A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed they took 16 people who were "illegally present in the United States" into custody Thursday from Emiliano's restaurants in Richland and Cranberry townships.

A snippet of the raid inside the Richland Township location at the Richland Mall was caught on camera.

Nidia Oliver raced over when she learned what was happening. She's friends with many of the workers at the business.

"Somebody inside told me that they were trying to open safes and open in the office all the drawers and violating all that private property," Oliver said.

A spokesperson for ICE told KDKA they executed search warrants at both the Richland Township Emiliano's location and the one on Route 19 in Cranberry Township, where people encountered a similar scene of police and unmarked vehicles. ICE said they had information that the locations "were employing illegal aliens."

At each restaurant, several volunteers like Erin Riley showed up from Casa San Jose, a nonprofit that serves the greater Pittsburgh area's Latino immigrants.

"They put a lot of effort into blocking off the entryway so that we could not see exactly what was happening," Riley said.

KDKA captured a white van that was behind the Richland Mall leaving the premises. According to the nonprofit, ICE officers detained nine workers in Richland Township and seven in Cranberry.

"It is terrible to see this happening in the United States, because all these people are honestly trying to make a living," Oliver said.

On social media, Emiliano's wrote in a post that "federal agents stormed our restaurants in a show of force that went far beyond anything reasonable or humane. They didn't just detain people – they raided the heart of our business, tore through our spaces, and left behind a trail of fear, confusion, destruction. Our kitchens were flipped. Our walk-ins emptied. Food trashed. Doors broken."

They went on to say, "We are standing by our team. We are working with legal experts and community partners to support the people impacted."

KDKA reached out to ICE about the damage the restaurant says they caused but hasn't heard back yet. 

Emiliano's said they will reopen their restaurants. A timeline is unclear.

ICE said the investigation is ongoing.