Tribeca Diner Patrons Lobby on Behalf of Server Detained by ICE
A server of seven years at the 100-year-old Square Diner (33 Leonard Street, at Varick Street) was deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to an immigration detention center in Livingston, Texas. Originally from Ecuador, the New York resident for 35 years – and an employee of the essential lower Manhattan establishment for seven – has green card status. The restaurant's regulars, employees, and the man's family are clamoring for his release from internment and return to New York.
After Luis Fernandez, 50, was detained in late June, according to the publication, Tribeca Tribune, he went from 26 Federal Plaza to New Jersey to Maryland and finally to the IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility in Texas. A manager of Square Diner who spoke to Fernandez says they think there's a chance he'll be sent home 'next week.' An employee from Square Diner told Eater on Thursday that they have not heard any updates.
It's unclear why Fernandez was detained and whether Fernandez was detained at his workplace or an immigration office on Long Island. Fernandez has secured a lawyer, his family told the publication. Advocates have also been working on his behalf. Tribeca resident and lawyer Kristopher Brown wrote a letter on June 30 to the ICE office at 25 Federal Plaza in which he says that Fernandez 'was trying to abide by all U.S. laws, and asks for his release from custody 'as soon as possible,' noting that 'Luis is a beloved figure in our neighborhood, well known to our small community and always helpful and encouraging to patrons, neighbors, and others.'
The letter notes that Fernandez was in the process of getting his green card renewed. Another Tribeca resident posted Brown's letter on Instagram and cited a server in Kennett, Missouri, who was arrested at the restaurant where she worked as well. 'I encourage anyone who's seeing this post to read it. I hope @tribecatrib and @tribecacitizen can amplify the story so that we New Yorkers can protect our friends and neighbors the way the citizens of Kennett, Missouri protected Carol.' She returned home weeks later.
Fernandez is a father and 'has a golden heart,' a diner manager, Fernando Santos, told the Tribeca Tribune.
Fernandez spent three days and nights at 26 Federal Plaza and was fed a bagel, a bottle of water, and a chocolate chip cookie each day, according to colleagues who've kept in touch. 'Nothing else,' said Santos, who has spoken to Fernandez briefly. Detainees allegedly slept on the floor. Earlier this week, Gothamist reported that immigrants in the holding center 'complained of being unable to bathe or change clothes,' and that the space is often 'standing room only.'
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Gothamist in a statement that the claims regarding 25 Federal Plaza were false. 'All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.'
When Tribeca Tribune reached out regarding Fernandez's status, 'an ICE media officer sent an email to say that a response to questions regarding Fernandez's arrest and detention will be forthcoming.' The Texas facility said it doesn't provide information about inmates to reporters.
Nationwide, according to a study from CMS released in 2024, as many as 8.3 million undocumented immigrants work in the U.S. economy, representing 5.2 percent of the workforce. Of those, around a million people or more work in restaurants.
Fernandez's arrest follows an uptick in ICE raids that will become even more commonplace following the bill signed into law last week that U.S. Congress passed allocating around $170 billion for immigration enforcement along with $75 billion in additional funding for ICE, making it by far the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.
Earlier this year, a Newark fish market was raided by ICE. Groups have created crowd-sourced maps such as one to report ICE sightings, and many organizations are working to educate people about what restaurant owners and workers can do to protect themselves from immigration raids.
