In the same week that the new agreement 287(g) Between the Caldwell Sheriff's Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the county seat of Lenoir proclaimed Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month for the first time.
To Hispanic CouncilThe organization that promoted the proposal is a sign of hope.
“There are mothers and fathers afraid to go to work. There are children at school who no longer think about their grades, but about whether their parents will be deported. For them, this proclamation is something to hold onto,” Marco-Leonardo Chumbimuni, deputy director of the Hispanic Council, told Enlace Latino NC .
The city council adopted the proclamation at its meeting on Tuesday, September 15. “This is the first time I know we’ve introduced this proclamation,” City Clerk Lauren Hartley confirmed to this publication.
During the session, Emmanuel Lazo, secretary of the Hispanic Council, read it in Spanish alongside the mayor. Joseph L. Gibbons.
Chumbimuni stated that a proclamation had never before been read in Spanish before the public at the council. “That moment was historic for us, because normally only English is recognized,” he said.
According to the 2020 census data, Lenoir has a total population of 18,352. More than 2,000 of them, about 11%, identify as Hispanic or Latino.
A year of operations
In November 2025, during the Border Patrol operation in Charlotte, The presence of federal agents in western North Carolina was confirmed.
“ICE agents came to Caldwell County, to Lenoir, and stayed at a hotel here. It shook the entire community,” Chumbimuni recalled. That impact, he said, accelerated the return of the Hispanic Council.
The organization was founded in Lenoir in 2010 by Marta Lazo, who is now its treasurer. Over the years, however, it moved its operations to Mecklenburg County. In January, amid the tightening of immigration policies in the country and in North Carolina, a new team decided to reactivate it in the city.
Among them is Chumbimuni, the son of Peruvian immigrants, who grew up in Lenoir. “I promised my people I would return to serve, and this is part of fulfilling that promise,” he said.
Since then, the situation in the region has not improved. On July 26, a ICE operation in Wilson Creek, in the Pisgah National Forest, ended with the arrest of 13 people.
“There are many people who no longer want to go out or buy food,” Chumbimuni said. “There are U.S. citizen children who feel they have to be ready to take care of their home if something happens to their parents.”
Related: The Todos Somos América festival moves to Newton for its fifth edition
A proclamation proposed by the community
On September 3, Chumbimuni sent the municipal administrator a bilingual draft and invited the city to adopt it as a joint proclamation, although he said he hoped they would make changes.
Chumbimuni recounts that the mayor read the draft and responded that he wanted to implement the initiative. The municipal secretary then formatted it as a resolution, and seven days later, the document was ready.
“I couldn’t believe it. They respected everything we wrote, word for word,” he said.
The resolution celebrates “the growth of the Latino community” and states that this growth makes the city “a more culturally diverse and welcoming area.”
It also adopts the municipal motto, Create with us (Create With Us), and reiterates “our shared call for community, unity and protection.”
The city's official version, in English, invites congregations, businesses, and residents of Lenoir and the county to join in the celebration, which ends on October 15.
“We know the city council feels its hands are tied by state laws. Even so, they were willing to recognize and honor the community,” Chumbimuni said.
Chumbimuni says he now feels he can call the mayor to ask for time to talk. He also asks that the recognition not be limited to the party.
“Don’t just focus on the music, the food, or the beauty of the language. See the burden we carry every day, the fear, the need to protect our loved ones, and understand where it comes from.”
Concilio Hispano receives inquiries from the community at info@conciliohispanoinc.org.
Republish our stories for free on your website or newspaper. We follow the Creative Commons license. Click the box and follow the instructions.
