WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), led a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raising alarm over recent enforcement actions targeting restaurants and small businesses in the Washington, D.C. area.
The lawmakers expressed deep concern over reports that ICE agents have entered neighborhood restaurants without judicial warrants, attempting to access employee records and detain workers. The visits appear to have disproportionately impacted small, locally owned eateries rather than large chain establishments. In some cases, agents reportedly tried to forcibly enter staff-only areas despite being denied access.
“DHS and ICE’s heavy-handed pursuit of hardworking immigrants – and seeming disregard of the constitutional and due process rights of small business owners and employees – adds to the numerous existential threats the Trump Administration’s policies and actions are posing to the millions of jobs and livelihoods powered by Main Street America,” wrote the lawmakers. “We strongly urge you to consider the impact your actions and approaches to immigration are having on America’s small employers.”
The letter outlines how the Trump administration’s raids on small businesses may violate Fourth Amendment protections and due process rights. It also raises the alarm about the broader impact on the economy, especially in the hospitality sector, where one in 14 workers is undocumented.
The lawmakers requested detailed information from DHS and ICE about the scope of the raids, the use of judicial warrants, and whether any training is in place to ensure agents respect constitutional rights. They also asked whether the agencies have assessed the disproportionate burdens these operations place on small businesses.
“Should these operations metastasize and spread outside Washington, D.C., it would gravely injure the backbones of local economies across our country, just as it has in our nation’s capital,” the lawmakers concluded.
In addition to Velázquez and Norton, the letter was signed by Reps. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), and Johnny Olszewski (D-MD).
For a full copy of the letter, click here.
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