After an exhausting day taking immigrants to their medical appointments and distributing food in Latino neighborhoods, in the midst of Operation Charlotte’s Web carried out by immigration agents, businesswoman and community leader Natalia Silva received an unpleasant surprise. In the middle of the night, a surveillance drone hovered over the backyard of her home.
In November 2025, agents from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were deployed throughout Charlotte in an operation that resulted in hundreds of arrests. Organizations such as the ACLU claim that many of these arrests were carried out without a specific warrant and using racial profiling against Latinos. Natalia Silva said this motivated her to help her community.
Community Leader Takes Action
Silva, owner of multiple businesses and vice president of the Colombian Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte, is known for organizing cultural events and promoting philanthropic efforts. She recalls how she quickly brought together other leaders to assist thousands of immigrant families who were not leaving their homes out of fear.
“Thank God, a group of us came together to help. We worked with the Chamber (of Commerce), with local business owners, people from the Governor’s office—Gabriel Esparza (state secretary of administration) was very close to us—and we managed to provide food to 520 people,” she recalls.
Additionally, Natalia Silva offered to take families to the doctor who had medical appointments for their children but were afraid to leave their homes.
“We picked up a family with an autistic child. We were with his mother and little sister,” she said.
She never imagined that along the way she would come face-to-face with Border Patrol agents.
“While we were near the University area, we saw them there, right next to us.” Silva confronted the officers over an arrest they were making. “I shouted at them, asking why they were doing that. Then they turned around right there and just looked at us,” she says.
Drone Arrives at Her Home in the Middle of the Night
That night, around 10:00 p.m., as Silva turned off the kitchen lights before going to her bedroom, she noticed something strange in her backyard.
“I see a light, I hear something like a small noise, and when I get to the window, I look out and see the drone. It was shocking… I only remember letting out a scream of fear,” she recalls.
Charlotte residents reported the presence of drones in the night sky during November 2025. CMPD Chief Estella Patterson stated at the time that they did not have any drone program in operation.
At that time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were asked about the use of drones in Charlotte, but neither agency responded to requests for information.
“It was traumatic, because you feel like you don’t have rights in this country. I mean, what privacy do you have? So I shouted to my husband, ‘We have the drone over us, we have the drone over us!’ I opened the door, and as soon as the drone saw me, like I was crazy and desperate, and it immediately left,” she said.
Beyond the emotional impact, Silva says she also suffered a severe economic blow.
“We have three businesses; we had to close them for an entire week. Do you know how much you lose? In just one, the body shop, we lost more than $180,000 in one week. Imagine how many people had to close their restaurants? How many people had to leave?” she says.
Another example of this impact was recorded on Central Avenue. Nearly one in four alerts of CBP agent sightings occurred there. Víctor Santiago, owner of Tacos el Nevado, told La Noticia that he closed his two locations, with more than 80 employees, during the week of the operation. He estimates this resulted in a loss of $200,000.
Silva hopes that an operation like this will not happen again, but says it requires action from voters.
“We, the ones who are not harming anyone, have to raise our voices. We have to go out and vote, and fight for our rights… for me, the answer is at the ballot box,” she concludes.
Find this article in Spanish here.
This video was produced thanks to the support of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative (CJC)
