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ICE Officers Dined At Cafe, Then Arrested 3 Of Its Cooks, Owner Says
Yahoo ^

Posted on 05/25/2017 3:59:07 PM PDT by TigerClaws

Federal immigration officers who took part in a “raid” at a Michigan restaurant Wednesday first sat and ate breakfast, according to the eatery’s owner. Six U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the Ann Arbor restaurant Sava’s on Wednesday morning, owner Sava Lelcaj said. Two officers were stationed at the front door, two stood at the back exit and two entered the restaurant and had breakfast at the bar with a view of the kitchen, other staff members told Lelcaj, who wasn’t present at the time.

The officers who came inside did not initially identify themselves as ICE agents. They dined on waffles with bacon and egg whites with toast before inquiring about a kitchen worker who was not there, Lelcaj told HuffPost. About the same time, line cook Carlos Rivera-Ochoa took out the trash in the back when officers slapped handcuffs on him, according to Lelcaj. Rivera-Ochoa told MLive he carries his permanent residency card with him, and he was released shortly after being taken into a vehicle and fingerprinted. But when three other cooks in the kitchen saw officers confront Rivera-Ochoa, they “panicked,” Lelcaj said, and ran out the front door and were then arrested.

We’re a really loving, peaceful town. It’s not the kind of place where you’d expect this kind of rampage to occur in a restaurant. Sava Lelcaj, owner of Sava's restaurant Rachael Yong Yow, ICE public affairs officer, said the agents were “conducting a targeted enforcement action” and arrested the three men on immigration violations. Two men who were detained had unlawfully entered the country, Yong Yow said, and the third had entered lawfully “but did not depart in accordance with the terms of his status.” She said all three were in ICE custody Wednesday evening, but Lelcaj said later that one of the employees had been released. Lelcaj added that she conducts screenings when hiring employees and had believed that the men who were arrested were authorized to work in the U.S. “Why would somebody innocent run? Because they felt intimidated,” Lelcaj said, describing the detainees as “victims of this raid.” “It’s a scary time. Even people with documentation … they’re scared to shit.” President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on illegal immigration, fulfilling one of his campaign promises. In the first 100 days of his presidency, deportation officers arrested 41,000 people, a 38 percent increase compared with the same period last year. ICE is also arresting more non-criminals, up to 10,800 from 4,200 in the same period. The White House has also come after sanctuary cities, jurisdictions that have immigrant-friendly policies, such as limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. Ann Arbor does not call itself a sanctuary city but has similar policies in place. Ann Arbor police didn’t take part in the enforcement action or any earlier investigation, according to MLive. “We’re a really loving, peaceful town,” Lelcaj said. “It’s not the kind of place where you’d expect this kind of rampage to occur in a restaurant.” The restaurant owner said she’s now struggling to figure out how to make sure her employees, who come from many different countries, feel safe at work. With the kitchen down three cooks after the arrests, Rivera-Ochoa volunteered to return to work after his brief detainment, but he was “quivering,” Lelcaj said.

Lelcaj fled Albania in the 1980s with her family, living in a Serbian refugee camp for a year before spending her teens in the Bronx in New York.

“America accepted us and allowed us to come here and have a better life,” she said. “If I can do anything to make anyone’s American dream happen ... I will do it.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
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#winning
1 posted on 05/25/2017 3:59:07 PM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

That’s pretty legit.


2 posted on 05/25/2017 4:00:22 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: TigerClaws

Nah, too easy.


3 posted on 05/25/2017 4:00:36 PM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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To: TigerClaws

More jobs Americans will not do.


4 posted on 05/25/2017 4:01:02 PM PDT by gunsequalfreedom
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To: TigerClaws

ICE agents gotta eat too.


5 posted on 05/25/2017 4:01:23 PM PDT by posterchild (Treade a worme on the tayle, and it must turne agayne.)
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To: TigerClaws

Cool.


6 posted on 05/25/2017 4:02:22 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (The Washington Post is Jeff Bezos' Fake News unregulated SuperPAC.)
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To: TigerClaws

I like it. In fact I love it.


