ICE checking for illegals at swanky DC eateries, workers in a state of panic

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have reportedly begun making the rounds in Washington, D.C. restaurants to check worker documentation on their eligibility for employment in the U.S.

According to media reports, the agents have visited several swanky eateries and asked to see staffers’ I-9 forms, sending employees into a panic over the Trump administration’s apparent effort to crack down on illegal immigration, which was allowed to flourish by disgraced ex-president Joe Biden.

One of the establishments was Chef Geoff’s, which is owned by Geoff Tracy, the husband of left-wing CBS News propagandist Norah O’Donnell. While no one was taken into custody, staffers were rattled, and some residents and Democrat leaders expressed shock and anger.

TODAY: ICE agents went into Chef Geoff’s restaurant in Northwest DC – reportedly asked to see I-9 forms from staff. Workers on edge. No one taken into custody. @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/jX3SGyoV3a

— Homa Bash (@HomaBashNews) May 6, 2025

“It’s very high anxiety, anxiety-inducing. I think it’s really terrible right now that ICE is taking people and sending them away to El Salvador and these other countries to what are basically concentration camps,” one resident told Fox 5, Washington, DC.

(Video Credit: Fox 5 Washington, DC)

“It’s really crazy, you know it kind of feels like we’re not in the U.S.,” Bo Blair, who owns Millie’s, one of the restaurants targeted by ICE, told the local NBC 4. “[…] That just was shocking to everybody today.”

“I have heard those reports. I’ve been getting them all morning. I am disturbed by them. It appears as though ICE is at restaurants, or even at neighborhoods, and it doesn’t look like they’re targeting criminals, and it does look like they’re disrupting,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser, the Democrat who presides over the nation’s capital, a “sanctuary city” plagued by rampant crime.

There were nine restaurants visited on Tuesday, according to reports. Also targeted by ICE were Pupatella, Chang Chang, and Ghostburger, according to The Washingtonian. Upscale eatery Al Dente was also targeted, VOA correspondent Steve Herman reported in a post to X.

“We were under the impression that they were focusing on trying to find criminals,” Blair was quoted by the outlet. “And this is just a whole new level of harassment to our hard-working, law-abiding employees.”

“I think it’s pretty absurd,” he said. “Immigrants are the backbone of not only the restaurant industry, but a lot of other industries in this country. Without immigrants, there are no restaurants.”

“Unfortunately, fear is the goal as these happen whether in D.C. or across the country. But what we’re also seeing is a lot of solidarity within the D.C. community,” Migrant Solidarity Mutual volunteer Claudia Tristan said, according to Fox 5 DC.

“There was no one detained or arrested that I’ve heard of, but regardless of that fact, disrupting food service during lunch hours while restaurants are open is alarming, and we are concerned about the fear-mongering tactics we believe happened today,” Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Shawn Townsend said.

“There is a sense of fear. It’s alarming, it’s concerning, immigrants make up a large amount of workers in our restaurants in the district. I think there could have been a better way to get the information that these ICE agents, from what I’m told, were looking for,” he added.

“It’s like one thing after another, to be honest. We have COVID, which was like the worst thing ever,” Blair told NBC 4. “[…] Now we’re under threat from ICE and Homeland Security. I mean it’s just like that inflation, it just keeps going and going, and the restaurant industry is not easy.”

Staff Writer

Chris Donaldson is an ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who have contempt for our hard-earned freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.

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