Federal agents detained three workers at a Mexican restaurant in Willmar this week, shortly after agents had eaten there.
An eyewitness told the Minnesota Star Tribune four ICE agents had lunch on Thursday afternoon at El Tapatio.
However, about five hours after dining there, agents followed employees as they closed for the night and arrested three of them.
In another Mexican restaurant in St. Paul, angry customers yelled at ICE agents to leave. They eventually did.
Many immigrant-owned businesses in Minnesota say they’re losing revenue, with customers too afraid to visit. A number have closed, at least temporarily, struggling to get both employees and customers to show up.
Willmar, in west-central Minnesota, has a significantly diverse population, with around a quarter of residents Hispanic, and a growing African-American population in the rural town.
Local businesses feeling the effect of ICE activities
Adam Duininck is the president and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, and he says all of the ICE activity in the Twin Cities is having a direct effect on local businesses.
“We hear a lot about hospitality and restaurants for certain, but it’s impacting a lot of industries already,” says Duininck. “And I think there’s a significant concern about the longer term impacts to our city.”
In downtown Minneapolis, Duininck says they’re starting to notice less traffic.
“We’re seeing a little bit of a dip in the appearances in the office, and we’re seeing skyways and some of the restaurants not be open,” he adds. “It’s sporadic. It’s anecdotal at this point.”
Duininck also says many of the businesses are shortening their hours, adding one owner he talked to Thursday was just trying to keep their staff and hours intact for now.
“He said to me, Adam, I’ll be honest, every day when our restaurant opens at 11:00, I don’t know who’s all gonna be there,” Duininck said with WCCO’s Jason DeRusha. “So that kind of uncertainty, that’s gonna hurt commerce. It’s gonna hurt our economy. It’s gonna drive down tax revenue and the other sorts of things that our city, region, state rely on in a meaningful way. And we’re just at the front end of this, but a number of groups are trying to look at what those impacts are, try to measure them, try to be thoughtful about them.”
