Jessamine County community uneasy after immigration raids

JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ)- A Jessamine County community is uneasy because it says immigration officials raided several Nicholasville businesses Tuesday.  That includes three Mexican restaurants that were closed during normal business hours.

Lack of customers was not the problem. Car after car of hungry families drove through the parking lots outside Nicholasville’s Mexican restaurants only to find all three closed. It was disappointing for David Wright and family.

I was hungry. Very hungry,” Wright said.

Customers say immigration officials raided the restaurants and some other businesses like a car wash. Many of the people ABC 36 spoke to were disturbed.

“It is kinda scary,” Dalton Carrender said.

He says he has been eating at Los Dos Amigos since he was a kid. He says even though he knows those who were arrested were undocumented, he feels for their families.

“That’s kind of crazy, you know? ‘Oh, hey, your dad got deported. You’ll probably never see him again. That’s just difficult to think about stuff like that happening,” Carrender said.

ABC 36 spoke to someone who says he is connected to some of the businesses. He says they are closed because the raid was so traumatizing. In fact, he says several members of the Hispanic community are staying inside. He worries about its impact on the community, as do some customers.

“If it’s impacting it to this degree at a restaurant that is primarily served by Hispanic individuals, Ican’t imagine what it’s going to do to horse farms,” Wright said.

Customers say they have never seen a raid here before on this level. They are not sure why it is happening now.

ABC 36 has been trying to get in touch with immigration officials to find out more information, but so far our attempts have been unsuccessful.