CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of protesters filled Marshall Park in uptown for the "Day Without Immigrants" rally Monday.
The march comes on the heels of a large ICE operation that saw nearly 200 people arrested across North Carolina, including at least a dozen in Charlotte. Several of those arrests were shared by immigrants on Facebook Live.
Those ICE raids were the center of Monday's march that began at noon. The Day Without Immigrants rally was organized by activists in the Charlotte community and is aimed to show support for the immigrant population. Two years ago, almost 8,000 people showed up for the rally.
"I feel the fear from my customers," said Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo's Latin Bakery. "I feel the fear of my employees."
He said he thought the community was safe after new Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gerry McFadden ended the controversial 287g program that allowed ICE to operate within the county jail since 2006.
Last week, Mayor Vi Lyles created an outreach committee with hopes to ease relations with the City of Charlotte and the immigrant community.
