ANN ARBOR, MI – The owners of Cafe Zola said they turned away two immigration agents who stopped at the Ann Arbor restaurant the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 9 to look for an unnamed person.
Owner Alan Zakalik said two agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement walked into the restaurant at 112 W. Washington Street around 2 p.m. and asked about an individual, but did not divulge the name.
Zakalik was not at the restaurant at the time, but said his wife, Hediye Batu, declined to let the agents walk through the kitchen and search for the individual in question.
“I was not around when they came in but they did speak to my wife, and she refused them entry,” Zakalik said. “They wanted to go through the kitchen.”
The agents then left the property, he said.
“It was not busy when they came, it was kind of toward the end of the lunch hour so the restaurant was slow, more quiet,” Zakalik said.
Batu deferred questions to her husband.
The two have owned Cafe Zola for 21 years, and Zakalik said immigration agents have never been in the restaurant before.
When Zakalik arrived at the restaurant, he talked to some of the customers who had witnessed the quick visit but said most of the people in the restaurant did not notice the immigration agents at the door.
He added the agents were in uniforms emblazoned with “POLICE” on the back and were carrying guns.
“They looked pretty equipped,” Zakalik said. “These few people who did notice, they didn’t like the intimidation factor when people come in with guns.”
Khaalid Walls, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, issued a statement by email following the incident.
“Today’s enforcement operations are a part of routine, daily targeted operations conducted by ICE in this region and around the country every day, targeting criminal aliens and other immigration violators,” Walls said. “No arrests were made.”
Less than three months ago, ICE agents walked into another Ann Arbor restaurant and asked about one individual before eventually detaining 3 people.
Restaurant owner Sava Lelcaj told The Ann Arbor News after the arrests that ICE agents ate at the restaurant, 216 S. State Street, about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 24 before entering the kitchen area to look for an employee.
Additional raids have taken place across Michigan and resulted in multiple detainments and community protests.