ORLANDO, Fla. – The Mexican consulate and a former Orlando area politician on Friday accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of targeting Hispanic restaurants for people to detain, frightening immigrants, and hurting area businesses.
Consul Juan Sabines and former State Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, held a news conference at the consulate office, urging immigrants to come to the consulate to get help with getting papers and getting their status up to date, even if they aren’t Mexican.
One of the restaurants Stewart visited is Tortilleria El Progreso Mexican Restaurant, where business has floundered.
“It’s really empty,” Aleshae Dublan said in an interview with News 6 Friday, as she looked around at the vacant tables throughout the restaurant.
Dublan’s uncle owns the business, which includes a restaurant and market.
She estimated that revenues are down about 40%, a trend she attributes to fear of federal immigration raids to combat illegal immigration.
“(Employees) get scared and they live in fear that people might come here,” Dublan claimed.
She said that some employees have quit, fearing that walking into work could make them vulnerable.
“A lot of our employees are in the process of getting documentation and everything,” she said. “They’re scared of coming to work.”
Dublan said that there have been no ICE raids at Tortilleria, but she believes the fear of an operation happening has kept customers away —even her parents.
“It does scare me because my parents are illegal, as well,” Dublan said. “My family came to this country to give us something better, and for them to even be scared to step foot in here is sad.”
“The wonderful thing is here at the Mexican consulate, this is a safe place,” Stewart said. “ICE is not allowed in this place. Citizens of any country that has questions is welcome by the consulate to come here and to also get any information or get help in any way that they possibly might need it.”
Stewart and Sabines shared a sheet with organizations that can connect immigrants to attorneys if they need help getting papers and checking their status. That list is at the end of this story.
[VIDEO: Watch the news conference below]
Stewart said she visited dozens of Hispanic restaurants in Orange County in the last month, and they are telling her that business has dropped off between 30% and 65%.
“They come in and take the cooks away from the restaurant,” Stewart said. “They come in plain clothes and walk around and listen for the Spanish language. And then they question them, they don’t know what nationality. They’re just looking at the color of their skin and their language.”
Stewart said ICE agents have been known to “park themselves” in areas where Hispanic people typically live. In Orange County, Stewart says they’ve been noticed on the east side in the Chickasaw, Goldenrod and Semoran areas. She does not know if this is also the case on the west side of the county.
News 6 has reached out to ICE representatives to verify this information and we’re waiting to hear back.
‘They’re afraid if they go to renew their status, they’ll be detained’
U.S. Census data shows Florida has the fourth-highest immigrant population in the country.
In Orange County, 25.7% of the county’s population is foreign-born -- 378,167 people.
That’s according to the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey.
Of those, 283,929 come from Latin American countries.
The Census says 51.2% of those residents are naturalized U.S. citizens, while 48.8% are not.
News 6 has recently reported several cases of immigrants who say they were detained, even though they have legal status.
[WATCH: Kissimmee man detained by ICE despite active immigration case]
In June, News 6 told you about a woman who says she was held in a Texas detention center for two months after she was detained by ICE in Osceola County. Her attorneys say she is in the country as an active asylum seeker, with all her paperwork in place.
News 6 also reported on an Apopka business owner who was deported to Guatemala after entering the country illegally decades ago and pursuing a legal status.
[VIDEO: Undocumented immigrant living in Apopka deported to Guatemala]
Reporter Stephanie Rodriguez also reported about a Kissimmee resident who had an ID and a work permit and was in the process of getting a green card when he was detained by ICE while at the Grand Canyon.
And reporter Troy Campbell reported on a Venezuelan man in Orange County who was detained last month while at a hearing. He had lost his temporary protected status under a policy change by the Trump administration.
[WATCH: Venezuelan migrant detained by ICE after court hearing, family says]
Florida has the largest number of residents living under temporary protected status, with 357,895 people, according to a 2024 congressional report. Nearly 60% of those are Venezuelan.
“If you’re unsure about your status, say you’ve even made an appointment to go renew your status,” Stewart said. “They’re afraid to go there because they’re afraid if they go to renew their status, they’ll be arrested. And it’s been hard. It’s been hard on the people wanting to work, but it’s been really hard on the businesses because they’re losing so much business. They say I don’t know how much longer I can stay in business like this.”
It’s not just employees. Stewart says the restaurants are also empty, as customers opt for delivery or pick up to avoid being in a place where ICE might be.
Sabines says it is happening to businesses in other areas of the state as well. His consulate works with 48 counties in Florida.
“Many of them are closing because they don’t have any more customers. And they pay taxes. They create employees. This is terrible,” Sabines said.
“The majority of you are legal, but we want you to go and see an attorney and double-check that you are able to go to work so that you don’t feel like if you went to work, ICE would pick you up,” Stewart said.
The Mexican Consulate office is located on Technology Drive and is open Monday through Saturday. Sabines says an attorney is always present when the office is open.
Orange County Immigrant Help by Christie Zizo on Scribd