ICE arrests at least 11 workers at two KC area restaurants during lunch Wednesday
Federal immigration agents raided at least two locations of a Kansas City-area Mexican restaurant chain late Wednesday morning, according to video footage obtained by The Star.
The videos show agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrested at least 11 people — seven in Kansas City, Kansas, and about four or five in Lenexa — from El Toro Loco Mexican Bar and Grill.
The two restaurants, largely staffed by Latino residents, were completely vacant as of midday, save for a few people who came to get their things.
Someone had plastered handwritten signs indicating the restaurants were closed for the day on their front doors.
In KCK, it was as if nothing had happened and no one had been there. Star reporters found that the front door was locked, the silverware was wrapped into neat napkins and workers in the restaurant next door had no clue law enforcement had been in the area.
Nobody was left in the Lenexa restaurant by early afternoon, according to a Star reporter on the scene. Staff members on shift Wednesday were locked inside the building by agents before being escorted out of the building in cuffs, a representative from Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR) said.
“At the Lenexa location, the agents left the restaurant unlocked, suggesting that community members took food from inside, left the burners on, and slammed the door to community allies,” AIRR said in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with the workers and demand answers regarding the conduct of HSI agents and the basis of these actions.”
In its statement, AIRR said that agents had placed the “closed” signs on the front door of the buildings and closed down the restaurants “to intimidate and harass workers on the inside until they arrested them.”
An HSI spokesperson as of publication time had not returned a phone call and voicemail seeking additional information on the enforcement.
Inside the empty Lenexa restaurant, a reporter could hear the phone ringing at the host stand and food sizzling in the kitchen. Rows of rice, beans, guacamole and salsa sat prepped in the kitchen, and dishes were left untouched in the sink. Boxes of receipts and papers were scattered across the office’s door and desk.
Only a purse was left behind.
Both incidents happened almost simultaneously at their respective locations, according to reports from AIRR.
At the Lenexa restaurant, the HSI agents left behind a copy of a warrant signed by a judge authorizing them to seize records and documents “relating to harboring, human smuggling, or labor exploitation.” The warrant did not name any individuals who were to be arrested.
The warrant was issued by the U.S. District Court of Kansas and signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Teresa James on July 16 for both Kansas City, Kansas, and the Lenexa locations. Agents were ordered to execute this warrant by July 30.
According to the warrant, items agents could seize were: “Books, records, receipts, notes, correspondence, ledgers and other documents or papers relating to harboring, human smuggling or labor exploitation.”
“Any living space or physical evidence of sheltering or harboring will be photographed,” the warrant said.
No names were listed on the warrant.
According to the statement from AIRR, an HSI agent initially said the raid involved a criminal search warrant, but later said the arrests had to do with an investigation into labor trafficking and exploitation.
The organization said it plans to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. Wednesday to provide additional information.
Editor’s note: This story has been changed after it was initially published to say that at least 11 people were arrested, not 12, upon further review of obtained photos and video footage.
This is an ongoing story that will be updated once The Star gets more information.
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 2:36 PM with the headline "ICE arrests at least 11 workers at two KC area restaurants during lunch Wednesday."
