A reporter and founder of MigrantInsider.com is facing backlash after alerting illegal immigrants in Washington, D.C., including restaurant workers, DoorDash, and Uber Eats drivers, about upcoming ICE raids targeting their workplaces. The warning is raising legal concerns, as it could be seen as obstructing federal enforcement efforts amid the Trump administration’s renewed crackdown on illegal immigration.
Pablo Manriquez warned illegal immigrants on social media to be on high alert as ICE plans targeted raids this week, focusing on undocumented workers in restaurants and the gig economy. He claimed that agents plan to initiate operations after breakfast hours and before dinner, specifically targeting restaurant workers, particularly employees at Subway franchises, delivery workers using scooters, and those working for DoorDash. Manriquez also claimed that ICE would target the Mundo Verde Public Charter School, a bilingual charter school where many of the students have immigrant parents.
More from his post:
We are told that they’re going to show up at these restaurants to do I-9 [employment eligibility documents] inspections and then station officers in the back of restaurant for anybody who tries to flee out the back. Another place they’re going to be targeting are bilingual public charter schools, including the Mundo Verde [Green World] public [charter] school system right here in Washington, D.C.
So be aware, know your rights, and the Amica Center [for Immigrant Rights] right here in Washington tells us that they are standing by to receive your calls if you are detained . .. Share this video, share this information. We will be posting about it on migrantinsider.com where we broke the story early today… and if you are detained, call the Amica Center right here in DC.
Spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin slammed Manriquez’s post, calling it “sickening” and saying that the so-called “reporter” was putting law enforcement lives at risk and doing the bidding of violent criminal aliens and gang members.
This comes as immigration advocates in Washington are informing restaurant industry workers to know their “rights” and have a plan in case ICE agents show up, and what to do if they happen to get caught in any operation.
Abel Nunez, the executive director of the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), claimed that her “clients,” or illegal immigrants, have been living with anxiety and fear for months.