Just as the title says, a local Mexican restaurant posted on its Facebook page that it was suddenly closing. The reasons given (paraphrasing some here) were higher food prices (eggs, avocados) and other supplies, but then also due to tariffs, and immigration laws affecting migrant workers. Hmm, so in some ways they may have been admitting to employing "illegals".

I have also noticed a decrease of the local "taco trucks" within the last 6 weeks.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time, nor the last, that "illegals" were in the local food industry, and this obviously doesn't apply to every foreign cuisine restaurant out there.

Has anyone else seen similar actions in their communities?

I noticed in the local rag, roofing companies were looking for workers...
Coincidence?

Its too bad the kids nowadays are geared towards the technological fields. You could make good money in construction.

I'm just outside of the St. Louis area, and we have a fair number of immigrants in the area. ICE raided a Mexican restaurant causing it to close for a day. In the days following a local Mexican grocer offering to deliver groceries to all of those who were afraid to leave their homes to go shopping.

^^^ I've eaten often at the El Maguey restaurant in South County. Not lately though, because their food has declined. Other Mexican places are better...

quote:

ICE raided a Mexican restaurant causing it to close for a day...

I'm in favor of deporting anyone who came here illegally.
Having said that, it's going to be difficult to deport someone who's been here for over 20 years:

Workers at O’Fallon restaurant detained by ICE, employees say

On the morning of Jan. 30, Evelyn Ramos, of O’Fallon, said she received a phone call from co-workers that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested her father, Uber Ramos, along with two other employees at their place of work, the El Maguey Mexican Restaurant, located at 2737 Hwy. K.

“It was a very chaotic morning,” said Evelyn.

ICE officials have not responded to requests for comment, but according to Uber, 52, when he arrived at the restaurant for work that morning, law enforcement identifying themselves as ICE agents were waiting for him and knew his name. He said they showed their badges and told him and two of his co-workers to come with them. Uber said the three men were transported to the ICE field office in downtown St. Louis where they were processed and then released to his daughter Evelyn.

“I never had one ticket or anything,” Uber said. “They checked our names in the computer and let us go. We don’t have criminal records.”

Upon their release, all three were given case numbers and scheduled for immigration court hearings in December in Kansas City, Uber said.

Uber has been living in St. Charles County since he came to the United States in 2001 and has been working at the same El Maguey restaurant the whole time. Evelyn is concerned that her father might be deported.

https://www.westnewsmagazine.c...f3-bf9cc94f9da8.html

No doubt there have been effects, due to raids and deportations in progress. But, the most ridiculous thing I've heard is, there is suddenly a significant decrease in auto traffic everywhere.

The beach resort town where we vacation has long been known for their summer hires, a large proportion of which have been Russian mostly female high school and college age. They bring a refreshing energy and ambiance to this very woke mostly gay town, are no strangers to working hard for their money and doing with a smile. Much more than your typical born-and-raised-here youngsters glued to their phone screens at considerable savings to beach-oriented businesses and restaurants. It seems that their must be a Russian employment agency that coordinates these job openings but, if so, they stay very much under the radar. I will report back on any changes after our Sept. visit if this thread continues to show any sign of life by then.

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“I never had one ticket or anything,” Uber said. “They checked our names in the computer and let us go. We don’t have criminal records.”

You've got one now, pal. Crossing the border ILLEGALLY is a CRIME, understand?

If his daughter was born here, wouldn't he be protected by the 'anchor baby' rules? Even if not, given that this guy seems to have been behaving himself for 20+ years I'd be OK with him being allowed to stay IF AND WHILE HE APPLIES FOR ADMISSION THROUGH THE LEGAL CHANNELS, and pays taxes.

I get it, the guy's probably OK and is just trying to make a living. The same is probably true for 90% of them. It's the other 10%, or whatever the number is, that are the problem.

quote:

From the linked article:
“We had a couple of people ask about ICE, but we clarified with our legal team. Nothing has really changed,” she said. “We have a plan if ICE agents were to come to our front office, but we are focused on doing what’s best for kids.”

What exactly does 'a plan' mean? Baricade the doors and refuse to cooperate? I wouldn't be surprised.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
No doubt there have been effects, due to raids and deportations in progress. But, the most ridiculous thing I've heard is, there is suddenly a significant decrease in auto traffic everywhere.

Clearly, they've never been to Houston, at just about any time of day.

I have not noticed any negative issues in restaurants since Jan 20th, including a couple of Tex Mex places and a Mexican drive thru we go to- all operating the same, along with our other restaurants we go to. But one thing we noticed- a couple of lawn crews in our neighborhood are gone, including the one that services my nextdoor neighbor. IMO, they were illegals and my neighbor tells me they have not responded to his texts.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:

quote:

“I never had one ticket or anything,” Uber said. “They checked our names in the computer and let us go. We don’t have criminal records.”

