This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew M Volk, owner of Hunt & Alpine in Portland, Maine. It has been edited for length and clarity.
In mid-January, I gathered my staff of 10 for a training session on what to do if ICE agents showed up at my restaurant. It came after days of hearing how concerned the team was following news of an increased presence of ICE agents in Portland.
This is not the kind of information we, as restaurant workers, are accustomed to needing to know and relay. This is all so new. We’re entering the unknown. And people are scared of the unknown.
My staff is scared. I’m scared.
People are staying home
I personally know people, and have heard of many more, staying home because they are afraid of being harassed or picked up by ICE. I’m acquainted with people who have been taken, and I don’t know where they are right now.
My two children have said there are dozens and dozens of kids in their school not showing up because their parents are afraid for their safety.
Everyone has been holding their breath to see what happens next.
We had to learn what ICE agents can and can’t do
My restaurant is only two blocks from City Hall in downtown Portland. Scattered around our streets, I know there are ICE agents — they are there in plain sight — and it was understandable that my staff were worried about what to do if they knocked on our door. I had to support my staff by giving them some information and direction regarding what to do if one of the ICE agents showed up.
We learned agents can enter the restaurant, but they aren’t entitled to go into private or locked areas without a judicial warrant (we had to define what this warrant is). We don’t have to answer questions from agents, and we’re allowed to record their actions and words.
I want my staff to know that, although the presence of these agents feels unpredictable, I’m in this with them. We’re in it together. I want to be able to talk about what we can control and understand as much information as possible in preparation.
I use my voice as a white man
Although I can’t fix this situation, I can communicate with the people around me to ensure they know I will support them and I will support their communities.
I’ve owned my restaurant for 12 years. I’m white. I’m a heterosexual man. I don’t present as someone who ICE might come after right now, so I want to use my voice in ways others are frightened to.
I haven’t had to close my restaurant’s doors yet, but I know several restaurant owners who have had to do so on certain days because so many of their staff were too scared to show up to work. These are people who are legally allowed to be in the United States. These are people with no criminal history. And they are petrified to go to work.
This is going to dampen our local businesses if ICE agents remain in Portland. It already has.
Editor’s note: Business Insider reached out to ICE and CBP for comment.
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