Latest news with #DavidPerdomo
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Fear is the overall sense' for Rochester Latinos after ICE detentions
Feb. 14—ROCHESTER — Word of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in Rochester have Latino community members on edge. At least five people in Rochester have been confirmed as being taken into custody by ICE agents, said leaders of the group Community Organizing Power and Action Latinos (COPAL) late Thursday afternoon. Those detentions stem from at least three separate operations taking place Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 12-13, 2025. A spokesperson for the group described a "feeling of unease in our community." Among those is a Rochester woman who has temporary legal status to remain in the U.S. She said she fears for herself but more for her parents, who are undocumented and who brought her to the U.S. She said the detentions came as a shock to her. "I was just thinking that Rochester is a safe city where people can come to do their jobs and live," she said. "Now I don't know if (ICE is) targeting people or doing this randomly." The woman, who asked to be quoted anonymously due to her legal status, is working in Rochester under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy. DACA was enacted in 2012 and allows some undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children to receive temporary protection from deportation and gives them authorization to work in the U.S. for a renewable period of two years. "I think for Latinos right now, fear is the overall sense," she said. David Perdomo, Southeast Minnesota lead organizer with COPAL, described the woman's sense of fear as being typical of many Latinos. "People fear someone detained and people being left alone without their family," he said. Yet in other places, such as El Super Gallo #1, a Mexican grocery store in northwest Rochester, life went on pretty much as normal. The store was open for business and the kitchen was busy as usual leading up to the lunch rush. "I need to get groceries," said Javier Gutierrez. "Sitting at home isn't helping anything." But he said he had made doubly sure not to leave home without his driver's license. "You never know," he said. Perdomo said that COPAL began receiving reports of ICE activity on Wednesday. He was in the COPAL office, in northwest Rochester, when a call came from a colleague of two brothers who were detained by ICE agents. The brothers are both employees of Nupa Mediterranean Restaurant. Perdomo received the call at 10 a.m. and raced to the restaurant, arriving 15 minutes later. "They were already gone," he said. Later, the office received a report of ICE agents visiting a Rochester apartment building and taking into custody at least one person there. That detainee also worked at Nupa, according to friends. COPAL is part of a nationwide Immigrant Defense Network. Staff are responding to reports of ICE activity in part to ensure that whoever is being detained is aware of their legal rights. "We want to make sure immigrant families feel like they are supported, and just give a firm message to ICE that we are watching and that we're expecting them to treat people fairly and recognize they're human rights," said Wendy Zuniga, COPAL communications director. "Whether they have legal status or not, they still have constitutional rights." Perdomo said he is working with COPAL community partners to help the wife of one of the detainees get food and rides to school for her children. Her husband had the family's bank cards in his wallet when he was taken into custody, the woman told Perdomo over the phone. Before the ICE activity, COPAL was planning "Love Your Immigrant Neighbor" events and activities throughout Rochester on Valentine's Day. Signs for the events were brought out early for an impromptu public rally in the Peace Plaza on Thursday morning. Perdomo said he was glad to see community members at that rally, demonstrating their support for the detainees and the local Latino community. He said he hopes to bring some positive visibility of Latinos for the rest of Southeast Minnesota. "We want to show our community we are not criminals, we are working people who want to thrive," he said. "We want to change the narrative."
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE agents arrest workers in parking lot, Rochester restaurant says
The Brief ICE agents arrested two employees on Wednesday, Nupa restaurant said in a social media post. The arrests prompted the restaurant to close indefinitely. The arrests triggered a protest in downtown Rochester on Thursday. ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Nupa Mediterranean Grill in Rochester shut down one of its two locations on Wednesday after it said federal agents arrested two of its employees in the parking lot. The backstory In a post on Facebook, Nupa Mediterranean Grill said, in part: "Unfortunately, we had two brothers working that may have been working under false documentation. From our understanding, ICE never asked for any documentation and arrested them in the parking lot." The arrests spawned a protest involving a couple dozen people in downtown Rochester on Thursday morning. It is unclear how long the restaurant will remain closed. It said in a social media post that the brothers worked a lot of hours, and they did not have anyone to replace them. What they're saying COPAL MN, a nonprofit organization that helps Latine families, organized the rally. It said the arrests have ignited a sense of unease in the immigrant community. "They are receiving calls from the community, saying that ICE is present in some places in Rochester," said David Perdomo, a community organizer who planned the rally. "There is a feeling of fear in our community – fear of being detained or someone that they love being detained and left alone…." Big picture view The Trump administration has launched large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants nationwide. It is unclear how many arrests have been made since President Donald Trump took office. In January, officials said agents averaged nearly 800 arrests per day. The owner of the restaurant could not be reached for comment. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
