LIBERTY, MO. — Late Friday morning, patrons of El Potro Mexican Cafe and Cantina in Liberty, Missouri began posting video and images of Federal agents inside the restaurant.
"We were ready to open. And they came in at like 11:40," explained Yadira De La Torre, General Manager and daughter of the owners. "My dad was the first person to see them."
Her father, colleagues of family told KSHB 41 was communicating with Federal Agents through a major language barrier. De La Torre says, agents later identified as Homeland Security Investigations agents were looking for an individual.
"They're all come here with guns," she said. "They're officials. What can you say to them? What can't you say, 'You know? We don't know our rights.'"
De La Torre says she complied with agents' wishes, fulfilling their request to search and request documentation from employees.
"They gathered everybody. They were in every door. There was like 15 of them and they just started putting everybody in a corner and asking for their fingerprinting," De La Torre added, "We've had this situation happen before, but they give you a warrant and they say who they're specifically looking for. And then if they don't find that person they leave."
On Friday, KSHB 41 spoke with Clay County Sheriff Will Akin said the federal agents were conducting a workforce enforcement operation and for a person wanted on a warrant for a child sex crime.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said it was unaware of the operation prior to federal agents going into the restaurant.
"They were asking for names and doing fingerprints," De La Torre said. "When they were done, the van started pulling up and that's when they started handcuffing them and taking them out."
Tweleve individuals were removed from the site and it is unclear of the employee's citizenship status.
De La Torre told KSHB 41 the employees involved have no criminal convictions and have been employed with the restaurant since it opened.
"They're great people that have been here with us," she said. "They're hard-working people and the customers love them."
Friday morning's incident drew attention from Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca IV. KSHB 41 caught up with Abarca on Saturday at a local protest after he took his own family to the Liberty Restaurant.
"It seems there were several violations of the 4th Amendment that were predicated in that situation," Abarca said. "It was a raid. They showed up. They had no judicial warrant that they presented."
Abarca IV says, El Potro staff described one of the employees as a 60-year-old grandmother. De La Torre said, many of the individuals who were removed, were husbands with children. Restaurant owners believe the families are being held at a facility in Kansas.
"These aren't criminals they're going after," he said. "They're after anyone without legal status and that is something that needs to be echoed.”
According the El Potro, impacted children remain under the guardianship of their mothers.
"These families are being separated," De La Torre added. "This isn't just happening to restaurant workers. There's construction workers too. Are they are they going to keep doing this? What's next?"
Much of what's next is why Abarca IV says his office wanted to get involved.
"My understanding is that the Clay County Sheriff did show up and engage, but then was ultimately flagged off from that. There's all these discussions that need to be had, along the jurisdictions to say, 'What happens when federal authorities show up?' The idea that they have to compromise and work with them, that's not what MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] says," stated Abarca IV. "We're going to be reviewing our MOU from the Jackson County Sheriff's Department to make sure to understand what exactly that relationship is. And if there's an obligation to not obstruct, that's 100% understanding, but it doesn't say that we have to comply."
According to De La Torre, El Potro was unable to open its Lee's Summit location on Saturday, due to the staff's fear from Friday. Many local organizations are working to inform the public on what to do if immigration agents question an individuals' citizenship status.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU offers guidelines on its website:
How to reduce risk to yourself
- Stay calm. Don’t run, argue, resist, or obstruct the officer, even if you believe your rights are being violated. Keep your hands where police can see them.
- Don’t lie about your status or provide false documents.
Your rights
- You have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with police, immigration agents, or other officials. Anything you tell an officer can later be used against you in immigration court.
- If you are not a U.S. citizen and an immigration agent requests your immigration papers, you must show them if you have them with you.
- If an immigration agent asks if they can search you, you have the right to say no. Agents do not have the right to search you or your belongings without your consent or probable cause.
- If you’re over 18, carry your papers with you at all times. If you don’t have them, tell the officer that you want to remain silent, or that you want to consult a lawyer before answering any questions.
"Business owners need to know and train their managers that they need to ask for a warrant because we're not criminals," De La Torre added. "We come here to support our families to just live a better life and going through this. This is not the American Dream."
KSHB 41 is following up on unanswered questions including the nature of the HSI's visit and who agents were searching for, if there was a breach of 4th Amendment rights, and where the 12 employees are being held.
KSHB 41 will update you as more information becomes available.
—
