By Ben Rappaport
A Whiteville woman was surprised when she went to her mailbox on Thursday and noticed a yard sign planted across the street from her home. “ILLEGALS WELCOME,” it read in large blue lettering, with an arrow pointed at her front door.
The woman, Laura — the Border Belt Independent is identifying her by her first name only to protect her privacy — put up signs in her own yard supporting Democrats Kamala Harris and Josh Stein. She figured the signs might stick out in deeply conservative Columbus County in southeastern North Carolina, but she didn’t expect them to become the target of anti-immigration rhetoric.
“If someone was really upset about my signs, they should’ve just come and talked to me about it,” she said. “The idea that you’re going to put up a sign to try and intimidate people is just un-American to me.”
At least two other signs were posted last week along Madison Street, the town’s main drag. One was near the home of Patricia Woodard, secretary of the Columbus County Democratic Party, who also had yard signs supporting Democratic candidates. Another was put near the party’s headquarters.
The homeowners and Democratic officials say they don’t know who placed the signs, which they described as clear attempts to intimidate voters. (The man who owns the home across from Laura’s said he did not put the sign near his property.)
The Columbus County Republican Party did not respond to multiple phone calls for this story.
Columbus County voters who once consistently picked Democrats for races from president to the local school boards have made a political shift toward the GOP. Republican Donald Trump won the county by 28 percentage points in 2020. That year, Republicans won three of the four open seats on the county board of commission.
Laura, who moved to Whiteville four years ago from Indiana, said she’s been more inclined to get involved with the local Democratic party because North Carolina is a swing state in the upcoming election. She said she voted for Republican candidates in previous elections but is strongly opposed to Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policies, especially around immigration.
Trump has made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign, promising the “largest deportation effort in American history” if elected. He consistently blames people who are in the country illegally for ruining the economy, despite evidence to the contrary.
Woodard said she was disturbed by the “Illegals Welcome” signs and the harsh rhetoric they represent.
“The least you can do as a supporter here is put up a sign,” she said. “I wanted to show others I’m a proud Democrat.”
The signs showed up a week after some people falsely claimed a video circulating on social media showed a busload of immigrants being dropped off in the small Columbus County town of Brunswick. Mayor Jason Elleby took to Facebook to set the record straight: The people in the video were employees of Dreamland Amusements who were there to work at the Columbus County Fair.
Marlando Pridgen, a Whiteville Democrat running for North Carolina’s 7th Congressional district against incumbent David Rouzer, said he was “highly disturbed” by the anti-immigration signs, which he deemed to be bullying.
“For as combative as the campaign season has been,” Pridgen said, “I’m not taking this lightly.”
Pridgen said he wasn’t surprised by the signs but noted they were “more aggressive” than he’d seen in previous elections. He hopes the Columbus County Board of Elections takes proactive measures to prevent threats of voter intimidation during the upcoming election.
“We hope this isn’t a build-up to further things that cross the line,” he said.
Laura said she took the situation in jest.
“Honestly we had a good laugh over it,” she said. “I just don’t really understand what the burn is supposed to be.”
