Two restaurant workers detained as ICE descends on Rochester

Latino organizers and human rights advocates say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are detaining people in Rochester the day after two workers at a popular Rochester restaurant were apprehended.

Nupa restaurant said on social media that ICE agents arrested the two workers in the parking lot outside one of the business’ two locations. The restaurant said the employees may have been working under false documentation.

Reached Thursday, owner George Psomas declined to answer further questions about the raid or what steps the business took to check the workers' statuses.

Nupa has closed its north location on Civic Center Drive until further notice. Its second location, in the Crossroads plaza, will remain open.

Nupa has been a fixture in Rochester since 2009, with a menu featuring fast-casual Greek and Mediterranean food. The business is set to open a third location in Maple Grove in the coming months.

Organizers with the Rochester chapter of Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action (COPAL) say they were notified minutes after the restaurant workers were detained.

COPAL and other advocates protested ICE action Thursday at Peace Plaza in downtown Rochester near where other ICE actions have taken place, according to COPAL’s Director of Organizing Ryan Perez.

Perez said the group has heard of others detained in town in recent days, including someone apprehended at their apartment by federal agents posing as a food delivery service, and ICE personnel going into a hotel that also acts as a hospice Thursday morning.

“We have photos, we have video and we continue to build our evidence of their activity,” Perez said, dubbing the recent activity in Rochester the “Valentine raids.”

ICE could not immediately be reached for comment.

Perez told more than 40 people gathered at the protest that organizers know where ICE agents are staying in town and are encouraging them to leave to spend Valentine’s Day with their loved ones.

The Rochester Police Department said it was aware of ICE activity in the area, but its officers were not involved in any operations.

Rochester resident Aleta Borrud was one of the protesters at Peace Plaza on Thursday. She said she came because she was concerned the raids would damage more small businesses and agricultural operations in the region; she feared more federal action would target other groups across the state.

“It’s also our trans youth, our neighbors, our LGBTQ community,” Borrud said. “They’re just trying to make us silenced in fear and I think it’s time we just say, ‘Stop this deal.’”