KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agency conducted an operation Wednesday morning at restaurants in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas.
At 11 a.m., agents conducted a coordinated operation at both locations of the El Toro Loco Mexican Bar and Grill restaurant.
Seven workers were detained at the KCK location, and four to five workers were taken into custody at the Lenexa location, according to Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR).
A KSHB 41 News viewer submitted photos showing HSI agents placing employees at the Lenexa restaurant in handcuffs shortly before noon Wednesday.
AIRR said an HSI agent cited a “criminal search warrant” and mentioned the investigation was related to allegations of labor trafficking and exploitation.
KSHB 41 has reached out to ICE for additional information about Wednesday's operation.
Calls to the restaurant went unanswered around noon.
A video from AIRR showed workers at the KCK location getting detained by HSI agents. You can watch the operation in the video player below.
KSHB 41 News reporter Rachel Henderson saw a "closed" sign on the front entrance to the restaurant.
Agents placed signs on the doors in both locations prior to the raid.
Community members and immigrant advocacy organizations, including AIRR, conducted a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
"We need accountability for raids like this in the community," said Trinidad Raj Molina, an AIRR representative who spoke Wednesday.
Molina was one of the people who arrived at the Lenexa location and saw HSI agents leaving the premises.
"For those of us who got here in time, the whole restaurant was left empty," Molina said. "It was like something out of a forlorn movie. A dystopian view."
Other speakers included two faith leaders, Kansas State Representative Susan Ruiz, AIRR's executive director, and Aude Negrete, a resident who gave an account of the scene after the HSI agents left.
"The scene they left behind told a story," Negrete said. "We saw the kitchen still open. A flame burning on the stove, like someone had been taken in the middle of preparing a meal. A purse was left on the table with a cell phone inside, still ringing."
Molina also shared an account of what he witnessed.
"ICE left bags out, they left the doors completely unlocked," he said. "The stove burners were left on. Gas was leaking out. It was a danger to the whole strip mall."
Wednesday's operation rubbed Negrete the wrong way.
"As a mother, I want my children to grow up in a community where they feel secure, supported, and respected," she said. "What happened this morning is not what we are. In Johnson County, we believe in Kansas values."
Natalia Cortez-Barb's father was at the Lenexa location Wednesday afternoon after the agents left.
She attended the press conference, but even hearing updates earlier in the day left her with multiple questions about the community where her family lives.
"It’s disturbing, and that’s my biggest question: How could you leave that business in that state?" Cortez-Barb said. "I’m incredibly upset by the fact that there appears to be a business that is a tax-paying business, they’re providing a service to the community, providing jobs, and that business appears to be abandoned at this point."
The number for AIRR's hotline to report immigration activity is 913-999-2398.
Homeland Security responded to a KSHB 41 request, saying that it's an "ongoing investigation" and that it could therefore not provide any information at this time.
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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
