Reports of ICE agents detaining customers and two employees of a taco truck in East L.A. have shaken the Eastside.
In a video posted to social media Thursday afternoon, Jason Devora – identified by L.A. TACO as the owner of Jason’s Tacos– can be heard, though not seen, explaining that his truck was left empty after federal agents arrived and apprehended two of his employees.
“This is not a joke; they just took all of my employees. All of them,” Devora can be heard saying in the video as freshly cut meats still lay on cutting boards and cooking on grills.
The taco truck is located on Whittier Boulevard near Bradshawe Avenue in East L.A., one of two Jason‘s Tacos locations in L.A. County.
In the video, Devora, who could not be reached for comment, paced around his truck in disbelief. “Wow. They took all of my employees within two minutes,” he says.
Devora described to LA TACO how he had recently given his staff a week off, but two of his employees had volunteered to work.
“They don’t ask anything…They snatch you like a dog,” Devora told LA TACO, describing the incident.
“They rope them up, and if you try to run, they run 10 – 15 cars deep, and they cover every corner. They busted my clients who were ordering,” he added. “The streets ain’t safe, that’s all I gotta say.”
Boyle Heights Beat reached out to the Department of Homeland Security Friday morning to learn more but has not yet received a response.
Carlos, the owner of a business near Jason’s Tacos, recalled seeing multiple cars pull up Thursday afternoon around 5 p.m. He likened the apprehensions to a kidnapping, noting that the cars involved were unmarked.
“They just lunged out of their cars and they just dragged them in. It looked like a cartel pickup. Who’s to say you can’t buy a bulletproof vest and a ski mask and start snatching people,” he told Boyle Heights Beat.
Another business owner who witnessed the operation said a customer rushed inside his store.
“I told them to stay inside. I told my wife that if [agents] come inside, to kick their [expletive] out. They have no right to come in my business,” said Max, the store owner.
Editor’s Note: In this story, Boyle Heights Beat is identifying some sources by first name only, at their request, to protect their identities due to concerns related to immigration.