ICE agents made multiple arrests at a popular local restaurant chain Thursday morning, following aborted efforts to detain workers there during a late-night sting in June.
ICE, immigration and local response
Reporting on the reach and impact of immigration enforcement in Pittsburgh and across Southwestern Pennsylvania.
At least 16 employees spread across two Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar locations, in Gibsonia and Cranberry, were detained, the federal agency confirmed in a statement.
One employee at the Gibsonia restaurant said they witnessed agents entering with assault rifles and using a battering ram to break into parts of the restaurant, including a door to offices roughly 15 minutes before the restaurant was set to open at 11 a.m.
An ICE spokesperson emailed a statement indicating that ICE, among other agencies, were executing federal court-authorized search warrants based on information that the restaurants were employing undocumented immigrants.
“During the execution of the search warrants, 16 individuals were encountered and found to be illegally present in the United States,” the statement read.
The raids come amid a rise in immigration enforcement activity across the Pittsburgh region. In response, a growing network of trained local volunteers has mobilized to document ICE operations and support affected families, often racing to scenes at all hours. The action at Emiliano’s follows what witnesses described as an especially intense encounter in Ambridge just last week.
By noon Thursday, about 20 volunteers with Casa San José Rapid Response team stood outside the strip mall location of Emiliano’s in Gibsonia, alerted by a call to the organization’s emergency hotline. Volunteers filmed the agents, a number of whom wore masks.
At least two officers from the Northern Regional Police Department were also on site “doing traffic control” and “making sure people remain safe,” Officer James Ashbaucher said while manning the entrance to the restaurant.
Late on June 17, ICE officers surrounded the Gibsonia restaurant, though workers barricaded themselves inside and police left the area after TV crews appeared on the scene.
After Thursday’s arrests, Emiliano’s shared a video on social media of an agent inside the restaurant with debris scattered around a back room. “Federal agents stormed our restaurant in a show of force that went far beyond anything reasonable or humane,” the post stated.
“They didn’t just detain people — they raided the heart of our business, tore through our spaces, and left behind a trail of fear, confusion and destruction. Our kitchens were flipped. Our walk-ins emptied. Food trashed. Doors broken. Lives shattered.”
The restaurant pledged to reopen.
Quinn Glabicki is the environment and climate reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at quinn@publicsource.org and on Instagram @quinnglabicki.
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