You've got one now, pal. Crossing the border ILLEGALLY is a CRIME, understand?

If his daughter was born here, wouldn't he be protected by the 'anchor baby' rules? Even if not, given that this guy seems to have been behaving himself for 20+ years I'd be OK with him being allowed to stay IF AND WHILE HE APPLIES FOR ADMISSION THROUGH THE LEGAL CHANNELS, and pays taxes.

I get it, the guy's probably OK and is just trying to make a living. The same is probably true for 90% of them. It's the other 10%, or whatever the number is, that are the problem.

Kind of my feeling, too. He needs to pay all the back taxes and then they can go through his record and see whether or not he’s a decent person - it sounds like he’s held a steady job the entire time. But he has to do all of the things that someone who wanted to enter the United States legally and live needs to do. It’s not fair that those folks went through all that struggle to be here legally, and that he just walks through the back door and gets by.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing, but if he’s been there 20 years working and contributing, it seems to me he deserves a shot at staying. He needs to pay everything back, though, to when he first arrived.

quote:

Originally posted by rainman64:
I noticed in the local rag, roofing companies were looking for workers...
Coincidence?

About 70% of hailstorms happen in April and May. Most likely just good business to hire up and get ready.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
The beach resort town where we vacation has long been known for their summer hires, a large proportion of which have been Russian mostly female high school and college age. They bring a refreshing energy and ambiance to this very woke mostly gay town, are no strangers to working hard for their money and doing with a smile. Much more than your typical born-and-raised-here youngsters glued to their phone screens at considerable savings to beach-oriented businesses and restaurants. It seems that their must be a Russian employment agency that coordinates these job openings but, if so, they stay very much under the radar. I will report back on any changes after our Sept. visit if this thread continues to show any sign of life by then.

There's an excellent chance that they're legal. "Exchange Programs" have been staffing up summer jobs for decades. Since overstays/status violations can come back to bite the company (e.g. no more J1 visas approved) they tend to vet and monitor fairly well.

Not sure what the situation is with the individual in question, and I’m sure different folks have had different experiences.

I’ve never employed a farm worker without filling out both a W-4 and an I-9 form and retaining photocopies of all the supporting documents. Imagine my surprise when he said he needed time of to go to the DMV when CA passed the driver’s license for undocumented folks thing. Hmmm. At that point he had been with us for several years, had been a good employee, had had payroll taxes, social security, and Medicare withheld and paid for the entire time he worked for us.

The folks who won’t have paid taxes would be the ones who were paid cash under the table, and that requires the complicity of their employers.

quote:

Originally posted by Captain Morgan:
Its too bad the kids nowadays are geared towards the technological fields. You could make good money in construction.

To lazy to perform manual labor no matter how well those jobs pay.

Wondering about a popular local Italian restaurant… Their unofficial motto assigned by patrons is
“Real Italian food, made by real Mexicans”

quote:

Originally posted by Captain Morgan:
Its too bad the kids nowadays are geared towards the technological fields. You could make good money in construction.

to be good at a technical job, you need a good education system, which we're sorely lacking. There should be plenty of default qualified younger individuals that could make a living at construction.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
The beach resort town where we vacation has long been known for their summer hires, a large proportion of which have been Russian mostly female high school and college age. They bring a refreshing energy and ambiance to this very woke mostly gay town, are no strangers to working hard for their money and doing with a smile. Much more than your typical born-and-raised-here youngsters glued to their phone screens at considerable savings to beach-oriented businesses and restaurants. It seems that their must be a Russian employment agency that coordinates these job openings but, if so, they stay very much under the radar. I will report back on any changes after our Sept. visit if this thread continues to show any sign of life by then.

I would bet they are legal here on J1 or H2B visas. Years ago like 20+ I worked for a company that needed seasonal employees. Local HS and college kids were becoming unreliable and would rather sit at home than work. We couldn't staff positions with local hires. We started using people from other countries mainly Eastern Europe. At first, I was against it until I saw how hard and friendly most of them were. The people we employed were all early 20's and here with J1 and H2B visas. T

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
I have not noticed any negative issues in restaurants since Jan 20th, including a couple of Tex Mex places and a Mexican drive thru we go to- all operating the same, along with our other restaurants we go to. But one thing we noticed- a couple of lawn crews in our neighborhood are gone, including the one that services my nextdoor neighbor. IMO, they were illegals and my neighbor tells me they have not responded to his texts.

I actually heard this, this afternoon, from a neighbor.
Had the crew for three years.

*poof*

No one's answering.

@ibanda

This I have lived and true.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
Wondering about a popular local Italian restaurant… Their unofficial motto assigned by patrons is
“Real Italian food, made by real Mexicans”

I have been to Japanese hibachi grills all over the US, Canada, and even once in Tokyo. However, one of the most memorable was the first time I went to a Japanese hibachi grill in Houston as I was very surprised when our teppanyaki chef introduced himself as Jose.