What Should You Do if ICE Comes to Your Restaurant?

In an interview on CNN in January, border czar Tom Homan bemoaned that immigrants in the U.S. were too informed. “Sanctuary citizens are making it very difficult to arrest the criminals,” he said, apparently annoyed that immigrants would be aware of basic rights they are owed by the government he works for. “For instance, Chicago, very well-educated. They’ve been educated how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE.” 

The ICE raids that the Trump administration has ordered across the country rely on fear, and there’s no shortage of that. Farm workers aren’t showing up to pick fruit, and street vendors aren’t showing up to run their businesses. They’re keeping their children home from school. “People in the neighborhood are talking about it. Agents are coming around, and people are scared to go to work,” a restaurateur in Queens told GrubStreet. And ICE has grown more violent and flagrant as the raids have gone on, detaining citizens and politicians, all while refusing to identify themselves.

According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants of all statuses make up 22 percent of the food service industry, and ICE agents are sweeping up everyone in their raids on businesses. “We’re seeing lots of reports of unlawful arrests, extra judicial arrests, and disregard for the Fourth Amendment standards that they should be following in the way that they carry out the arrests,” says Jessie Hahn, senior counsel for labor and employment policy at the National Immigration Law Center. And how an ICE raid may play out in a business is different from what it could look like on the street or in an individual home, which is why it’s important for all restaurant and food industry workers to know what to do if ICE shows up at work. We spoke to Hahn, and consulted other experts, about how restaurant workers and owners can work together to keep everyone safe.

Know the difference between public and private spaces

There are distinctions about what ICE can do in public versus private spaces, and much of the Know Your Rights literature out there, like these guides published by the Immigrant Defense Center, focus on what to do if ICE stops you on the street, where the question of entering a space without consent doesn’t apply. “A lot of this is what lawyers look at as bedrock, constitutional Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment protections that are not unique to immigration enforcement,” says Hahn. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and differentiates between what can be searched in public and what can be searched in private without a warrant.

For restaurants, spaces like the bar and dining room count as public places “because anyone from the general public can enter,” says Hahn. This means ICE could question both workers and customers in those areas (to which the Immigrant Defense Project suggests asking if you’re free to go, or invoking your right to remain silent). But just as the general public can’t enter the kitchen or the manager’s office, neither can ICE without a judicial warrant giving them explicit permission. “You should consider placing signage indicating certain areas as ‘private’ to distinguish them from public areas in advance of any ICE raid,” writes the hospitality practice group of the Fox Rothschild law firm.

But it’s not just enough to mark a space as private. The door to that private area must also remain closed. “ICE is doing a good job of not busting down doors to private businesses,” says Brittney Valles, co-founder of the Independent Hospitality Coalition. She notes the recent case of a taco truck in LA that was raided by ICE. “The door was open, and so they were able to enter the kitchen space. So the advice that we’re giving to owners is, don’t leave the door ajar. Make them slip a warrant under the door.”

Make sure staff knows who is authorized to let ICE in

Most legal authorities have the ability to enter private spaces if given consent by the business owner. “What we recommend is that owners communicate with all of their staff, and that the staff is clear that only the employer has the ability to grant that permission “to enter private areas, says Hahn. “If they are asked, they should say, essentially, ‘I don’t have the authority to grant you access.’” 

Know the difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant

It’s understandable to see a government official with a gun flash a piece of paper that says “warrant” and let them do whatever they want out of fear. But according to Hahn, it’s crucial that restaurant workers and owners know the difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant because a judicial warrant is the only type of warrant that gives federal authorities permission to enter a private space without the owner’s consent.

“A judicial warrant is going to be signed by a judge, and at the top it’s going to name the court that the judge sits on,” says Hahn. A judicial warrant will also list a time frame for a search to be conducted, specific areas or items to be searched, and will allow officers to enter locked areas listed. Ask for a copy of the warrant and keep track of exactly where it authorizes ICE to go. 

Hahn says many officers will attempt to enter without a warrant at all, or with an administrative warrant, which does not give them the legal authority to enter a private area without consent of the owner. “An administrative warrant will usually say Department of Homeland Security on the top, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” rather than the name of a court and judge, says Hahn. “It is important to kind of stop and take a beat and say, ‘I need to see the document and look at the document and understand, is this a judicial warrant or not?’”

Don’t accidentally communicate

Unfortunately, there have been documented instances of ICE agents arresting and kidnapping people even after being asked to show a judicial warrant. During a recent Know Your Rights training, Valles says “we were trying to push everybody past that point because ICE doesn’t seem to care.” Instead, she emphasized not falling for ICE’s attempts to get workers to reveal more information than they wanted.

You may understand your Fifth Amendment right as the right to stay silent, but that includes other forms of communication. “When ICE comes into a worksite, one of the typical things that happens is that they will tell people to separate by status or by category or by nationality,” says Hahn. “If you stay silent, but you walk to the corner of the room for the people who were born somewhere other than the United States, you just admitted [your citizenship status] even though you never said anything.” Citizens and non-citizens alike have constitutional rights, so if ICE asks you to self-sort, stay where you are.

Document everything

Most experts advise anyone subject to these raids to document what is happening, whether on your phone or in written notes, but not to interfere. “Do not lie or provide false information to officers or attempt to destroy or hide any documents or items. Do not assist employees with hiding from officers or leaving the premises or encouraging them to do so,” says Fox Rothschild. Restaurant owners can inform employees that they have the choice to speak with ICE or not, but they should not attempt to convince employees to refuse. But also, owners do not have to provide information on any employee’s immigration status, or even identify specific individuals to ICE. “You don’t want to obstruct them,” says Hahn. “But you can still make it clear that you are declining to consent to a search, and then you can watch carefully what they’re doing and keep track of what they’re saying and what they’re doing.” 

Hahn says to make sure your phone stays on the ICE agent at all times, and Valles notes the importance of being clear and vocal in any documentation. “While you’re recording, say all the things like You don’t have a warrant. We don’t authorize you to be here. “Because if this is going to go to a court level, you want to make sure that it was very explicit that you said all of the things that you needed to say, and it’s on camera, and they definitely heard you.”

Know what you’re up against

Valles says many ICE raids are coming through I9 audits, so “now is a good time to audit all of your I9s to make sure that everything is in compliance, so that you don’t give any wiggle room.” It’s also probably a good idea to ensure the restaurant has active legal counsel. If that’s the case, “the host/receptionist or company representative should inform ICE that counsel is being contacted. If counsel is able to come to the premises immediately, the company representative should request that the officers wait for counsel to arrive before proceeding,” writes Fox Rothschild. It may not keep ICE from proceeding with a search, but it can help an employer if contesting the search later to say that ICE ignored these requests. 

And in general, restaurants with large immigrant workforces — regardless of documentation status — would do well to contact local immigration lawyers, and give employees those numbers and resources. By working together, restaurants can keep their workers and customers safe.

The silver lining is that there are instances in which communities have come together to protect their neighbors and chase ICE away. “We are seeing immigrant communities and employers exercising their rights and pushing back,” says Hahn. “So that is great, because when communities know their rights, they can better resist the raids and all the harm that they’re creating.”

Update: June 23, 2025, 10:10 a.m.: This article has been updated throughout with additional guidance.