When Manuel “Manolo” Betancur saw CharlotteFive videographer Alex Cason in the parking lot of Manolo’s Bakery on Saturday afternoon, he walked right up to Cason’s car window to deliver the tough news: For the first time in 28 years, he was going to close the Charlotte bakery.
With U.S. Border Patrol in the area detaining people, it just wasn’t safe for the Latino community to have the doors open right now, Betancur explained. “They’re lying, man,” he told Cason. “They’re not chasing criminals. They’re chasing anyone who looks, speaks like me, who has an accent like me ….”
The bakery will remain closed at least through Sunday, and Betancur wasn’t sure when it would reopen.
After we shared the news on Instagram, the community seemed to speak up collectively: How can we help?
With U.S. Border Patrol in Charlotte, area businesses close
It wasn’t just Manolo’s Bakery affected by the presence of Border Patrol agents.
Around Charlotte, employees and customers could be seen getting dragged out of local businesses and loaded into cars. Some restaurateurs closed entirely, others switched to takeout only, and some who remained open saw empty dining rooms.
The Charlotte Observer’s Patrick Wilson stopped in for an early dinner at Como en Mexico on Sugar Creek Road on Saturday evening and found himself the only diner in the restaurant, with one couple stopping in for a takeout order.
It’s unclear if the restaurant is typically busy at that time. However, on Sunday, the restaurant was closed and the parking lot was empty. It’s typically open 7 days a week.
The dining room at Coco Mexican Restaurant in Mint Hill opened for takeout only on Sunday.
El Taco Veloz on North Tryon Street had a sign posted Sunday stating “We are currently closed until further notice.”
Even across the border in South Carolina, Las Américas Mercado Y Cocina in Rock Hill canceled this upcoming week’s Taco Tuesday, stating the safety of the community comes first.
How to help: Support local Latino-owned businesses
As businesses close or face the loss of customers, the Charlotte community has asked for ways to help out. Here are a few ideas to support the local Latino community:
Extending support will help keep businesses afloat during this time. “These next two weeks are BRUTAL for food and bev, some of you are purchasing your turkeys and buying your potatoes and gravy and other families are scared to go out to the grocery store or not working on the busiest season because of FEAR,” The Batchmaker wrote on Instagram.
“Immigration looks different for everyone but the one thing we all have in common is the courage to leave everything you know (the food, the language, the culture, the traditions, the spaces, the faces) and the bravery to start somewhere else,” wrote The Batchmaker, a Latin owned business.
How to help: Donate to those who help Charlotte’s immigrant community
Local organizations who help Charlotte’s immigrant community include:
Additionally, you can donate to or buy shirts, hoodies or tote bags from By Immigrant Hands, which is a nonprofit owned by Betancur, dedicated to helping the forgotten and “uniting neighbors, communities, and nations” by giving out bread and birthday cakes.
“When we stop the division, when we stop the racial profiling, we stop the racism,” Betancur told us on Saturday.
This story was originally published November 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM.
Melissa Oyler
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