Bakery owner says ICE sparks fear in neighborhood, hurts local businesses

CHARLOTTE — Business owners in east Charlotte say a visible presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is scaring away customers and devastating sales.

Channel 9’s Erika Jackson spoke with a business owner in east Charlotte who has been a long advocate for his customers, but he said they aren’t returning.

The owner of Manolo’s Bakery said ever since customers spotted ICE along Central Avenue, they’ve stayed in their homes instead of going to his shop.

Manolo Betancur bakes an array of treats at his shop but said the emotions throughout the neighborhood have been anything but sweet.

“There’s fear in my community,” Betancur said. “There is fear in my customers. If ICE is in Central Avenue, and the community knows that ICE is in Central Avenue, nobody’s coming here to buy bread.”

Betancur said sales are down by about 40% since the start of the year.

“If they are creating terror,” he said. “If they are trying to scare the community, they are creating fear in us.”

Amelia Stinson-Wesley lives in Pineville and serves on the town council but works in east Charlotte.

“From my understanding, a lot of the foot traffic has faded in the past few weeks with a lot of fear in the community,” Stinson-Wesley said. “And I wanted to help support those businesses and keep them economically viable in this time.”

She makes it a point to support the businesses.

“I try to invest in our immigrant corridor, and Manolos is a yummy place to do that,” she said.

Betancur said he hopes others do the same.

“If you like immigrants, I’m just asking you guys to be mindful where you are spending your money,” Betancur said. “Our community needs the support.”

Betancur said he had to close the doors of the bakery’s sister company, Tita’s Cake House in Salisbury.

The business owner said he was using money from the bakery to invest in the cake house but with sales down, he had to break the lease and close the business.

New York Magazine reports if ICE arrests someone for an immigration-related offense and they tell the agency they’re a citizen, it might not release them.

Agents often assume IDs, passports or birth certificates are fake.

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