KANSAS CITY, Mo. — ICE claims it was conducting a criminal federal search warrant to rescue victims of human trafficking during an operation at two El Toro Loco restaurants Wednesday.
On Wednesday, agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations made several arrests at two El Toro Loco restaurants in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas.
"ICE was carrying out a criminal federal search warrant to rescue victims of human trafficking," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Friday to KSHB 41 News.
According to Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, a Kansas City area-based advocacy group, as many as 12 people were taken into custody late Wednesday morning and early Wednesday afternoon at the two locations.
The group said Thursday that three of the people taken into custody have since been released.
McLaughlin's statement is the first time since the operation that the department addressed the nature of the operation. A spokesperson told KSHB 41 News on Wednesday that they were "unable to provide any information" due to the ongoing investigation.
News spread quickly about the operations, leading to several witnesses responding to the Lenexa location as agents took employees into custody.
"Extremists and activists, one with their child in tow, tried to interfere with law enforcement by storming the restaurant, calling law enforcement Nazis and attempting to keep officers from leaving the scene," McLaughlin said in her statement. "Unfortunately, these types of smears and obstruction to law enforcement operations are becoming more and more common."
The department said it is primarily focused on public safety and national security threats, but that any person illegally present in the U.S. who is involved during an operation may be taken into custody and processed for removal.
Community reaction to the ICE operation
On the door of the Lenexa location of El Toro Loco, signs reveal hints of what happened on Wednesday.
Messages like "Your community supports you" and "This is America; everyone is entitled to due process" are prominently displayed, reflecting the community's solidarity and concern for the restaurant's employees.
"As a community, we very much want to make sure that anyone who poses a threat to public safety is removed. But that's not what's happening," said Janet Murguía, the president of UnidosUS, the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the country.
"We are seeing the excuse of immigration enforcement used to target certain threats, but when you dig deep and look at the end results of these raids, they're merely impacting individuals who are cooks, dishwashers, landscapers, and others who have no criminal record."
According to her, ICE operations create a sense of fear, trauma, and economic instability. She also expresses concern about the "growing lack of due process."
"They're just snatching some of these people away from their places of business, disrupting lives and creating chaos," Murguía said.
Louise Lynch, a concerned community advocate, agrees.
"There is no humanity. There are children being left parentless. There are women who are being arrested and treated inhumanely," Lynch said. "We can no longer stand for this division."
But not all neighbors share the same perspective.
"I am in favor of sending people home who are here illegally and... Well, you know, who shouldn't be here," Candy How said. "They must know something we don't."
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KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
