Latest news with #JaimeMartinez
NBC News
4 days ago
- NBC News
Pennsylvania restaurant employees say ICE raid left a trail of destruction for the business
A local Mexican restaurant chain in Pennsylvania is trying to forge ahead a week after a worksite immigration raid left property damage at two of its storefronts and a workforce afraid to show up to their jobs, according to two employees and a witness who spoke with NBC News. It all started Aug. 7 when immigration authorities showed up at two Emiliano's Mexican Restaurant & Bar locations in the Pittsburgh area. As many as 16 workers were detained — nine worked at a location in Gibsonia, a suburb north of Pittsburgh, and seven others worked at another location in the nearby township of Cranberry. In a social media post that same afternoon, which included a video taken by a worker, the business accused agents of storming into its restaurants and leaving 'a trail of fear, confusion, and destruction' that included a burned kitchen, torn ceiling tiles, broken doors, a safe cut open by an agent and trashed food. The incident raises questions over the tactics used by authorities at this particular raid. This week, gas plumbers fixed a stove that was damaged during the raid, according to two people working at the restaurant chain. Staffing was also thin at the locations targeted by immigration authorities as employees who witnessed the raid, including those who are U.S. citizens, remain 'in shock,' they added. 'No one wants to go back, everyone is scared.' Both workers who spoke with NBC News requested to not be named to protect their family's privacy because of an ongoing federal investigation in connection with last week's events. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania declined to clarify what the investigation it is leading is about. As the immigration arrests were happening last week, someone alerted an emergency response immigration hotline run by Casa San Jose, a local nonprofit that advocates for Latino and immigrant communities. The organization quickly dispatched about 20 volunteers to both locations to act as legal observers, collect testimonies and provide support to the workers and families affected, according to Jaime Martinez, a community defense organizer at Casa San Jose. At the Gibsonia location, 'the raid actually caused a kitchen fire that agents were unable to extinguish at the beginning, which put people in danger,' Martinez told NBC News on Tuesday. Employees who spoke to Martinez and his volunteers said the stove was on when agents entered the kitchen because workers were cooking food as they prepared to open the restaurant Thursday morning. The restaurant's manager warned agents that the open burners were on, but witnesses alleged that agents didn't do anything until a fire sparked, he said. The detained employees, who had their arms and ankles shackled, were the ones who directed the agents to find the fire extinguisher and instructed them on how to use it after initially failing to operate it, according to employees who spoke to Martinez and his volunteers. 'By the time the fire department got there, the fire had already been put out with a dry chemical extinguisher, but only after this delay,' Martinez said. A spokesperson with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC News in an email Thursday that the 'damage to the restaurant, including the small fire, was created by the illegal aliens themselves while they were trying to escape or hide from law enforcement officers.' According to ICE, the agents showed up at the locations in Gibsonia and Cranberry to execute federal search warrants based on information it got alleging that the restaurants were employing undocumented workers, WPXI, NBC's affiliate in Pittsburgh, reported. The agency added that the 16 people detained lack legal status and are now in ICE custody, undergoing immigration proceedings. 'But in the process of coming in with that warrant, they also terrorized the community, pointed guns at people and destroyed a local business,' Martinez said. In response to this, the ICE spokesperson told NBC News, 'All agents and officers followed established legal procedures while executing the warrants.' At the Cranberry location, Casa San Jose volunteers interviewed a worker who described seeing officers come into the restaurant, shouting 'police' and pointing their long guns at the employees. One female employee who was in the kitchen said an agent 'pointed the gun at her head' while telling her to stop cooking, according to Martinez. While she was not detained after showing proper documentation, 'this lady is now going to have to live with the trauma of having law enforcement point a gun at her head while she was at work,' Martinez said. Martinez and one of the workers who spoke with NBC News said agents lined up all of the cuffed employees and made them kneel while pointing their weapons at them. 'Agents and officers operated within established law enforcement standards in order to ensure the safety of law enforcement officers, the public and the illegal aliens themselves,' the ICE spokesperson said in response to this allegation. Last week was not the first time immigration authorities attempted to detain employees from Emiliano's Mexican Restaurant & Bar. The ICE spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that a June incident was part of 'an investigation that ultimately led to the execution of the warrants' this month. Martinez said that on a night in June, he got a call on the hotline, reporting unmarked vehicles surrounding a nearby apartment complex. When the volunteer who was dispatched arrived at the area, she noticed the vehicles were parked with their engines still running, in front and behind the restaurant. According to Martinez, it looked like federal agents inside the vehicles were waiting for workers to come out of the restaurant as it was closing. The vehicles left once TV crews arrived on the scene, he said. 'There were nine people in that restaurant on lockdown,' Martinez said, adding his group doesn't know the immigration status of those workers since it doesn't ask people about that as part of its policy. 'But you don't have to be undocumented to be afraid of getting detained.' Since launching the hotline in March, Casa San Jose has received more than 650 calls reporting more than 100 immigration detentions in the area and has dispatched volunteers in at least 70 instances, according to Martinez. In the wake of the raids at Emiliano's Mexican Restaurant and Bar locations, the community came together and collectively donated more than $133,000. The workers who spoke with NBC News said the business plans to use the funds to cover bond expenses, one month worth of salary for each employee detained and repair damage done to the restaurant.
