Food truck companies face backlash for catering ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
The four companies issued statements after customers threatened to boycott them for doing catering business at the controversial prison in the Everglades.
President Donald Trump toured the migrant detention facility earlier this week, which was built in just eight days on a disused air strip as he looks to ramp up deportations.
A TikToker filmed trucks belonging to Kona Ice, Churro Mania, Elote Lovers and Ms.Cheezious entering the hastily-constructed facility on July 1, according to the social media post.
'Boycott Kona Ice, Churro Mania, Elote Lovers & Ms.Cheezious,' the user, Osozalez, posted. 'They love our food but hate out [sic] people.'
The TikTok post has received more than 7.5 million views since it was shared earlier this week.
The food trucks were contracted to cater for the construction crews building the detention center, according to The Miami Herald. O ther outlets reported the vans were hired for a catering event at the facility.
A number of responses to the TikTok post – which received nearly 30,000 comments – said that they would be avoiding the companies in the future.
'Welp, my kids are NEVER getting Kona ice ever again,' one mother wrote.
'The audacity Kona Ice has to show up in my local charter school events that is mostly Hispanic/Latino population is insane. Never again,' another person said.
'Are they seriously celebrating with food from the very people they are locking up there?!' someone else added.
'Boycott them ALL! They can't get my money EVER again!' another said.
Churromania, a chain that has more than 120 locations across the U.S. and South America, said it was 'not an event we support' in a statement on social media.
'We have no political agenda, and never have. Still, we take full responsibility for how this looked,' the company said.
Ms. Cheezious, a Miami food truck company that serves grilled cheese, said they were approached by a 'disaster response company' to provide meals for 'active service members' stationed at the facility.
'Contrary to misleading online narratives, our presence was not part of any celebration or grand opening, and we are not engaged in ongoing services there,' read a statement on Instagram.
Elote Lovers, a Miami-based street food business, issued a lengthy statement on Instagram. 'We did not attend with the intention of supporting this place or what it represents,' the statement said in part. 'We do not support, condone, or align ourselves with any form of oppression, abuse, or injustice. We never have and never will.'
The business, which said it was founded by an immigrant family, added that they would reassess how they accept and review bookings in the future to 'ensure our values are respected wherever we go.'
Shaved ice company Kona Ice said its trucks are independently owned and operated by franchisees. 'The event was booked through an unknown agency, and the franchisee was unaware of the facility's nature or its association with politically sensitive issues,' Kona Ice's statement read in part.
'Our brand exists to bring a moment of happiness to communities through our shaved ice experience – and we recognize the importance of ensuring that mission is never misinterpreted,' the statement added.
The first inmates started arriving at the detention center on Thursday, which is expected to cost $450 million a year to run.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Reuters
Investors head into Trump tariff deadline benumbed and blase
SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) - Global investors are heading into U.S. President Donald Trump's Wednesday deadline for trade tariffs palpably unexcited and prepared for a range of benign scenarios that they believe are already priced in. Just days before the end of a 90-day pause he announced on his April 2 "Liberation Day" tariffs, Trump said the first batch of letters outlining the tariff levels they would face on exports to the United States would be sent to 12 countries on Monday. Investors who have been tracking this date for months expect more details to emerge in the coming days and protracted uncertainty too, anticipating Trump will not be able to complete deals with all of America's trading partners in the coming week. And they are not overly concerned. 'The market has gotten much more comfortable, more sanguine, when it comes to tariff news,' said Jeff Blazek, co-chief investment officer of multi-asset at Neuberger Berman in New York. 'The markets think that there is enough 'squishiness' in the deadlines – absent any major surprise – to not be too unsettled by more tariff news and believe that the worst-case scenarios are off the table now.' Both the tariff levels and effective dates have become moving targets. Trump said on Friday that tariffs ranging up to 70% could go into effect on August 1, levels far higher than the 10%-50% range he announced in April. So far, the U.S. administration has a limited deal with Britain and an in-principle agreement with Vietnam. Deals that had been anticipated with India and Japan have failed to materialize, and there have been setbacks in talks with the European Union. World stocks (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab are meanwhile at record highs, up 11% since April 2. They fell 14% in three trading sessions after that announcement but have since rallied 24%. "If Liberation Day was the