New York restaurants react to the increase in ice raids

“Fear is there,” says a mood owner inside his restaurant.
Photo: Amir Hamja/Bloomberg through Getty Images

At this time a conversation occurs in restaurants, but nobody wants to talk about it. Since he assumed the position on January 20, President Donald Trump has issued a series of executive orders on immigration and followed his campaign promises to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants. They have been told to the immigration and compliance of customs field of the United States that make 75 arrests per day and that “managers would be responsible for the lack of those objectives.” according The Washington Mail. The stories of immigration and customs raids have already left cities such as Bakersfield, California; Chicago; Philadelphia; And the Washington, DC, area. News of a raid, in a seafood market in NewarkHe reached national headlines. Here in New York, the agents have made raids in the districts and publicized The arrest of Venezuelan immigrants.

Immigrant families say they keep children home From school. Street vendors are fear of workingLess receive a ticket and end with a criminal history that could be a reason for deportation. And although Trump has said that his administration will focus on undocumented immigrants with a criminal record, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt says that all undocumented immigrants “are criminals in regard to this administration.”

Within New York restaurants kitchens, an air of fear has settled above all. In the city restaurants nearly 60 percent of the workforce is born abroad, but that barely tells real history. The fact that the industry is based on undocumented work is not so much an “open secret” as an indisputable truth. “I had a conversation with my chef, he is Ecuadorian and has been working with us for 30 years, and said: ‘I guess I will hide when they come,'” says a restaurateur from Jackson Heights. “People in the neighborhood are talking about that. The agents are coming and people are afraid to go to work. ”

An immigrant chef and restaurant owner says that some of his employees stayed at home as a caution. “Everyone is fine,” he told me. “But fear is there.” Others said their workers had entered the work and shared ice stories walking towards people in the streets of their neighborhoods. A person connected with the industry listened to a story about a raid in a popular Manhattan restaurant.

When I sent a text message to a business owner to ask about this, he replied: “Let’s talk in person. I began to answer, then I realized what the country is approaching. ” Another chef said: “Please do not quote us.”

No one is quite sure what stories are made and what are fiction, but the anxiety they are creating is real. “Two days ago. I am medium service. It is a complete restaurant. My phone is playing a lot“, Says Joe (not his real name), a restorer who learned that he was his friend, another restaurant owner, who had been trying to communicate with him.” He says: ‘I are sweeping my neighborhood.’ I am in service, it is crazy, this is turning in my head. You listen to it from here, you listen to it from there. Whether individual stories are true or not, the industry is talking about it. ”

All point out that something has changed and that this impulse feels fundamentally different from before. “I don’t remember talking about them that really enter restaurants as we are talking about that now,” says a chef. The GM in its restaurant agrees: “It feels so wide this time.” In their restaurant, they have had conversations with the staff about how to handle a raid, even if they consider it unlikely. “Our number 1 thing, if Ice enters,” says the manager, “is starting to film.” They have taken additional steps, such as creating an emergency contact list. “It feels like the same mentality we have with the Health Department,” adds the GM. “You could also be incredibly over -apparent.”

These precautions may include areas where workers can take refuge if necessary. “I talked to some people in some of the neighboring restaurants about how we have a space, so if the ice is coming, they have the access code to enter our basement,” says a chef in a center restaurant. “And then, in English and Spanish, we have printed actions that must take when the ice reaches its door. We have reviewed them in the alignment, and the environment is like the disgusted terror. ”

At least two crowdsourcing ice sighting maps – People on papers and Together Insurance – They have started, and if it is in the restaurant industry, or follow the people who are, it is likely that you have seen digital flyers with the titles “know their rights” and “how to protect their employees.” Chef Diego Moya, who grew undocumented, says that the most important step is that managers are educated and celebrated team meetings. In their experience, most undocumented immigrants do not know their rights. “You really need to explain these things. They have no experience. They have not read the laws, ”he says. “They probably think it’s black and white. Possibly, they can avoid a lot of anguish if they are taught to behave in a certain way or not respond. “

There is an additional fear that the “unpleasant employers”, in the words of an operator, use the threat of deportation to further exploit vulnerable workers, but the owners and managers with whom I spoke seemed more interested in ensuring that His employees and, therefore, his companies were prepared. “We have sent as much information as we have been able to get so far, in terms of what we believe is the best course of action,” says a owner chefs. They have provided everything they can, he adds, before a lawyer. Currently, he is looking for non -profit organizations that provide legal support. “We are going to do everything we can, but in the end there is only much we can do. We are fighting a huge machine. “