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By Ed Avis
Iakov Filimonov
Sometimes the fear of something is just as bad as the thing itself. That appears to be the case with immigration enforcement raids – even though most restaurants have not yet experienced an ICE raid, they are scared of them and training their employees about what to do if masked agents appear.
Furthermore, according to an el Restaurante reader survey, fear is keeping some employees away and making new ones harder to find. Twenty-four percent of respondents to the survey said some employees have quit or simply stopped coming in since the ICE raids began earlier this year, and 57 percent said it’s harder to find employees in this new environment.
Twenty-two Mexican restaurant owners and managers answered the questions in the reader survey about immigration issues, and only one of those reported that ICE had raided their restaurant. Nevertheless, almost half of the respondents said they are worried about the situation.
“What we’ve seen is, fear is running through these communities,” says Emily Knight, president of the Texas Restaurant Association, in an interview (click here to read more of this interview). “We know that fear alone is keeping restaurant employees from coming in in some cases, but it’s also [keeping] folks from going out and spending.”
Restaurants are taking action. Fifty-nine percent of respondents to the el Restaurante survey said they have trained their employees what to do if ICE comes knocking, and 23 percent have consulted with their attorney about the situation.
Knight says her organization began communicating with members in January about how to ensure their employees are compliant with labor laws, what to do if ICE shows up at their restaurant, and how to communicate to employees about the situation. Webinars on those topics have been popular, she says.
“They have been the most well-attended webinars we’ve probably done in the last three years,” Knight says. “We know there’s a lot of interest from employers on two fronts: One, let me make sure I’m doing the right thing, as I’ve always done. And two, how do I make sure my employees feel safe working in my business? Because there’s a lot of fear in the community.”
Click here to read a previous article about what to do if ICE raids your restaurant.
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