earthquake, the tariff letters will be the aftershocks. They won't quite have the same impact on markets even if they are higher than the earlier 10%," said Rong Ren Goh, a portfolio manager in the fixed income team at Eastspring Investments in Singapore. "This financial system is so inundated with liquidity that it is hard to cash up or delever at the risk of lagging the markets, with April serving as a painful reminder for many who derisked and were then forced to chase the relentless recovery in the subsequent weeks." Investors have also been distracted by weeks of wrangling in Congress over Trump's massive tax and spending package, which he signed into law on Friday. Stock markets have celebrated the passage of the bill, which makes Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent, while bond investors are wary the measures could add more than $3 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion debt. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab indexes closed at record highs on Friday, notching a third week of gains. Europe's STOXX 600 benchmark (.STOXX), opens new tab is up 9% in three months. But the risks of tariff-related inflation have weighed on U.S. Treasuries and the dollar, and jostled expectations for Federal Reserve policy. Rate futures show traders no longer expect a Fed rate cut this month and are pricing in a total of just two quarter-point reductions by year-end. The dollar has suffered a knock to its haven reputation from the dithering on tariffs. The dollar index , which reflects the U.S. currency's performance against a basket of six others, has had its worst first half of the year since 1973, declining some 11%. It has fallen by 6.6% since April 2 alone. "The markets are discounting a return to tariff levels of 35%, 40% or higher, and anticipating an across-the-board level of 10% or so,' said John Pantekidis, chief investment officer at TwinFocus in Boston. Pantekidis is cautiously optimistic about the outlook for U.S. stocks this year, but the one variable he is watching closely is interest rate levels. For now he expects to see interest rates dip in the second half, 'but if the bond market worries about the impact of the bill and rates go up, that's a different scenario.'
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Morning Bid: Deadline? What deadline?
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - Global stocks are tiptoeing higher, while the U.S. dollar continues to struggle at three-year lows against a basket of currencies. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the central bank is in no rush to raise rates - despite pressure from President Donald Trump. With a week to go until the July 9 deadline tariffs and a raft of key employment data in the next two days, market activity is, for the most part, pretty subdued for now. Mike Dolan is enjoying some well-deserved time off over the next two weeks, but the Reuters markets team is here to provide you with all the information you need to start your day. Today's Market Minute * U.S. Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins. The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for possible final approval, though a handful of Republicans there have already voiced opposition to some of the Senate provisions. * The Iranian military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Gulf last month, a move that intensified concerns in Washington that Tehran was gearing up to blockade the Strait of Hormuz following Israel's strikes on sites across Iran, according to two U.S. officials. * The United States could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete in the South Asian country and leave it facing far lower tariffs, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, while casting doubt on a possible deal with Japan. * A core tenet of sovereign debt investment is that strong institutions keep down a country's borrowing costs and vice versa. So then why, ask professors Ugo Panizza and Mitu Gulati, has the bond market's response to U.S. President Donald Trump's institutional norm-busting been so tame? * It's easy to come up with reasons to be bearish about U.S. equities given elevated valuations and the uncertainty surrounding the country's economic outlook. But Stephanie Guild, Chief Investment Officer of Robinhood Markets, claims there is a positive trend cutting across all this negativity: capital expenditure growth. Deadline? What deadline? Blink and you'll miss it. Two weeks ago, markets were fretting about the prospect of all-out war in the Middle East, as Israel and Iran bombed one another. One week ago, global markets were rallying in relief as the oil price cratered following the U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, and a fragile ceasefire that appeared to be holding. Now, with a week to go until Trump's July 9 deadline on tariffs, markets have moved on to how long Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell can resist pressure from the president to cut interest rates. Markets are already preparing for a Trump loyalist to replace Powell when his term expires next May. Almost four quarter-point cuts over the next year are now priced into the equation in 2026, up from closer to three just a month ago. Investors have largely expressed their views on tariffs through the currency market and, as far as forex is concerned, July 9 is shaping up to be just another day at the office. Implied currency options