RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal agents expanded their North Carolinaimmigration crackdown to the area around the state capital of Raleigh on Tuesday, with fear spreading in at least one immigrant-heavy suburb where restaurants closed and many people stayed home.

The North Carolina operation began over the weekend in the state’s largest city, Charlotte, where officials said more than 130 people have been arrested.

Speaking at a Raleigh City Council meeting, Mayor Janet Cowell said there had been “confirmed sightings” of Border Patrol officers operating in Wake County, which includes Raleigh, and nearby Durham County, which includes the city of Durham. She said earlier that she did not know how large the operation would be or how long agents would be present.

She encouraged residents to call the police department if they felt unsafe and urged protesters to remain peaceful.

“And just be particularly kind to your neighbors today,” she added.

Federal officials have said the crackdowns will reduce crime, though leaders in both Charlotte and Raleigh said crime was down. The officials have also criticized so-called sanctuary policies that limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents in a handful of jurisdictions.

Federal officials have given no information about activity in the Raleigh area.

But in Cary, a sprawling Raleigh suburb where officials say almost 20% of the population was born outside the U.S. and the large Asian population tripled in the 1990s, fear spread quickly.

An area resident recorded as a large black SUV with darkly tinted windows and Texas license plates drove through Cary’s downtown, eventually linking up with another SUV. The vehicles stopped at a construction site, where Pamela Hoile recorded Border Patrol agents detaining four workers. Speaking by phone after posting the video on Facebook, she described herself as a “very outraged, horrified and concerned citizen.”

The Chatham Square shopping center, which is usually bustling at midday with workers eating at mom-and-pop ethnic restaurants, was quiet. Most of the restaurants — Mexican, Indian and Chinese among them — were closed. Nearby, the often-full parking lot at an Indian grocery store was largely empty, and traffic inside was nonexistent.

Esmeralda Angel’s family closed their restaurant, the Esmeralda Grill, to avoid any confrontations between customers and federal agents. At their separate grocery store, they were delivering items to customers who were avoiding going out in public.

The family businesses had scaled back to help their community, she said, but knew it would hurt financially.

“Taco Tuesday is the busy day for all of these restaurants,” Angel said of the weekly specials. “But I think everyone would rather close than operate.”

U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Democrat who represents Durham, part of Raleigh and some suburbs, said Tuesday that the deployment of federal immigration agents in North Carolina “is a profound abuse of power, a violation of civil rights and a stain on our democracy.”