A southern Illinois community that solidly voted for President Donald Trump last fall are now upset after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and detained a beloved local Mexican restaurant owner who many consider “a pillar of the community.”
The New York Times reports that ICE last week detained Juan Carlos Hernandez Pacheco, the owner of the La Fiesta restaurant in West Frankfort, Illinois, a town of about 8,000 people.
Letters of support for Hernandez have poured in from West Frankfort’s mayor, police chief, high school athletic director and the county prosecutor. They describe him as a role model and praise his robust civic involvement, including funding school scholarships, benefit dinners for families in need and hosting a law enforcement appreciation event.
“I think people need to do things the right way, follow the rules and obey the laws, and I firmly believe in that,” Lori Barron, the owner of a beauty salon, told The New York Times. “But in the case of Carlos, I think he may have done more for the people here than this place has ever given him. I think it’s absolutely terrible that he could be taken away.”
Hernandez and his wife, Elizabeth, have three sons, the youngest is 2 years old.
The specific reason that ICE decided to target Hernandez for arrest is still unknown. ICE wouldn’t comment on the specificity of Pacheco’s case, and would only say that “every day, as part of routine operations, ICE officers target and arrest criminal aliens and other individuals who are in violation of our nation’s immigration laws.”
West Frankfort is in overwhelmingly white Franklin County, which backed Trump to the tune of 70 percent in the presidential election.
