Bon Appétit asked Smith for comment about the impact of ICE enforcement on her home state. “This lawless and cruel ICE operation is decimating the entire food supply system in our state,” Smith wrote in response. “I’ve heard from farmers, restaurant owners, and workers, and their message is clear: Get ICE out of Minnesota now. So much of the food system relies on immigrants who are here legally, but when ICE is racially profiling and detaining employees outside of their places of work, of course they are afraid to show up.”
“We’re seeing businesses decimated and people with no way to support themselves and their families, all because of this reckless and unjust DHS operation terrorizing our communities,” Sen. Smith wrote to Bon Appétit.
The letter’s demands included withdrawing federal agents from the Twin Cities and other cities experiencing violent enforcement actions, launching independent investigations into civilian deaths, banning racial profiling, and prohibiting the use of masks that obscure agents’ identities.
Lawmakers ultimately removed DHS funding from the broader spending package, opting instead for a short-term extension as talks over immigration enforcement continue.
Prior to writing the letter, Sherman described streams of messages among restaurant owners sharing alerts about ICE activity, coordinating safe rides home or groceries for vulnerable workers, and keeping their businesses despite mounting fear.
However, while attending this year’s Sundance Film Festival in late January, Sherman realized how little people outside the Twin Cities understood the scale of the ICE-driven crisis unfolding back home, or what it could mean if it spread.
“If this becomes normal outside of Minneapolis, it’s going to be bad for everybody. I wanted to raise the alarms,” Sherman said.
As of last week, Congress continues to grapple with a standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE; the open letter urged lawmakers to withhold further funding for ICE unless they enact a series of reforms. “The American food industry depends on safety, trust, and dignity,” the letter reads. “When workers fear being targeted, racially profiled, surveilled, detained, or killed by the federal government, the entire system suffers.”
For many in the industry, the letter reflects concerns that extend well beyond Minneapolis. Immigrants make up 36 percent of restaurant owners and more than 20 percent of the industry’s workforce, according to the James Beard Foundation — a reality that industry leaders say leaves restaurants especially exposed to immigration enforcement surges.
Adrian Lipscombe, a Texas-based chef, former restaurant owner, and founder of the 40 Acres Project, was among those who signed Sherman’s letter.
The Austin chef said she has grown concerned by what she sees as a deafening silence from her peers in the industry. Many, she noted, are aware of how immigration enforcement affects restaurants but have not spoken up for the people most exposed to its consequences.
“It is the others that have privilege in this world and in hospitality that should be able to stand up and say something,” Lipscombe said. “It shouldn’t just be the ones that are being truly affected.”
