Rally in Nicholasville after immigration raid targets three restaurants

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ) – Three Jessamine County businesses remain closed after being raided Tuesday by immigration and customs enforcement or “ICE”, but the parking lot at Fiesta Mexico was full, full of people speaking out against the raids.

Dozens of people showed up to Fiesta Mexico to rally for friends and family that were affected by the immigration and custom raids. Five undocumented individuals were detained in that raid.

According to Fiesta Mexico employees, ICE was looking for a specific individual, but made everyone in the restaurant show their papers. One of the employees explained his best friend got deported. He said it all happened so fast, and he got out of there as quickly as possible.

“I’ve been here since her age, 3 years old. I have been here all my life, this is all I know. You can say I’m from another country but I don’t know anything over there. If you send me back there I wouldn’t know what to do over there.”

Norma Laureano said she came to the rally to support her husband. He is also an employee at Fiesta Mexico and he is scared to leave his home, she wanted to set an example for her son. She said he goes to work every day and provides for the family.

“So I feel like it’s a good education to show my son that this is happening and also he could be that voice for his father.”

Immigration attorney Heather Hadi says the raid may come as a surprise to the community but it is more common than you think. She says under President Trump’s new policy people are being picked up right and left and some in the middle of the citizenship process.

“If they have ever been deported, if they have no immigration status right now, if they fell out of status meaning maybe they did come on a work visa then they never renewed it and they stayed in the country undocumented. These people are the ones getting swept up. so we even have some DACA kids who ended up falling out of status, they have no other options at this point and they are getting swept up in this as well.”

Hadi says despite the legality, these immigrants are a big part of the economy, especially the in Kentucky’s horse industry. No one knows for sure when these businesses will reopen.