’s lives are on the line.

Editorial Team:
Tina Vasquez, Lead Editor
Carolyn Copeland, Top Editor
Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor