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Mexican Restaurant`s Lunch Crowd is Met with Closed Doors

( Air Date: 5/10/2006 )
Federal agents clear out a St. Joseph Mexican restaurant during the lunch hour crunch. Officials say the restaurant hired undocumented employees. Immigration and customs enforcement or "ice" officials are tight lipped about today`s arrests because they say the investigation isn`t over. Some bystanders say that although they didn`t expect the raid it doesn`t surprise them.

Crosslights Christian retail store employee Diane Burnich says she heads right next door to Julio`s for coffee. Burnich said, "Sometimes it`s hard to order because no one speaks English very well." She also says that when she heard officers were entering the building with handfuls of handcuffs she thought it had to do with immigration. She said, "They are good neighbors we`ve never had any problems with them so that`s why I assumed it had to be because of immigration."

Both the Buchanan County Sheriff`s Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Ice officials were on hand. Ice officials loaded nine employees into a white van on the back side of the restaurant while Sheriff deputies controlled the front door. Burnich says she hopes the restaurant can overcome it`s legal problems and keep it`s doors open. Burnich said, "They are good people. It`s a good restaurant with good food so hopefully they`ll be able to hire legal people to work for them." Today`s raid isn`t expected to slow business too much. The restaurant re-opened at six o`clock for the dinner crowd.