The Independent
10-06-2025
- The Independent
Mallorca will remove 20 per cent of sun loungers by 2026. Here's why
Palma de Mallorca is planning to remove nearly 1,700 sun loungers from its beaches by 2026 to increase free space for locals and address complaints about overtourism and beach erosion. The reduction will affect Palma's four main beaches, with Playa de Palma seeing the largest decrease from 6,000 to 4,436 sunbeds. In addition to reducing sunbeds, Palma's council plans to introduce an online app by 2027 for reserving loungers and umbrellas. The changes are part of a larger initiative by Palma's mayor, Jaime Martinez, to invest €300 million in improving Playa de Palma, including a ban on new tourist hotels. These measures coincide with growing anti-tourism protests across Spain and other popular destinations, organised by the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification (SET), due to housing shortages and the impact of overtourism.
The Independent
10-06-2025
- The Independent
Majorca removes 1,700 sun loungers from beaches after anti-tourism protests
Majorca is planning to remove nearly 1,700 of its sun loungers from beaches on its capital to make more room for locals as protests against overtourism continue on the popular island. According to reports, Palma's council has said it plans to reduce sun beds on the city's beaches by 20 per cent by 2026. The reduction is partly in response to beach erosion, but also in response to complaints from residents that the cost of sun beds and umbrellas have meant there are few free spaces left where they can enjoy their local beaches, German-language local news outlet Mallorca Zeitung reports. In total, 1,644 loungers will be removed from Palma's four beaches. Playa de Palma will go from 6,000 sunbeds and 2,503 umbrellas to 4,436 loungers and 2,218 umbrellas, the news outlet reports. On Cala Major, sunbeds will be reduced by 300 to 250, Ciutat Jardi's sunbeds will be reduced from 300 to 288 and Cala Stancia will go from 150 to 132 loungers. Can Pere Antoni beach, which is managed by the coastal protection agency rather than Palma council, will also have its sunbeds reduced, going from 200 to 94. In another change, the council also plans to let beachgoers reserve loungers and umbrellas via an online app by 2027, Mallorca Zeitung reports. The changes come after the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martinez, announced the council's plan to invest 300 million euros in improving Playa de Palma over the next decade, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin. The initiative also includes a ban on the building of any new tourist hotels, and existing hotels must either be upgraded or turned into residential apartments. Overtourism has been an ongoing issue in Spain, and on Sunday water-pistol protest will be held across popular tourist destinations including Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Barcelona, Tenerife and Malaga, as well as Venice and Lisbon, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports. The protests have been organised by the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification (SET) in reaction to a tourism boom that has led to housing shortages in popular tourism hotspots. Majorcan anti-tourism activists published an open letter in March, urging tourists not to come to the island over summer as forecasts indicate this summer will see record numbers of visitors travelling there. 'Mallorca is not the paradise they are selling you. The local population is angry and no longer hospitable because the land we love it's being destroyed and many of us have to leave the island because it is uninhabitable. Put yourselves in our place!' said the letter, signed by a number of community groups. 'Our leaders do not listen to us, so we, the residents, ask you: DO NOT COME. We do not need more tourists; in fact, you are the source of our problem.'
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Buy This Insane Steam Punk Show Car
Read the full story on Backfire News If you're been on the hunt for a car like no other, check out this completely insane steam punk show car that just hit the market. While it looks like a movie prop or some weird art installation piece, it is in fact a running and driving automobile guaranteed to blow people away anywhere you take 'The Metamorphosis,' it was built Los Angeles artist Baron Margo and fabricator Jaime Martinez. To craft this creation, they used a 1984 Volkswagen van, transforming it into a steam punk masterpiece. You might have caught the episode of Jay Leno's Garage where this thing was featured and been floored at it back then. Now it could be sitting in your garage and you could be behind the steering wheel. The seller says the radically transformed VW runs 'good' and that it has a custom interior. We wish there were more photos of the inside since the only one included in the listing is through a window and it shows little. But we bet if you're serious about buying this ride, the seller could supply more. This is the kind of vehicle that will win at car shows and wow people everywhere you go. It will get strangers asking questions, even people who know literally nothing about cars. After all, how many times do you see something that looks like a steam punk submarine driving down the road? Nothing else out there looks like this original piece of art. While The Metamorphosis has a title, it's currently registered as non-operational. We don't know what it would take to register the thing where you live, so you might want to do some due diligence before making a purchase. See this car's listing for yourself here. Images via Ferdinand Metz/Facebook Marketplace
