ICE agents surface in Rochester
It was a far cry from the sweeping raids targeting illegal immigrants in some cities, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were spotted in action Wednesday in Rochester, Minnesota’s third largest city. Two individuals who worked at Nupa Mediterranean Grill were evidently detained in the parking lot, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Unfortunately, we had two brothers working that may have been working under false documentation. From our understanding, ICE never asked for any documentation and arrested them in the parking lot. We are waiting to hear more. These two individuals accounted for many of our man hours.
Rochester Police Department officials said local authorities were aware federal agents were in the city but were not involved in the enforcement action. KAAL-TV and other media outlets provided the scant details available about how the operation went down.
An employee of a neighboring store to the Nupá Mediterranean Grill said the operation happened early Wednesday morning, around 9:00 A.M.
“We went inside to go start up our day and get our store opening,” they said. “We just seen like a, I believe it was a Toyota Tundra and a Dodge Ram, they just kind of came unmarked.”
News of the development spread quickly by word of mouth and over social media. It clearly caught many by surprise.
Maria Loera, a resident of St. Charles who works in Rochester, was one of the first to post an image on Facebook of the operation another person had sent to her.
She said the reason she did so was to inform people.
“Lately, a lot of people have been scared to speak up about anything that’s going on just because others want proof,” Loera said. “But I thought that it’s better to be aware than to not know anything and it’s better to know if something’s going on.”
Dozens of largely sympathetic comments were posted on the restaurant’s website. The business requested those posting to keep their reactions under control as the owners deal with the aftermath.
We ask at this time to refrain from negative comments, throwing shade, snarky remarks, anything that’s not helpful or hopeful. Whether you approve or not of what and how things went down today, we are mourning the loss of Nupa family and the devastating impact it has on our small business. BE KIND!
Nupa has temporarily closed the location where the arrests occurred. The immigration status of the brothers who were detained and their location has not been disclosed as of this writing.