Laundromat owners use business to keep Border Patrol agents away from customers

CHARLOTTE — Fear and chaos Sunday morning, as Border Patrol agents descended on North Tryon Street.

“Got here, they parked their cars and they were chasing people,” said Camila Franco from the North Tryon Laundromat. “They were trying to get in the laundromat, trying to find a place to stay. She let some people in and was able to lock the door before they got anyone. And everyone started running through the backdoor that we have.”

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“I feel a lot of anxiety,” said Bibiana Villafrade, one of the owners of the North Tryon Laundromat. “If I, with legal status, feel anxiety, what is that like for people without protection? It’s all very sad.”

“Everybody here in the shopping center, you can see we’ve been locking all the doors and trying to guard all the people we having coming in and out,” said Franco. “If people see anybody walking by, we have whistles, and cars in the parking lot are trying to honk their horns so that everybody’s aware that they’re here and there’s presence.”

Franco shared video with Channel 9 of immigration agents apprehending someone near the laundromat. She said at least two people were seen being detained.

We also got video from Spintastic Laundromat on South Boulevard. A witness told us immigration agents detained one man outside the business.

“What I hear from federal agents is that they’re here just taking violent criminals. Is that what you’re seeing?“ Channel 9’s Evan Donovan asked Franco.

“Not really,” she replied. “I think what they’re doing is profiling based on the race. If they see, they don’t even ask. They just go ahead and take you, and not in the best way. And then after that they try to figure out if you’re legal or not.”

Franco’s mom Villafrade and her husband David Rebolloso have owned North Tryon Laundromat for nine years.

Rebolloso said after his dad came here from Mexico and met his mom in the 1950s, he was born in Texas. He said they worked on farms together throughout the country for years. He said he lived the American dream; serving in the military, then working in healthcare, now an entrepreneur.

“We are all here to live the American dream, and it breaks my heart that this is happening,” Rebolloso said through tears. “These people don’t want anything but a better life. That’s all they want. They just want to better themselves.”

Villafrade and Rebolloso told Channel 9 the laundromat will offer free pickup and delivery and a discount on its laundry service all week, so their customers don’t have to leave their homes.

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