What to Do If ICE Raids Your Restaurant, According to Immigration Experts

The restaurant industry in the United States has long relied on the labor of immigrants. According to the National Restaurant Association, nearly one in four (22%) of restaurant and foodservice employees were born outside of the United States. Most of those employees come from Mexico, China, and El Salvador. 

In 2025, as immigration enforcement intensifies under a second Trump administration, those same workers are becoming increasingly anxious. Unannounced workplace visits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have already led to arrests in restaurants, retail shops, and food processing facilities nationwide, leaving owners and staff scrambling to understand what to do next. 

“Knowing your rights is important,” Jean Reisz, professor and co-director of the USC Immigration Clinic, told Food & Wine. As Reisz noted, “Not cooperating could make it harder” for ICE to continue sweeping up a “vast amount of people.” 

That means restaurant owners and their teams need to be prepared with policies, training, and legal support if ICE agents show up. Here’s what every restaurant owner and worker needs to know right now. 

What’s the latest on the raids?

On June 13, New York Times reporters Hamed Aleaziz and Zolan Kanno-Youngs wrote that they had obtained an internal email detailing the Trump administration’s plan to scale back its mass deportation efforts, telling ICE officials to “pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants.” 

Just a day prior, President Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Our great Farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.” He added, “In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!” 

So, there’s no guarantee on how long a pause — if it happens — will last, which makes preparation key. 

Understand where agents are legally allowed to go

Immigration officials don’t need a warrant to enter the public areas of a restaurant. They can go wherever the general public can go — think dining rooms, patios, or lobbies. They cannot access spaces off limits to guests, including kitchens, storage rooms, or offices without a judicial warrant signed by a judge.

“If there are areas that say ‘Employees Only’ or ‘Private,’ that would create an expectation of privacy and the Department of Homeland security officials would need a [judicial] warrant to enter,” Reisz explained. “Many times, [ICE] will have what’s called administrative warrants, which are not signed by a judge.” 

Restaurant owners can politely refuse access to those private areas unless a valid warrant is presented. “Request to see the warrant,” Damian Conforti, a partner and co-chair of the Hospitality Services Practice at Mandelbaum Barrett PC, added. “Don’t consent to a warrantless search.” 

Consider buying a lock or two, as a physical barrier between public and private spaces can go a long way in protecting your privacy. “We’ve seen operations where ICE agents gave up because they couldn’t get into the private areas,” Reisz noted.

Designate a trained point person

One of the simplest things a restaurant can do right now is assign a staff member (usually a manager or HR lead) as the designated point of contact for ICE. This person should be the only one engaging with agents during any visit.

Siembra NC, a grassroots organization dedicated to “defending communities from abusive employers and landlords, ICE and bad politicians,” suggested further guidance with its Fourth Amendment Workplaces initiative, which it shared with F&W. It also noted employees should be instructed not to answer questions or hand over documents during an enforcement action. “They certainly don’t want to offer information,” Conforti explained. “It’s perfectly fine for a worker to say, ‘Am I free to go?’ and leave it at that.”

Avoid obstruction, but don’t overstep

While it’s important to assert legal rights, it’s just as critical for restaurant owners or managers not to interfere. That means no hiding employees, no providing false information, and no physically preventing agents from entering public spaces.

“You never want to make yourself part of the story that you weren’t meant to be part of,” Conforti said. Instead, keep calm and avoid saying or doing anything that could escalate the situation.

Ensure your I-9s are in order

Under federal law, all employers are required to maintain completed I-9 forms for their employees, which is documentation that verifies a person’s identity and authorization to work in the U.S. Fines for errors can be hefty, even if the mistake was unintentional.

“Restaurant owners are required to have accurate and complete I-9 forms for every employee,” Conforti said. That doesn’t mean running background checks; it means conducting “reasonable due diligence” to ensure the documentation appears legitimate.

Restaurant owners should consider storing I-9s separately from personnel files, and consider training HR staff on how to review them correctly without discriminating against applicants based on nationality or perceived status.

Invest in security cameras

Video surveillance can be crucial if you need evidence for yourself or an employee down the line. “The videotape [could be] evidence of any kind of constitutional or Fourth Amendment search and seizure violations,” Reisz said. Owners should preserve footage and take note of badge numbers, agent names, and what is said during any enforcement action.

Help employees prepare for worst-case scenarios

“If somebody’s working and there’s a risk of them being arrested, they should have a plan in place,” Reisz noted. This includes identifying a family member to contact, having any previous immigration documents accessible to provide to an immigration attorney, and knowing how to connect with an immigration attorney or a rapid response network.

Some workers carry “red cards,” which are printed statements asserting their right to remain silent and request a lawyer. “They can be given to ICE officials to say, ‘I want to speak to my attorney. I’m not answering any questions,” Reisz said, adding that an employer could have these ready for their staffers, too. 

If someone is arrested, act quickly

If a worker is detained, time is critical. Restaurant owners should report the arrest to local immigration support organizations like the California Coalition for Immigrant Justice and help the worker’s family locate legal assistance. “Those organizations are keeping track of where people are likely being sent,” Reisz said. These groups, Reisz added, can connect the person with an immigration attorney who can act fast.

While enforcement may ebb and flow depending on the political climate, the risk never fully disappears for many workers in the restaurant industry. That’s why being prepared is always key. And as Reisz advises, if you don’t have to, “Don’t say anything. Don’t sign anything.”