Two US Border Patrol agents approached landscapers hired to decorate a Christmas tree on a resident’s front lawn in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, but ultimately left after being confronted by one of the homeowners.
Videos shared by the homeowners shows two agents wearing US Border Patrol logos approaching two landscapers as they were decorating a tree with string lights Saturday morning in a quiet, residential neighborhood.
US Border Patrol agents approach Charlotte landscapers
US Border Patrol agents approach Charlotte landscapers
00:50
Video credit: Rheba Hamilton
Rheba Hamilton, one of the homeowners, told CNN she was watching the two men working when agents pulled up in a minivan and got out of the car. She went outside and started recording the agents.
One of the landscapers told her afterwards the agents were asking for their papers, and said if they didn’t share them, they would be arrested, Hamilton said. Both men stayed silent, and after Hamilton entered the yard, the agents went back into their van and drove away.
“I was absolutely terrified for them,” she said, adding she feared it would be the last time she saw them.
“They are human beings, they are doing nothing wrong, they are doing work that I want done. They are honest men making an honest living,” Hamilton said. Both workers are doing “as okay as they can be” but are “laying low,” she said.
Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino was asked to respond to the criticism surrounding the incident on Fox News Monday, and instead spoke in generalities about the agency’s work and questioned how people would know the men’s backgrounds.
“Do we know their criminal records of the so-called landscapers?” Bovino said on Fox News. “How do you know who these people are?”
He continued, saying, “Too many times, we’re finding that some very, very disreputable individuals are seeking work in people’s homes, in their gardens, and otherwise.”
Hamilton criticized this response, saying home surveillance video showed the minivan passing by the house and coming back around the corner shortly afterwards. She said she believes the agents targeted the men for their skin color, adding the agents didn’t say they were looking for specific people.