More than 20,000 students were absent from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools during immigration enforcement operations last fall, according to district reporting, a wave of fear that helped spark a new bill in the North Carolina General Assembly aimed at protecting immigrant students in public schools.

House Bill 1061, titled the “Plyler Educational Protections,” would reinforce students’ right to public education and establish clearer guidance for how schools respond to federal immigration enforcement requests. 

Sammy Salkin, a senior policy strategist for the ACLU of North Carolina, said the legislation was created with one focus in mind.

“We want to make it clear that all children in North Carolina, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to a free public school education,” Salkin said.

Salkin said the bill references Plyler v. Doe, the United States Supreme Court decision guaranteeing children access to public education no matter their citizenship status. 

Salkin said North Carolina immigrant communities across the state have experienced increasing fear over the past year after “Operation Charlotte’s Web” in November 2025. This initiative was a Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operation in which many people were arrested across the Charlotte area and the surrounding regions of North Carolina.

“We have seen those attacks reproduced here by our state legislators in North Carolina,” Salkin said. “A lot of our work to try to protect our immigrant neighbors has been focused on trying to stop or mitigate harmful bills to the degree possible.”

Salkin said many students feared what would happen to their families while they were away at school. 

“We’ve heard from young children that they’re afraid that they’re going to come home and their house will be empty because their parents will have been picked up by ICE or CBP,” Salkin said.

Bekah Brown, policy specialist for Education Justice Alliance, said her organization made a quick shift in its focus as immigration enforcement concerns escalated. 

“It did feel for our organization kind of like it was just an overnight rapid response that had to occur,” Brown said. 

Brown described some of the immediate actions organizers took to support families. 

“Our organizers went into making safety plans with parents, making power of attorneys with parents,” Brown said. “We were walking kids to and from bus stops because they were scared to even walk their kids to the bus stops.”

But Brown also said that at that moment, she knew legislative action needed to be taken. 

“It felt like there was a disconnect between what the school districts were saying and what was actually being implemented,” Brown said. “And so really, that was what we were trying to address: ‘how can public schools work best?’”

State Representative Julia Greenfield, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said the legislation is intended to accomplish the goal of making schools safe environments for students.

“Every child should be able to walk into their school and into their classroom, and know that they are accepted, and that they are protected,” Greenfield said.

Greenfield said she became motivated to pursue immigration-related legislation after hearing alarming reports from her constituents. 

“There are seven black Suburban’s outside of the church preschool, and ICE is there, and they are all dressed in tactical gear,” Greenfield said. “The kids are scared, we have got to do something.”

Despite support from advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers, Greenfield said she does not expect the legislation to advance this session. 

“I don’t believe that it will go anywhere here in the legislature because we are in the minority,” Greenfield said. “The Republican majority is not interested in legislation that would keep ICE and CBP out of our schools.”

Still, Salkin said the bill communicates broader values and priorities.

“It still is really important to be signaling to the North Carolina population where our values are and what we want to see as the future for our state,” Salkin said.

Greenfield said she hopes the legislation lays the groundwork for future efforts. 

“We’re sharing with our constituents, with the people of North Carolina, with our immigrant communities: this is what we want to do,” Greenfield said. “And this is what we will do, if we can get in charge.”

Gas prices have surpassed the $4 mark across North Carolina due to
global oil supply disruptions tied to the war in Iran, and local
rideshare drivers struggling to make up for the increased costs are
changing how they operate.

Joel Bender, an Uber driver from
Buncombe County, said he has been turning down more trips than he
accepts to offset heightened fuel costs.

“Right now, I’m at a 10% acceptance rate, and I’m at about a 20% cancel rate,” Bender said.

AAA
reports prices across the state are averaging out around $4.17 for a
gallon of regular as of May 13, 2026. Meanwhile, the national average is
spilling above $4.50 — about $1.50 more since the war started.

>>Economist says higher gas prices likely to continue into summer travel despite U.S. oil production

Bender
said he is questioning whether or not he is getting back how much he
spends to pump gas into his tank. Bender, a nearly decade-long rideshare
driver, said he is not alone in this.

“There’s still some drivers who just say, ‘Listen, I’m going to make sure that I’m not screwed on this ride,’” Bender said.

Bender created a Facebook group with almost 700 members — a place where rideshare drivers can connect and support one another.

He
said drivers part of this group have opened up to him about how they
are dealing with these rising costs. Bender said the gas hike is
especially burdensome on people whose primary income comes from
rideshare driving.

“There are a number of drivers who do this to put food on the table and to make their monthly obligations,” Bender said.