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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Kilmar Abrego Garcia could be released from jail Friday. Here's what to know
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Abrego Garcia later claimed in court documents that he was beaten and psychologically tortured, while El Salvador President Nayib Bukele denied the allegations. The Trump administration described its violation of the immigration judge's 2019 order as an administrative error. Trump and other officials also doubled down on claims Abrego Garcia was in MS-13. Vasquez Sura filed a lawsuit to bring her husband back. Following mounting political pressure and a Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. in early June. But it was to face the human smuggling charges. The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on and wasn't charged with anything. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges filed in June. The case relies on the testimony of cooperating witnesses, some of whom have requested or received help with immigration and criminal matters, according to pre-trial testimony. Abrego Garcia's lawyers on Tuesday filed a rarely used motion to dismiss the case based on 'vindictive and selective prosecution.' 'This case results from the government's concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back,' his lawyers wrote. The government's response is due in court by Tuesday. Deportation fears realized U.S. Magistrate Barbara Holmes in Nashville ruled in June that Abrego Garcia has a right to be released from jail while he awaits trial, determining that he's not a flight risk or danger to the community. Holmes discussed at a court hearing conditions of release that would require Abrego Garcia to stay with his brother in Maryland. He would also have electronic monitoring and be placed on home detention. 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New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
AI chatbots and their poisonous delusions are coming for our kids
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During a 2024 Senate hearing, the billionaire CEO dramatically turned around to face the parents of children who had been harmed by bullying, sextortion and child predators on his platforms, and apologized. 'I'm sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered,' Zuckerberg told them. He vowed 'industry-wide efforts' to reform. Instead, his company has introduced a Trojan horse that pretends to be a child's friend while causing psychological harm. People, kids or adults, do not need to rely on pretend conversations. Zuckerberg's Facebook was developed to allow for online connections with real-life friends. You could see what your best friend from 3rd grade had for lunch today, peep where that co-worker from two jobs ago went on vacation or check out which high school friends have gotten fat or divorced. Now apparently his company is plying us with carefully designed imaginary friends instead. 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One Texas family says the bot told their 17-year-old it sympathized with kids who kill their parents for limiting their screen time. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters And in what's seen as a test case of lawsuits against AI companies, a Florida mom says developed 'an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship' that led to her 14-year-old son's suicide. Parents are their children's first line of defense, but we can't be with them for every keystroke. It's entirely justified for us to demand that tech companies stop targeting our kids with ill-tested chatbots that can both behave inappropriately and harm their ability to develop human relationships. These companies shouldn't focus on how they're building these chatbots until they can tell us why they're doing so. And parents need to keep their children far away from damaging chatbots that stunt kids' growth by stripping away all the real-life beauty and joy of friendship — which no AI can ever replace. Karol Markowicz is the host of the 'Karol Markowicz Show' and 'Normally' podcasts.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Street takeover party marred by violence was promoted by CPS aide who says he has been suspended
Jorge Sanchez was headed home from work on a Saturday night earlier this month when he encountered throngs of rideshares and pedestrians surrounding his home in Austin. Sanchez, 35, is used to people hanging out on his block, and found one of the guys he recognized from other weekends. 'I was like, 'You really outdid yourselves today,'' he said. 'And he said, 'Oh, this wasn't us.'' It was Club JROY: a massive end-of-summer party that had been all over Instagram and TikTok for days before people flooded blocks around the West Side neighborhood. It took place even after police had asked event promoter Jamal Williams to cancel, officials said. Police reports put the center of Club JROY at the intersection of La Crosse Avenue and Maypole Street, a few houses up from where Sanchez lives. Authorities responded to at least three instances of gunfire within six-blocks of the intersection in the early morning hours of Aug. 10 as they struggled to contain a crowd estimated to be in the thousands at its peak. Eight people were shot in the area, two fatally, and police arrested at least six others, according to public records and police sources. Those who were wounded and killed made up a quarter of the city's gunshot victims for the entire weekend, police said. The promoter, listed in CPS personnel records as a special education classroom assistant at Ellington Elementary School in Austin, has not been charged with any wrongdoing and strenuously denied that the shootings were connected with his party. He announced a few days later that he had been placed on paid suspension due to an investigation, which he said was meant to ensure his safety and that of the school following social media discussions of the shootings. 