Immigration agents descend on Liberty restaurant: Sheriff, staff respond
LIBERTY, Mo. (KCTV) — When a customer took photos and video of police clad in vests with the letters “HSI” milling around El Potro Mexican Restaurant in Liberty as he was having lunch, he posted them on social media and a firestorm erupted.
HSI stands for Homeland Security Investigations. It is a branch of ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the agency’s website, “HSI special agents launch and pursue investigations into transnational crime and violations of the customs and immigration laws of the United States.”
The Clay County Sheriff could be seen in one of them. He quickly ed the news media to make it clear he was not participating, just asking questions.
Sheriff Will Akin said he found out from a panicked phone call from a family friend, a kid, who was a DACA recipient.
“He was like, ‘Will, I don’t know what to do. I mean, is my DACA status valid? I mean, are they going to come over here? Are they going to take me at the business that (I work) at?’” Akin recounted. “And I was like, ‘What’s going on?’”
That’s when he learned federal agents were inside the restaurant. He said he was close by so he drove over to find out what was happening.
“We’re not involved in their operations,” Akin said. “The only thing that I require is for them to let me know.”
He’s not sure if someone informed his office, but he said he personally was not informed, and he’s frustrated that he had to learn about it the way he did.
RESTAURANT STAFF DISTRAUGHT
The restaurant managers said these agents arrived at 11 a.m. on Friday and were there for three hours.
The managers arrived after someone called them, at which point they said employees had been questioned about their immigration status and twelve employees removed into custody.
“When I got here, I asked them, ‘What are you guys looking for?’” said Gloria Delatorre, the general manager at one of the restaurant’s other locations. “They say they’re ready to go home. They already have the 12 people.”
She and her sister, Yedira, who is the GM at the Liberty location, said the person who allowed them in was being cooperative because they didn’t understand what was happening.
“I thought they had a warrant and they were going to take who has a past criminal record,” said Yedira. “I wasn’t expecting them to take all my employees. I mean, they’re not criminals, they don’t have a bad record. They just took them all.”
The sisters talked with us in part because they want other businesses and employees to be prepared.
“You don’t think about it when it’s happening,” said Gloria.
She said the agents left with two boxes of employment papers going back two years. She said there was no search warrant or receipt left behind.
Yedira said she asked where the people were being taken.
“They were already putting everybody in the van, and they didn’t give us no information where they were taking them,” Yedira said. “They said that they weren’t allowed to give any information.”
Gloria said two of the people taken were a couple who both work there.
“They have family, they have kids, they coming back from school,” Gloria said. “What will happen to that kid? Who’s gonna take care of them? It’s just sometimes you feel inhuman, the things that are happening.”
SHERIFF PROVIDES SOME DETAILS
Akin said that when he arrived he asked who was in charge and was directed to an agent on his phone. He said he asked that they step outside so they could discuss in private what was happening.
“And he just said, ‘Look, we’re here because we’re doing a work site enforcement check.’ And there was another federal agency, I think the Marshals were there because somebody was in there who had a warrant for child sex crimes,” Akin described. “And I said, ‘Okay, but what about everyone else?’ And he says, ‘They have no documentation, and they’re here illegally.’”
We asked what kind of documentation he was referring to. He said he doesn’t know. He was merely repeating what he was told.
“If there’s no excessive use of force or anything that requires me to get involved, then I just have to go at it at face value,” Akin said.
He said the federal agent confirmed removing 12 people. Asked where the people were taken, Akon said an agent told him the people were taken to a federal holding facility. He didn’t know where that was.
KCTV5 has reached out to ICE and Homeland Security seeking information and has not yet received a reply from either as of late Friday night.
LEGAL ADVICE
Immigration attorney Rehka Sharma-Crawford has advice for anyone else in this situation going forward. She said anyone can enter a public place like a restaurant, but it’s important to know the following applies in most circumstances:
- You should not lie about your status or provide false documents, but you have the right to remain silent.
- It can be hard to do that in the face of authority. That’s why the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has created something called “Red Cards,” These cards assert your rights. Cards can be ordered for free or ed to print on the ILRC website.
- You should ask for a judicial warrant, not just a warrant but a judicial warrant. Examine it carefully. An istrative warrant does not have the same authority.
- If they don’t have a warrant, you can tell them to leave.
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