volatility - a measure of demand from traders to buy protection against large price swings - surged in early April, when Trump unveiled his raft of tariffs on practically every country on the planet, and continued to do so even after he'd hit the pause button on April 9, peaking shortly afterwards. Since then, volatility has subsided, whether for stocks, bonds or currencies, as investors have become more immune to the president's on-again-off-again approach to trade policy. And that's no surprise. Having said he would secure 90 deals in 90 days, so far there is just one fairly limited deal in the bag, with the UK. In fact, Trump's to-ing and fro-ing on tariffs has been so frequent, it's given rise to the acronym TACO, which stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out", something many investors now factor in when placing trades. Last Friday, Trump said the July 9 deadline was not fixed. "We can do whatever we want," he told reporters at the White House. Then, on Tuesday, he said he wasn't thinking of extending it at all, mentioning Japan as his latest bugbear. In the face of such dizzying switches, forex traders are assuming there will ultimately be some kind of market-soothing pause, reversal, compromise or general can-kicking while the U.S. administration attempts to hash out agreements. Implied volatility for euro options expiring on July 9 is around 8.5%, very much in line with its recent range. For comparison, a month ago, the one-month options - which then expired on July 9 - were at exactly this level, while two-month options two months ago were above 9%. Back in early April, at the time of the pause, three-month euro implied volatility topped 10%. The pattern is virtually identical for all the major currencies that are exposed to tariffs, including the Canadian dollar, Japanese yen and Mexican peso. It's not just currencies either. The VIX volatility index, known as Wall Street's "fear index", has been trading below the attention-grabbing 20 mark, for much of the last two months following a spike to 60 in early April. Drilling down, weekly VIX futures that expire on July 9 have drifted into "sanguine" territory, at around 18.65 from a peak above 20 in mid-June, when Israel/Iran hostilities boiled over. In the run-up to Liberation Day, the weekly VIX futures contract that expired on April 2 hit a top of around 25. Central bankers, major asset managers, private equity giants, politicians, the heads of the world's largest companies and just about everyone has cited tariffs as the biggest uncertainty facing the world right now. As always with markets, someone will be right and someone will be wrong. There is still some time to go before July 9. Chart of the day The monthly ADP private payrolls report is due later in the day and, based on a survey of economists by Reuters, is expected to have risen by 95,000 in June, up from May's three-year low of 37,000, but below June 2024's 150,000 rise. The ADP report usually lands two days before the more comprehensive monthly non-farm payrolls report and, although there is no correlation between the two, investors inevitably use ADP as some form of steer on what to expect from the upcoming government report. Since hitting a COVID-era peak of 807,000 in late 2021, private sector payrolls growth has been moderating. Today's events to watch * June ADP payrolls report * Tesla second-quarter deliveries * ECB Forum on Central Banking 2025 in Sintra, Portugal wraps up * EIA weekly crude inventories * World UFO Day on the anniversary of the Roswell incident Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here.
Geeky Gadgets
an hour ago
- Geeky Gadgets
Perplexity Labs : Unlock the Secret to Effortless AI Research
What if you could transform hours of tedious research and manual work into polished, actionable deliverables in just minutes? Enter Perplexity Labs, a innovative tool designed to transform how businesses approach research and asset creation. Imagine generating a fully interactive competitor analysis dashboard or a data-driven landing page with just a few clicks—no coding or design expertise required. Bold claim? Perhaps. But for professionals juggling complex workflows, this platform offers a glimpse into a future where efficiency and innovation go hand in hand. Yet, like any powerful tool, its true value lies in knowing how to wield it effectively. Grace Leung explores the best ways to unlock Perplexity Labs' potential—from automating prospect research to crafting consulting-grade strategy presentations. You'll discover how its unique features, like deep research mode and task automation, can streamline your processes while delivering outputs tailored to your specific goals. But it's not all smooth sailing; we'll also address the platform's limitations and how to navigate them. Whether you're a marketer, strategist, or entrepreneur, this guide will help you harness Perplexity Labs to elevate your workflow and make smarter, faster decisions. After all, the tools you use are only as powerful as the strategies behind them. Key Features of Perplexity Labs Perplexity Labs combines research and asset creation into a seamless process, allowing you to transition effortlessly from gathering insights to producing deliverables. Its standout features include: Business-ready outputs: Generate interactive dashboards, reports, and tools that are tailored to your specific objectives, making sure relevance and usability. Generate