KANSAS CITY, Mo. — El Toro Loco locations in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas, remained closed Thursday, one day after Homeland Security Investigations agents conducted an operation in which several people were either arrested or detained.
Federal agents detained seven people at the El Toro Loco restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas, and four to five people were taken into custody at the El Toro Loco restaurant in Lenexa, according to Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR).
AIRR said Thursday that three people have been released.
KSHB 41 anchor/investigative reporter Caitlin Knute went to the Lenexa location Thursday.
She talked with Julie Lopez, the owner of Platinum Salon and Spa, whose business is near the popular restaurant.
"You wouldn’t think of a business that is completely full all the time, that people would be afraid there are criminals or anything like that," Lopez said. "It’s just sad."
Lopez told Knute the raid was "unsettling" and an "odd situation."
"The way they did it was just uncalled for, and not right," Lopez said. "I feel like it could’ve been done 100,000 different ways besides taking people from a place they were going to work for the day."
A woman who was getting her nails done at Platinum Salon and Spa said she disagreed with how the situation was handled.
"These people aren’t criminals," Ania Wyant said. "They deserve to be treated more humanely. If the issue is about immigration and them not following the process that’s in place, let's talk about why that is. You know there’s something more fixable on this end versus getting to this end and being handcuffed."
Wyant said the people detained Wednesday are in the United States for the right reasons.
"They are supporting their families," she said. "My parents are immigrants. I watched the story unfold and, yeah, it absolutely devastates me. To think that this is where we’re at in this society, especially here in Lenexa. It's just unbelievable."
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