The city of Charlotte experienced a weekend marked by immigration detentions that left dozens of people in ICE custody. Amid these circumstances, Manolo Betancur, a Colombian immigrant, made the decision to close the doors of his historic bakery. The owner of Manolo's Bakery, which had operated continuously for 28 years, confessed that the difficult decision was to protect his children and customers from possible immigration raids. In an interview with CNN, the businessman recalled the exact moment he made his decision. "I was walking in front of my bakery and within three or four minutes, three unmarked cars appeared. Agents got out, people dressed in military uniforms, and they threw the people walking on the sidewalk to the ground. Within minutes, they were taken away; they disappeared," he shared. Since November 15, ICE and Border Patrol (CBP) agents have been conducting immigration raids in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina. Numerous businesses on Central Avenue, in east Charlotte, closed when federal agents began making arrests and detentions in local neighborhoods, according to the Charlotte Observer. “I don't want to risk my customers,” Manolo Betancur admitted that while watching the arrests, he thought he could be next. "What if that happens to me? First they'll throw me to the ground, they'll hurt me. And then I'd have the opportunity to say that I'm an American citizen. It's not right how things are being done," he expressed. In this sense, he made the decision to close his shop, convinced that he couldn't expose those who came to buy his products or his own family. "I don't want to be an accomplice, a participant in the separation of fathers and mothers from their children by this system. I don't want to risk my customers," said the baker, describing the operations as "inhumane."

Although she is considering reopening later, Betancur acknowledged that everything depends on the "atmosphere" in the coming weeks. "I have posters and signs outside from people telling me they love us and that we are important to this country. And that has been very nice too," she stated.

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