Three workers at El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant served lunch to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Wednesday before being detained later by the same agents.
A dishwasher and two owners of the restaurant closed early upon learning ICE had dined at their store in Willmar, Minn. before the arrests, CBS News reported. El Tapatio has remained closed since, but the owners’ son said he would reopen today for customers.
In a statement obtained by Willmar Radio, Willmar Mayor Doug Reese reminded residents that “ICE is a federal agency carrying out federal responsibilities” and also called for respect for “peaceful, lawful protest.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the target of the detentions as illegal alien Jose Rosario Gomez in a statement to the Daily Caller.
The “officers … conducted a vehicle stop later in the day and apprehended the target and two additional illegal aliens who were in the car, including one who had a final order of removal from an immigration judge,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in her statement.
The same day, ICE agents were verbally abused in a Minneapolis restaurant.
RESTAURANT RAGE: Federal law enforcement agents were forced to leave a Mexican restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota after diners began shouting expletives at them, demanding they leave the business. pic.twitter.com/YlLreAidJp
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 15, 2026
Willmar residents noted increased police activity on the streets and said some businesses have closed as a result, while streets yesterday appeared “normal,” according to CBS News. (RELATED: Minnesota Democrat Live-Tweets ICE Agent Locations, Teaches Constituents How To Spot Unmarked Vehicles)
Willmar is about two hours west of Minneapolis where anti-ICE protests have entered their second week following the fatal shooting of a protester who attempted to run over agents with her car. In a second incident, federal law enforcement officers shot an illegal Venezuelan national when they were ambushed Wednesday while trying to make his arrest.