'The events that happened, I genuinely do feel bad,' Willams said in one post. 'But that didn't happen at the location I sent out. That was at different block parties that people decided to go to.' Asked to comment on Williams' announced suspension and the party, CPS representatives said in a statement that the district did not comment on personnel matters. Police met with promoter Jamal Williams at Ellington days before the event was scheduled to take place and asked him to call it off, Ald. Jason Ervin said. By the time Jorge Sanchez got home around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 9, he found the street filled with people. They were still rolling up in droves around midnight, bringing people from as far away as suburbs including Lynwood and Plainfield. 'I was like, 'what the heck is going on?',' he said. 'Everyone was talking about getting to the party.' Sanchez and his brother-in-law did a few laps around their house and found that the party covered several blocks with people drinking, smoking and playing music in a crowd so dense that emergency workers couldn't get through at some points to assist people. Footage from Sanchez's Ring doorbell around 2:45 a.m. the next morning shows North La Crosse Avenue crowded but otherwise calm before two gunshots sounded. More shooting can be heard on the video, apparently from two different locations on the block, as the crowd turned and ran south down the street. Many people hustled onto Sanchez's front walk, sheltering in his doorway. At least six people were hit in the shooting, police said. One of them, a 22-year-old woman whom the Cook County medical examiner's office later identified as Jashura Monae Blackhawk, was shot in the back and died soon afterward. As police attempted to cordon off the crime scene, they arrested a 35-year-old man who allegedly wouldn't cooperate with their orders to disperse and shoved a cop. At the same time, a few blocks to the west, a different group of officers were headed toward the shooting at LaCrosse and Maypole when they heard a single shot in an alley on the 200 block of North Lamon Avenue. They saw a man running up the alley, records show, and arrested him minutes later. Police said Thursday no one was in custody in connection with the shooting that killed Blackhawk. One man was charged in a second shooting after the party that left a teenage boy dead. About two hours after the first shooting, Cook County prosecutors said 18-year-old Kaleb Williams and his friends — all high school classmates — were walking south down North Lavergne Avenue away from the party when they encountered Ortez Owens and a second person near the intersection of Lavergne and Maypole. Prosecutors alleged that 35-year-old Owens approached the teens and tried to talk to them about their car's broken sunroof. He then allegedly took out a gun, told them to drop their backpacks and fired along with his companion as the group of friends scattered, hitting Williams in the back and his friend in the shoulder. A few minutes later, prosecutors alleged that Owens returned to where Williams lay and took the backpack before he left again. After Owens was arrested, prosecutors alleged he told his wife that he had 'done a murder' and that he had been looking to retaliate over his sunroof having been shot out. He also allegedly admitted to taking the backpack from Williams and remarking that there was nothing of value inside. Cook County Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered Owens held while awaiting trial and said that his alleged actions showed 'a total lack of self-control (and) total disregard for human life.' Public defenders said that Owens' friends and family had gotten social media threats in the days following the party and asked that Owens be placed into protective custody while awaiting trial. His next court date is set for Sept. 2. In a TikTok dated Aug. 12, promoter Jamal Williams said that there were multiple block parties being held around the area and that he had left his party when he saw people clashing with police. He didn't know about the shootings until the next morning, he said, and hadn't canceled the gathering because the person who had been making threats later messaged him to say they hadn't been serious. Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, whose ward covers Ellington Elementary, pointed out that there are plenty of gatherings in the area that go smoothly and 'don't get the same kinds of attention a street takeover would get' — in part because something like the Taste of Austin food festival or a city-sponsored midnight basketball game doesn't draw the same attendance as street parties, but also because 'it doesn't sell papers (or) increase viewership.' But he added that young people in particular needed more sponsored, well-organized outlets to have fun and socialize in their neighborhoods. And he said people who organize parties that attract violence need to see clear consequences for their actions. 'Their conduct is a participating factor in why these people are harmed,' he said. 'Did they pull the trigger? Maybe not. But they called the party that brought out these people in the first place.' Days before the gathering took place, Jamal Williams had posted a TikTok telling people who were discussing potential violence at the party to stay home. 'I just (saw) a post — it said 'I'm coming 30 deep to Club JROY, try me if you want,'' he said in the TikTok, dated Aug. 5. 'Who the (expletive) are you all into it with?… You can't come!' The next day, he posted another video. The party was still on.