interactive dashboards, reports, and tools that are tailored to your specific objectives, making sure relevance and usability. Deep research mode: Share context across multiple tasks, allowing continuity and improving efficiency in complex workflows. Share context across multiple tasks, allowing continuity and improving efficiency in complex workflows. Task automation: Simplify intricate processes such as competitor analysis, trend monitoring, and sentiment analysis, saving time and reducing manual effort. This combination of features ensures that your outputs are not only data-driven but also aligned with your strategic goals, making the platform a valuable asset for professionals across industries. Limitations to Consider Despite its robust capabilities, Perplexity Labs has certain limitations that should be considered to optimize its use: Lack of iteration control: Refining outputs incrementally can be challenging, as the platform treats each modification as a new request, which may disrupt workflow continuity. Refining outputs incrementally can be challenging, as the platform treats each modification as a new request, which may disrupt workflow continuity. No link revocation: Once a shared link is distributed, it cannot be revoked, potentially leading to security concerns if sensitive information is involved. Being aware of these constraints is crucial for mitigating risks and making sure that the platform is used effectively within your organization. Best Ways to Use Perplexity Labs Watch this video on YouTube. Check out more relevant guides from our extensive collection on automated AI research that you might find useful. Top Use Cases for Perplexity Labs Perplexity Labs is a versatile tool that addresses a wide range of business needs. Below are five key use cases that highlight its capabilities and practical applications: 1. Prospect Research Automate the process of lead generation by researching potential companies and creating interactive dashboards with detailed prospect data. For example, you can use analytics and pre-built templates to identify high-value leads, allowing you to prioritize outreach efforts and improve conversion rates. 2. Landing Page Creation Use competitor research and user feedback to design professional, data-backed landing pages. These pages can incorporate interactive tools such as ROI calculators and feature comparisons, making sure they resonate with your target audience and drive engagement. 3. Social Media Trend Tracking Monitor trends within specific niches by categorizing topics based on engagement and sentiment. This allows you to identify emerging content opportunities and refine your strategy using synthesized user questions and patterns, helping you stay ahead in a competitive digital landscape. 4. Competitor Intelligence Dashboards Access comprehensive competitive analysis through dashboards that include brand sentiment insights, feature comparisons, and social media metrics like share of voice. These tools help you identify opportunities for differentiation and track your competitors' performance effectively. 5. Go-to-Market Strategy Decks Develop consulting-grade strategy presentations that incorporate live market data, competitive intelligence, and financial projections. These decks also include implementation roadmaps and success metrics, making them indispensable for launching new products or services with confidence. Best Practices for Using Perplexity Labs To fully use the capabilities of Perplexity Labs, consider the following best practices: Customize outputs: While the platform generates ready-to-use assets, refining them ensures they align perfectly with your unique objectives and branding requirements. While the platform generates ready-to-use assets, refining them ensures they align perfectly with your unique objectives and branding requirements. Use detailed prompts: The quality of the results depends heavily on the clarity and specificity of your inputs. Clearly outline your goals and include relevant parameters to guide the platform effectively. The quality of the results depends heavily on the clarity and specificity of your inputs. Clearly outline your goals and include relevant parameters to guide the platform effectively. Verify data accuracy: Always cross-check the information provided, especially for time-sensitive or critical decisions. Including specific timeframes in your prompts can help ensure the results are up-to-date and reliable. By following these practices, you can enhance the quality of your outputs and ensure that the platform delivers maximum value for your business. Unlocking the Potential of Perplexity Labs Perplexity Labs offers a unique blend of research capabilities and automated asset creation, making it an invaluable tool for businesses seeking to streamline their workflows and enhance productivity. Its ability to generate actionable outputs, from prospect research dashboards to go-to-market strategy decks, demonstrates its versatility and practical utility. However, its limitations, such as the lack of iteration control and the inability to revoke shared links, highlight the importance of thoughtful and strategic usage. By understanding its strengths and addressing its constraints, you can unlock the full potential of Perplexity Labs, driving efficiency and innovation in your business processes. Media Credit: Grace Leung Filed Under: AI, Guides Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