7 posted on 05/25/2017 4:04:36 PM PDT by tennmountainman ("Prophet Mountainman" Predicter Of All Things RINO...for a small pittance)
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To: TigerClaws
So they ate first, it would have only been tacky if they ate there afterwards, plus the wait for their food would be too long afterwards because the cafe would be understaffed.
8 posted on 05/25/2017 4:06:02 PM PDT by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: TigerClaws

Albanian owner is probably a muslim.
They aren’t interested in complying with the laws anymore than illegal aliens from south of the border.


9 posted on 05/25/2017 4:07:27 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
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Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: All

Keep after them and also double up ongoing after Middle East illegals....


11 posted on 05/25/2017 4:17:54 PM PDT by JBW1949 (I'm really PC....PATRIOTICALLY CORRECT!!!!)
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To: Ladysforest
Shit, if they want to catch, REALLY want to catch, about a half million - they only need to go ‘round Washington Dcs eateries. From Subway to the finest French restaurant - there are illegals staffing the place. It is as open as can be. Many live in cluster housing, a dozen to a small apartment. They are picked up in vans or ride bikes to work.

Everyone there knows it.


Not as much as a few months ago.

Case #1: I often stop by a 7-11 on my way to work early in the morning to get my coffee. Before the Inauguration, I would sigh as I saw all the pickup trucks and panel vans parked in front. "Illegals are here already" at 5:15.

I'd walk in and there'd be easily 10 or 15 of them, laughing, yelling, calling to each other loudly. The coffee counter was a mess! I'd get in line and eventually make it to the register.

The last couple of months have been VERY different. Almost NO trucks. The few illegals that are there are quiet; they go in, get their things quickly, looking over their shoulder for "La Migra". Once when I was there, a siren was heard; they ran out of the store and jumped into their trucks, leaving their purchases behind.

Case #2: My wife and I frequent a Denny's near our home. We like their breakfast. Before the Inauguration, there were *several* illegal wait staff and clientele. We've been there a few times since the Inauguration, and they're all gone! All the wait staff are white or african american, and the few illegal patrons have their kids doing the ordering for them.

12 posted on 05/25/2017 4:23:49 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (RuPaul and Yertle - our illustrious Republican leaders up the Hill - God help us!)
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To: COBOL2Java; Ladysforest

Forgot to mention: we live in Alexandria, VA - just across the Potomac from Washington DC.


13 posted on 05/25/2017 4:24:49 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (RuPaul and Yertle - our illustrious Republican leaders up the Hill - God help us!)
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To: TigerClaws

Mexicans making white toast? Is that even legal anymore?


14 posted on 05/25/2017 4:27:09 PM PDT by Libloather (Trivial Pursuit question - name the first female to lose TWO presidential elections!)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

In the New York City 2004 arrest of nearly a score, members of the Albanian mob, the name Lelcaj was included.


15 posted on 05/25/2017 4:31:21 PM PDT by Bookshelf
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To: TigerClaws

I wouldn’t want to eat their food AFTER arresting them.


16 posted on 05/25/2017 4:43:27 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: posterchild

Wonder if they left a tip?


17 posted on 05/25/2017 4:44:23 PM PDT by nhbob1
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To: TigerClaws

A “rampage”? Really? Agents arresting people who have broken into our country is not a rampage.

As for:

“If I can do anything to make anyone’s American dream happen ... I will do it.”

**
Well, for starters, sweetie, how about making this natural-born American’s dream come true? I dream of a country in which our sovereignty is not threatened by having illegals break in.


18 posted on 05/25/2017 5:10:36 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Vacate the chair! Ryan must go.)
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To: Mastador1

:)


19 posted on 05/25/2017 5:11:12 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Vacate the chair! Ryan must go.)
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To: COBOL2Java

Oooo, I know Alexandria! We have stayed in Old Town three or four times. We stayed there for the Inauguration also.


20 posted on 05/25/2017 5:22:24 PM PDT by Ladysforest (Racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia and vulgarity - with just a smattering of threats and violence)
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