Tacos El Primo back open after crowd surrounds group believed to be ICE agents
A south Minneapolis taco shop is back open after a confrontation involving men believed to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raised fear among workers and neighbors.
Ilse Denisse Aguilar Ortega is back at work, taking orders and serving customers during lunch at Tacos El Primo in south Minneapolis.
"It was an emotional day where we were scared. We're more emotional because we see all the love that the community has given us. So yeah, it's something that warms your heart," said Aguilar Ortega.
That fear followed a confrontation at the shop Sunday, when a crowd surrounded a group of men they believed to be ICE agents after they ate inside the restaurant.
In this video, one person is seen knocking a drink from a man's hand.
Aguilar Ortega says the encounter began like any other business day with her daughter taking the men's orders.
Staff had no indication they were law enforcement.
"We always thought that the ICE agents were going to come with their outfits. We never thought they were going to come like civil, like normal people," she said.
After reviewing surveillance video, Aguilar Ortega says she realized they had not been truthful about their truck parked outside.
"We're thinking that probably they were gonna come and arrest us. There's like no doubts about it," she said.
Similar incidents have been reported across Minnesota. Last month, workers and community members chased off ICE agents from Wrecktangle Pizza in Minneapolis' LynLake neighborhood.
And in Willmar, agents ate at a restaurant then later returned to detain owners and a worker.
"I just think it demonstrates the kind of dampening effect that ICE is having on restaurants, and certainly on the workforces in the restaurant," said Wade Luneberg, political director of Unite Here local 17.
Aguilar Ortega says community support is helping her move forward.
"Probably you're at your house and you're thinking, nobody's watching my back. They are. They're angels that God has sent you and me to watch over us, and I want to thank them from the bottom of our heart, it's kind of emotional," she said.
WCCO reached out to Department of Human Services and ICE for comment but have not heard back.