He
said more drivers — even ones who’ve been driving for years — are
choosing to steer clear from the business altogether, no longer helping
some pay their bills.

AAA said gas prices are averaging out to be
the highest they have been since 2022 with other states, like
California, exceeding $6 for a gallon.

While Uber said it is
expanding its fuel discount program for drivers and couriers through May
26, Bender said this is still not enough to help him make up for
losses.

Country music star Eric Church earned praise for delivering the “greatest” commencement speech with his now-viral address to University of North Carolina graduates — after working on the piece for nearly a year.

Church – armed with a Tar Heel-emblazoned guitar – invoked family and faith as he dedicated his oration by giving a lesson on the instrument, explaining what each of the “six strings” means at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill on May 9.

“Six strings. When all six are in tune, the chords they make can stop a conversation cold, carry a broken person through the worst night of their life, or make a room full of strangers feel for three minutes like they’ve known each other forever,” Church told the crowd. “And if even one is off, the whole chord unravels. Not gradually, not politely, the moment you strike it, you know.”

The 49-year-old Grammy-nominated singer started with the “low E” string of the guitar, the thickest, lowest note on the instrument.

“Your faith is the low E of your life. The thing that sits at the very bottom of you,” he said. “The people who tend to their faith in ordinary seasons do not come undone in extraordinary ones.”

“The world will try to untune this string. Through busyness, through slow accumulation of a full schedule, a full inbox, a full life. Listen to me. Tend to your faith. Not just when you’re broken, but when you’re whole,” he said.

Church turned to the “A” string, comparing it to family and pointing the Class of 2026 to the stands and their loved ones, who “loved you longer than you’ve been easy to love.”

“And the A string is where the music starts to get warm. It gives a chord its body, its richness. It’s the string that makes you feel like you’re not alone in a room,”

The North Carolina native cautioned attendees not to let their soon-to-be-busy schedules get in the way of their families.

“Call your people. Not when there’s news. Not when there’s nothing. Show up when it costs you something. Let them see you when things are hard. The A string is not a holiday string. It’s an everyday string. Protect it,” he said.

Church, a lifelong Tar Heels fan who graduated from Appalachian State, referred to the “D” string as the “heart of the chord,” likening it to a soul mate.

“To rock a full chord in a D string is what you feel in the center of your chest. That is not an accident,” he said. “That is exactly what the right spouse and partner will do for your life. The person you choose to share your life with is the most important decision you will ever make outside of your faith.

“The right partner is the string that makes the whole chord ring fuller and warmer and truer than anything you could ever play alone. Choose them wisely, and then love them fiercely,” he added.

Church earned a good chuckle from the crowd when he introduced the fourth string, “the G-string.”

The risque-sounding note often drifts faster than its counterparts because “ambition and resilience” pull at it in different directions, Church revealed.

“When you fail, and you will fail, Hemingway wrote it plainly right in his sternum. ‘The world breaks everyone. Afterward, the best of us are stronger at the broken places.’ Get back up. Tune the string, keep playing,” Church said.

Church urged the graduates to take note of the “B” string and its standing for community.

“Your generation faces the temptation no generation before has ever faced. The temptation to perform for everyone and belong to no one. To be globally visible and locally invisible. To have thousands of followers and no one actually knows where you live. Resist this,” he said.

“Plant yourself somewhere. Put down roots with the full intention of growing there. Learn the actual names, not usernames, of the people around you. Volunteer. Coach the team. Build the thing your community needs, even if the internet will never see it, Church advised.

The final string, the “high E,” the thinnest on the guitar, carries the melody against all the pressure.

“Someone’s comment, someone’s criticism, someone’s cold opinion is going to try to convince you to retune yourself to match what they think you should sound like. Do not let them touch your string,” he said.

Church’s speech, which he shared on YouTube, garnered highly positive feedback with many calling it the “best” and “greatest” graduation addresses in history.

“This is one of the best commencement speeches I’ve ever heard. Bravo, Mr. Church!!” one comment read.

“Wow, an absolutely incredible speech, so profound . Amazing job Mr. Church. God Bless You,” another commenter wrote.

“Might be the greatest commencement speech ever. ‘Play your six strings!’” said a third.

Church revealed that he had been working on the speech for nine months and only came up with the guitar delivery after a “fit of frustration.”

“I just couldn’t figure out how to do it and one night I grabbed a guitar to kinda soothe my soul and I just strummed the “G” chord,” he told CNN. “And it dawned on me, who am I kidding, I should do the speech just like this.”

Church said he was determined to build out the six pillars to replicate the strings and to deliver a “foundational message” that had been around for many generations.