An immigration raid during Friday dinner service at Buona Forchetta in South Park stemmed from a nearly five-year-old tip accusing the restaurant of knowingly employing 10 or more undocumented workers in violation of federal law, according to a search warrant unsealed Monday.
The warrant, filed in San Diego federal court, states that an updated tip received in January also alleged the popular Italian restaurant, which has several locations in San Diego and Orange counties, was employing undocumented immigrants and people unauthorized to work in the United States who were using fake names and immigration documents. The warrant shows that immigration officials launched an investigation in February that included requesting employees’ immigration documents from the restaurant.
Federal agents concluded that many of the documents, which were turned over by an attorney representing the restaurant, were fake or falsified, according to the warrant. That led to Friday’s raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which resulted in four workers being taken into custody and other workers allegedly being handcuffed as a large group of angered community gathered to protest in the street outside Buona Forchetta and its nearby sister restaurant, Enoteca Buona Forchetta.
Those two locations closed Friday night but reopened over the weekend. Buona Forchetta posted a message on social media Sunday announcing all San Diego and Orange County locations would be closed Monday and Tuesday.
“We wish we could find stronger words, but the truth is we are heartbroken,” the company said in a post on Instagram. “The traumatic incident involving a federal enforcement operation at our original and beloved South Park location has left a mark on all of us. A wound that is still raw, still echoing in our kitchens, our dining rooms, and our hearts.”
Owner Matteo Cattaneo did not respond to requests seeking comment, and an attorney representing the company declined to comment when reached by phone Monday. The restaurant said in a statement later that it had just obtained a copy of the warrant and was “in the process of reviewing it carefully with our legal counsel.”
Local Democratic leaders, including Congress and the mayors of San Diego and Imperial Beach, held a news conference Monday outside the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego, demanding answers about the raid from the Department of Homeland Security.
“The scenes that we saw play out on the streets were absolutely unacceptable,” Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Chula Vista, said. “Why were ICE agents armed to the teeth as if they were entering a war zone, storming restaurants? Why were ICE agents aggressively shoving people against the walls and handcuffing every worker in sight">
“This was to intimidate,” Vargas answered, “and to bring terror and fear into everybody’s hearts, especially immigrants here. Well, I’ve got to tell you one thing, we’re not scared here. We’re not intimidated. We’re fighting back, and we’re saying this is not going to happen in our community.”
Homeland Security Investigations officials said the four who were arrested were in the country illegally. However, it was unclear if they faced criminal charges or civil immigration violations. Vargas said three are Mexican nationals and another is from Colombia.
Federal officials released few details about what they described as two “worksite enforcement operations,” but said that of the public harassed agents.
“On May 30, while executing two criminal search warrants of businesses that knowingly hired illegal aliens in San Diego over 250 protesters verbally harassed ICE agents, pounded on car windows, and even blocked roadways to prevent ICE from leaving,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers.”
That included deploying “flash-bang” devices, officials said.
San Diego police officers responded to the scene after DHS put out an “urgent request for assistance,” according to police officials.
“The nature of their involvement at the time of the request was unknown to us,” police Lt. Dan Meyer said in a statement. “SDPD was not involved in the operation beforehand, nor were we involved in any immigration enforcement. Federal agents had left the area prior to our arrival, and our officers did not ultimately provide any assistance or take enforcement action.”
Local law enforcement agencies are generally prohibited under California law from assisting with civil immigration enforcement.
The Trump istration’s crackdown on immigration and goal of deporting immigrants from the country by the millions have resulted in more clashes between officers and opponents of the efforts.
McLaughlin said ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults while carrying out arrests.
Preparing for a raid
The raids of the two restaurants, which occurred around 4:30 p.m. Friday, involved at least 20 ICE officers who appeared heavily armed.
Investigators alleged in the warrant that 19 of Buona Forchetta’s 40 employees had submitted fraudulent green cards.
The wife of a detained worker said on a phone call Monday that she was still processing what had happened. She asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions.
