Last week, Willmar, Minnesota, asked if ICE can enjoy culture while criminalizing the people who create it.
According to reporting from the Minnesota Star Tribune, four ICE agents walked into a restaurant named El Tapatio around 3 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2026. This family-run Mexican eatery is located about 95 miles outside Minneapolis.
The ICE agents ordered lunch in a booth there and were served by some frightened staff.
But after the restaurant closed, those same agents came back to detain three employees near a local church and middle school. Bystanders blew whistles, and one yelled, “Would your mama be proud of you right now?” On Bluesky, historian and podcaster Patrick Wyman wrote that violating hospitality in this way would have earned “generational curses” in earlier days.
When ICE agents show up to a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis trying to get food and nose around,but they’re told to get the hell out by the owner and staff! They were told not to come back unless they have a Judicial warrant signed by a Judge! 👍 pic.twitter.com/s5R0vRDP0E
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) January 15, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security insists that the agents were conducting surveillance on a specific individual and later made a vehicle stop. But Minnesota is on edge as the state is going through an intensified federal immigration crackdown.
In recent weeks, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good and the 37-year-old mom-of-three’s killing became a national flashpoint. Another ICE shooting came a week later. After this, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called ICE an “occupying force” and said that the city is pursuing litigation to end the deployment.
Restaurants across the Twin Cities have been closed as of now because workers are afraid that showing up could get them deported. One Mexican restaurant owner, Bruno, told HuffPost that during service, they now keep doors locked and train staff to ask for warrants.
“The only analogy here is when the bad guys make you dig your grave before they put you in it,” he said.
And it’s not just Mexican restaurants either. Earlier this week, an agent reportedly entered a Thai restaurant in St. Paul with his gun drawn. According to the video and statements shared with USA TODAY, he accused the owners of “hiding a kid.” The owners said staff and customers were traumatized, though by the end, no one was harmed.
ICE agents ate lunch at a local Mexican restaurant in Minnesota then came back as the restaurant was closing to arrest the same people who served them food.
Enough is enough.
It is time to fight for a better world than one that is this barbaric and cruel.pic.twitter.com/rUv1nHo97f
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) January 17, 2026
Immigrants make up about 36% of restaurant owners and more than 20% of the workforce across the U.S., so if ICE agents target ethnic restaurants, they destabilize an industry. A Willmar resident told WCCO that his employer lost 75% of its business since the crackdown started.
Last year, podcaster Jennifer Welch suggested Trump voters should stick to Cracker Barrel instead of ethnic restaurants. It is also true that some restaurants find it painful to serve customers wearing MAGA hats or cheering ICE raids.
One D.C.-based owner told HuffPost she called the police on a customer who spoke casually about shooting immigrants.
