CHARLOTTE — Channel 9 has witnessed people get detained, and we’ve also seen Border Patrol agents approach documented citizens before walking away; but one area of focus appears to be the Central Avenue corridor in east Charlotte.
Over the weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents filled the Queen City to make over 100 arrests in an immigration enforcement campaign.
Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz started the day Monday heading to Central Avenue to check in on reports of arrests. It didn’t take long before Goetz heard horns honking from community members, urging Channel 9 to turn down Lansdale Drive.
Goetz saw Border Patrol agents standing in the street around workers who were blowing leaves off Lansdale Drive. She was able to speak with one of the workers.
“They asked me if I was a citizen. I said yes, I’m a citizen. They asked if my father’s a citizen. He does have an accent, so they pulled him to the side a little bit longer than they did with me. It’s unfortunate,” said Anthony, who was questioned by CBP.
He says he and his father are legal U.S. citizens. He says agents also checked both of their licenses before ultimately leaving them alone. But he also questioned why they were stopped.
“We don’t look like criminals, right?” Anthony said.
In the video we captured of the interaction, you could see community members surrounding the agents and yelling out the rights the workers have. You can also hear what sounds like agents yelling back.
“Shut the [expletive] up, shut up, stop talking like that.”
Those witnesses tell us they just saw the agents and jumped in.
“I saw that the officers were speaking to two workers that were here cleaning in the landscaping. Got out my megaphone, just started shouting at the officers, shouting at the people that were being spoken to by border patrol to say, hey, like, you have the right to remain silent,” said Kathryn Coiner-Collier, who described herself as a community volunteer.
Goetz followed Coiner-Collier as she got hundreds of whistles together. She and other community members are handing them out across Charlotte, and they say it’s a safety precaution.
“It’s a two-part system. I am alerting people who may be scared of immigration enforcement. It gives them opportunities to stay in their homes, lock their doors, and then it alerts people like me immigration officials are nearby and we need your help, we need your presence, we need you to be witness to what’s happening,” she said.
While we were riding along Central Avenue on Monday, we saw people in safety vests handing out packages. We also heard the whistles multiple times. Our partners at Telemundo Charlotte also obtained video that shows supporters using the whistles in Charlotte.
ABC learned that Border Patrol agents are expected to be in Charlotte through Friday.
(VIDEO: Construction sites targeted in Charlotte immigration sweep)
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
