At the start of President Trump’s second term, he pledged to carry out what he called the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” That months-long surge in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity has left restaurants short-staffed, dining rooms empty, and immigrant neighborhoods in a state of constant high alert, which industry insiders describe as a level of instability rivaling the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact has been especially acute in Minneapolis. In January masked ICE agents killed two US citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti. But even before their deaths and ensuing public outcry, James Beard Award–winning chef Sean Sherman saw fear paralyzing the city’s food community.
“I’m seeing it everywhere,” Sherman wrote last month on his Substack. “Inside our kitchens. In staff meetings. In restaurant group chats that used to be about city and state policies, employee recommendations, connections, and operations…are now filled with uncertainty and questions about employee safety.”
Sherman, a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe and chef-owner of restaurant Owamni by The Sioux Chef, told Mother Jones over the weekend that one of his employees was taken by ICE outside of an undisclosed worksite, which Sherman says is out of concern for the safety of his team. In a video posted by the news site, Sherman says the worker and another woman pulled up in a vehicle at the rear of the building when agents pulled the worker out of the driver’s seat. He says the employee was shuttled between three detention facilities, including one in Texas, before being released on Saturday. “Our employees are not criminals. They don't have police records, and they're just here to come here to work,” Sherman says in the video. “We're literally a nonprofit trying to serve healthy Indigenous food to people. We shouldn't have to worry if we're going to have guns pulled on us on the way to work at all, but this is our reality.”
In response, Sherman joined a nationwide industry effort to pressure Congress to rein in federal immigration enforcement. Last Thursday he delivered an open letter signed by more than 1,500 chefs, restaurant owners, food workers, farmers, distributors, and food advocates to Washington lawmakers. Signatories include several prominent Twin Cities chefs and restaurateurs, including Gavin Kaysen, Ann Kim, Gustavo Romero, Karyn Tomlinson, and Andrew Zimmern.
Sherman met with Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota, and was joined by several leaders from across the food world, including representatives from chef José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen, the James Beard Foundation, and others.
Bon Appétit asked Smith for comment about the impact of ICE enforcement on her home state. “This lawless and cruel ICE operation is decimating the entire food supply system in our state,” Smith wrote in response. “I’ve heard from farmers, restaurant owners, and workers, and their message is clear: Get ICE out of Minnesota now. So much of the food system relies on immigrants who are here legally, but when ICE is racially profiling and detaining employees outside of their places of work, of course they are afraid to show up."
“We’re seeing businesses decimated and people with no way to support themselves and their families, all because of this reckless and unjust DHS operation terrorizing our communities,” Sen. Smith wrote to Bon Appétit.
The letter's demands included withdrawing federal agents from the Twin Cities and other cities experiencing violent enforcement actions, launching independent investigations into civilian deaths, banning racial profiling, and prohibiting the use of masks that obscure agents’ identities.
Lawmakers ultimately removed DHS funding from the broader spending package, opting instead for a short-term extension as talks over immigration enforcement continue.
Prior to writing the letter, Sherman described streams of messages among restaurant owners sharing alerts about ICE activity, coordinating safe rides home or groceries for vulnerable workers, and keeping their businesses despite mounting fear.
However, while attending this year’s Sundance Film Festival in late January, Sherman realized how little people outside the Twin Cities understood the scale of the ICE-driven crisis unfolding back home, or what it could mean if it spread.
“If this becomes normal outside of Minneapolis, it’s going to be bad for everybody. I wanted to raise the alarms,” Sherman said.
As of last week, Congress continues to grapple with a standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE; the open letter urged lawmakers to withhold further funding for ICE unless they enact a series of reforms. “The American food industry depends on safety, trust, and dignity,” the letter reads. “When workers fear being targeted, racially profiled, surveilled, detained, or killed by the federal government, the entire system suffers.”
For many in the industry, the letter reflects concerns that extend well beyond Minneapolis. Immigrants make up 36 percent of restaurant owners and more than 20 percent of the industry’s workforce, according to the James Beard Foundation — a reality that industry leaders say leaves restaurants especially exposed to immigration enforcement surges.
Adrian Lipscombe, a Texas-based chef, former restaurant owner, and founder of the 40 Acres Project, was among those who signed Sherman’s letter.
The Austin chef said she has grown concerned by what she sees as a deafening silence from her peers in the industry. Many, she noted, are aware of how immigration enforcement affects restaurants but have not spoken up for the people most exposed to its consequences.
“It is the others that have privilege in this world and in hospitality that should be able to stand up and say something,” Lipscombe said. “It shouldn’t just be the ones that are being truly affected.”