CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The immigration enforcement operations in Charlotte are having a visible impact on the city’s economy.
“Everybody’s closed,” said Jorge Perez, a contractor who also owns the tree removal service, Tree Amigos. “Nobody’s working. Everybody’s called out for even the whole week. Everybody’s in fear of ‘what if?'”
Perez is trying to keep his remodeling jobs on schedule, but he says it’s virtually impossible this week.
“It is going to hurt us a lot as the city of Charlotte, the economy,” Perez said. “It’s going to hurt us.”
Several immigrant-owned businesses have decided to close while Border Patrol is in town, including Manolo’s Bakery and the Mexican restaurants El Taco Veloz and Como en Mexico.
Other neighboring business owners that remain open told Queen City News they’re also being impacted.
They say there’s a lot less traffic the last few days because their customers, who are immigrants, are scared.
Jad Tremel is another Charlotte contractor who says his employees who are here legally aren’t willing to work either.
Tremel says he’s at risk of missing project deadlines, yet that’s taking a backseat to his workers’ well-being.
“My heart broke for people that we know that work with us, and we have over 1,000 families who are impacted, who have done the right thing but don’t have the confidence to go out because of the way things are happening,” Tremel said.
Perez says his greatest fear is being stopped by federal agents while his daughter is with him.
“Even as a U.S. citizen, obviously they’re looking at your face,” he said. “Just because I have a certain face, a certain color, now I’m a target.”
Border Patrol agents arrested more than 130 people this weekend who were in Charlotte illegally, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
In a statement, the spokesperson said, “Criminal records of those arrested include known gang membership, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon, felony larceny, simple assault, hit and run, possession of stolen goods, shoplifting, DUI, DWI, and illegal re-entry after prior deportation, a felony.”
The spokesperson wouldn’t specify how many of the 130+ arrested had criminal records.