“I feel very sad,” she said. She was home on Friday when her husband told her that ICE had arrived at the restaurant. She said her husband was the family’s breadwinner and worked in the kitchen. “They are taking away hard-working people,” she said.
According to the warrant unsealed Monday, which was authored by a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations, agents spent the past few months trying to identify the 19 workers who they believed had submitted fraudulent immigration documents. They alleged some of those individuals had previously been removed from the country.
Then on three separate occasions in late May, HSI agents conducted surveillance around the two South Park restaurants as they continued trying to identify the 19 workers. The warrant asserted that they expected to serve the warrant “in the afternoon prior to the dinner hours when the most employees arrive at the business premises.”
At Monday’s news conference, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-San Diego, said the Trump istration’s immigration enforcement tactics over the past several days have “crossed a new line,” referring also to ICE’s new practice of arresting migrants as they leave immigration court hearings, even if their cases had been dismissed by judges.
“We saw people arrested here at the courthouse who were just trying to go through the legal process, and we saw chaos and endangering the public safety in South Park,” Jacobs said. “This isn’t about going after criminals. They’re going after people who are trying to do the right thing and people who are contributing to our economy, people who are literally showing up for their appointments to do the right thing.”
Vargas said the Democratic leaders chose to hold Monday’s news conference outside San Diego’s federal courthouses because he wanted to meet with U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant, chief judge of the Southern District of California, to demand answers about the scope of the search warrant, which authorized agents to detain everyone working inside the restaurants, whether or not they were undocumented. The warrant was signed by a magistrate judge.
In a section of the warrant application describing how agents planned to execute the warrant, it stated in part that “HSI intends to detain the employees present at the premises to minimize the risk of harm to officers, to ensure the orderly completion of the search, to minimize the risk of flight, and for the purpose of determining whether any of the employees encountered on-site are any of the individuals … associated with the fraudulent green cards.”
The warrant’s author went on to write that “agents plan to ask the individuals their name and to fingerprint them, if necessary.”
“Why are they g off on these warrants?” Vargas asked. “What about the rights of the people that did nothing wrong, and they were detained and they were handcuffed?”
A message left with Bashant’s court deputy seeking a response went unanswered Monday.
County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican who s Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown, criticized the backlash to the operation.
“The vast majority of Americans believe these criminals should be deported. It’s common sense,” Desmond wrote Saturday on the social media platform X. “It’s about protecting our communities and keeping our country safe.”
Neighborhood
for the restaurant and its employees poured in throughout the weekend.
A GoFundMe launched Sunday asked for $60,000 to cover legal expenses, lost wages and living expenses for the affected workers. By Monday evening, it had raised more than $94,000 from 2,300 donors. Many contributors gave between $5 and $50.
The organizers, who identified themselves as “Small Business Owners of South Park and Beyond,” called the detained workers “valued of our community.”
“The pain of this event has rippled far beyond those directly affected. Families are separated, livelihoods are threatened, and the entire community is reeling from the shock and heartbreak,” the campaign says.
The tree-lined intersection where the restaurant has been a neighborhood staple since 2011 was calm Monday. The only traces of Friday’s law enforcement activity were signs left by ers, bouquets of spring flowers and a message posted by the restaurant.
“All immigrants are welcome in S.D.,” someone wrote in all caps chalk on the opposite sidewalk.
“Everyone is welcome in South Park,” said a sign taped to a sidewalk pole just outside the restaurant. “Not ICE,” a second, taped underneath, added. Another sign aimed to inform people how to identify ICE vehicles.
Mayor Todd Gloria issued a statement Saturday that said he communicated his concerns with Homeland Security.
“Federal actions like these are billed as a public safety measure, but it had the complete opposite effect,” Gloria said. “What we saw undermines trust and creates fear in our community. I raised these concerns and my strong objections directly with Homeland Security Investigations leadership this morning. I will continue to advocate for the respect, dignity, rights, and security of everyone in our city.”
Dozens of people showed up outside Buona Forchetta on Saturday to rally in of the restaurant and the workers who were questioned and detained by ICE agents.
Staff writers Roxana Popescu and Karen Kucher contributed to this report.
