ICE agents arrest workers in parking lot, Rochester restaurant says
ICE agents arrest workers in parking lot
ICE agents arrested two employees on Wednesday, Nupa restaurant said in a social media post. The arrests prompted the restaurant to close indefinitely.
ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Nupa Mediterranean Grill in Rochester shut down one of its two locations on Wednesday after it said federal agents arrested two of its employees in the parking lot.
Rochester restaurant closes after it says ICE picked up 2 workers
The backstory:
In a post on Facebook, Nupa Mediterranean Grill said, in part: "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."
The arrests spawned a protest involving a couple dozen people in downtown Rochester on Thursday morning.
It is unclear how long the restaurant will remain closed. It said in a social media post that the brothers worked a lot of hours, and they did not have anyone to replace them.
What they're saying:
COPAL MN, a nonprofit organization that helps Latine families, organized the rally. It said the arrests have ignited a sense of unease in the immigrant community.
"They are receiving calls from the community, saying that ICE is present in some places in Rochester," said David Perdomo, a community organizer who planned the rally. "There is a feeling of fear in our community – fear of being detained or someone that they love being detained and left alone…."
Big picture view:
The Trump administration has launched large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants nationwide. It is unclear how many arrests have been made since President Donald Trump took office. In January, officials said agents averaged nearly 800 arrests per day.
The owner of the restaurant could not be reached for comment.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.