A group of local lawmakers Friday sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding answers over the armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a South Park restaurant one week ago.
Reps. Scott Peters, Juan Vargas, Sara Jacobs, all D-San Diego, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, penning the letter with Sen. Adam Schiff, D- D-California, also expressed concerns over ICE targeting immigrants showing up for scheduled court hearings.
“In 2024, President Trump’s now ‘border czar,” Tom Homan, said immigration enforcement would focus on immigrants who are “public safety threats and the national security threats first,” the lawmakers wrote. “According to the facts outlined in the government’s warrant, the workers at Buona Forchetta do not appear to meet this standard.
“Instead, many immigrants, like those targeted in the operation, work challenging jobs and fill labor gaps in sectors like agriculture and construction. Immigrants are critical to the local and national economy, with those in the San Diego metro area contributing $11.3 billion in taxes annually.”
According to a warrant filed by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Michael Hensley and unsealed at San Diego federal court Monday, a five-year-old tip alleged that South Park restaurants Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta employed more than 10 undocumented workers. The tip was then updated in January, alleging 19 of the company’s 40 employees were undocumented or had forged visas and owner Matteo Cattaneo had exploited those workers into 12+ hour shifts with no breaks.
Friday’s raid involved at least 20 masked agents in military-style gear taking a group of workers into custody, while also confronting and handcuffing others and at one point detonating flash-bang grenades in the vicinity.
“The role of law enforcement is to keep our community safe,” the lawmakers write. “The incident at Buona Forchetta last week did not make us safer. Witness accounts and video recordings show over 20 ICE and [Homeland Security Investigations] agents present on the scene, many armed with assault weapons and fitted in military tactical gear.
“Agents were then witnessed aggressively entering the restaurant to handcuff all employees — including those who were not enforcement targets. Agents also used three noise flash diversionary devices, which produce loud bangs and smoke, to disperse civilians at the scene. These tactics created chaos and fear, all to arrest four immigrants reportedly working hard as dishwashers and servers. … The Administration’s use of these tactics also suggests the intent of the raid was not to uphold the law in a responsible manner, but rather to intimidate. This is unacceptable. The use of such tactics to execute warrants for non-violent crimes not only harms public trust in HLS and ICE, it also raises legitimate questions about the Department of Homeland Security’s stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
The detained individuals included three Mexican nationals and another from Colombia, according to Rep. Vargas.
Buona Forchetta has reopened after shuttering for several days following the raid.
“We feel incredibly grateful to open our doors again and return to what we love most — bringing our resilient community together through food,” an Instagram post from the restaurant read on Wednesday. “As our team finds its footing again, we truly appreciate your continued grace and support. Thank you for standing with us.”
A GoFundMe campaign for the detained employees started Sunday had already raised more than $126,000.
Many of the politicians who signed the letter to Noem denounced the federal raid the officials said left the community shaken and traumatized earlier this week.
Vargas said Monday’s news conference was being held outside San Diego’s federal courthouses specifically because a local federal judge — U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford — signed off on the warrant that he said authorized agents to detain everyone working inside the restaurants, whether or not they were undocumented.
Vargas said part of the lawmakers’ demands were to meet with the chief judge for the Southern District of California to inquire how and why warrants of this sort were being approved.
Peters described the incident as “our government terrorizing our own communities” and said the operation was conducted as though its targets were gang members or drug traffickers.
“We were told that this whole move on immigration and deportation was about violent criminals,” Peters said. “Well, we know that’s not true.”
Vargas said the ICE agents were “armed to the teeth as if they were entering a war zone,” “terrorized the patrons and workers,” and he charged that the intent of the operation “was to intimidate and to bring terror and fear into everybody’s hearts, especially immigrants.”
Levin cited reports stating that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is calling for 3,000 people to be arrested daily by immigration law enforcement officials.
“Setting an arbitrary quota is what created a mess like what we saw on Friday and it will continue unless we all speak out against it,” he said.
ICE has not commented beyond confirming the operations occurred at the restaurants. Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, an ICE spokeswoman, told City News Service: “As this is an ongoing investigation, we have no further releasable information at this time.”
At Monday’s San Diego City Council meeting, Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera stood by statements he made over the weekend that drew a sharp rebuke from the White House. Describing the Friday incident as “terroristic” and “fascist,” Elo-Rivera urged San Diegans to stand up and push back against ICE raids in the community.
After Elo-Rivera’s initial statement — which included an image of the masked, armed agents with the word “terrorists” scrawled over them — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said, “We are living in the age of leftwing domestic terrorism. They are openly encouraging violence against law enforcement to aid and abet the invasion of America.”
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond supported the action and described Elo-Rivera’s comments as “ridiculous.”
“San Diego politicians are out there defending illegal immigrant criminals over the safety of American families — and even calling ICE agents terrorists,” Desmond wrote on X. “That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen.
“The vast majority of Americans believe these criminals should be deported. It’s common sense. It’s about protecting our communities and keeping our country safe.”
Administration officials have conducted stepped-up enforcement of illegal immigration since President Donald Trump took office in January, and data show that illegal border crossings have reached historically low levels.
–City News Service
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