ICE Agents Ate at a Mexican Restaurant in a Small Town. After Their Meal, They Detained Employees By Charlotte Phillipp 67

A group of immigration agents sat down to eat lunch at a family-owned Mexican restaurant in Minnesota — and then returned hours later to detain the restaurant’s employees.

According to reports from the Minnesota Star Tribune and WCCO, four Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sat down in a booth for lunch at El Tapatio restaurant in Willmar, located about 95 miles outside of Minneapolis, just before 3 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The Star Tribune reported that eyewitnesses said staff were fearful as the agents ate their meal.

By 8:30 p.m., the ICE agents seemingly followed the employees after they closed the restaurant for the night and eventually detained the individuals near a local church and Willmar Middle School.

According to the Star Tribune, bystanders who witnessed the arrests blew whistles at the agents as one person called out, “Would your mama be proud of you right now?”

The Department of Homeland Security told PEOPLE in a statement that ICE officers were “[conducting] surveillance of a target” that day, whom they identified as Jose Rosario Gomez Gallardo.

“Officers observed that the target’s vehicle was outside of a local business and positively identified him as the target while inside the business,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in part.

McLaughlin said agents then conducted a vehicle stop later in the day, during which they detained “the target” and two other people in the car, “including one who had a final order of removal from an immigration judge.”

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El Tapatio has since closed its doors, per WCCO, as have many businesses in the diverse city.

One local resident who spoke to the outlet said she stopped by the Mexican restaurant to show his support.

“Just wanted to make sure everything was okay, and apparently it’s not because they’re closed now,” said Brentt Fees, who added that his employer has lost 75% of its business since the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown began in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Tensions have continued to grow between Minnesota residents and ICE agents amid the ongoing immigration crackdowns and several violent encounters between the two, including the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, in Minneapolis and the shooting of a man by an ICE agent in North Minneapolis just one week later.

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Local residents have held protests in the wake of these incidents, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has been candid about asking federal agents to leave the city. During a press conference this week, Frey said the city had filed litigation to end ICE’s deployment.

“We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another,” Frey said.

After the second shooting, the City of Minneapolis issued a statement on X, saying, “We understand there is anger. We ask the public to remain calm.”

In a follow-up post, the city addressed ICE directly: “The City of Minneapolis again demands that ICE leave the city and state immediately. We stand by our immigrant and refugee communities — know that you have our full support.”