Southwest
Arizona Mexican restaurant offering free meals to ICE agents sparks online reaction
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An Arizona restaurant is making waves online for saying that it is giving free meals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal law enforcement personnel.
In a recent video shared on social media by the outlet Pulso, Sammy’s Mexican Grill is highlighted as a restaurant that respects federal immigration enforcement agents, and even offers them free meals.
In the video of a Spanish interview translated to English, Jorge Rivas, who owns the restaurant, says, “Everyone who works for ICE, all federal agents can come to Sammy’s Mexican Grill. Here, they will be treated with respect and as they deserve.”
JIMMY KIMMEL ATTENDS LOS ANGELES ANTI-ICE PROTEST WITH WIFE AND CHILDREN
In this handout provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, foreign nationals were arrested during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (DHS)
In a recent podcast interview published on The Ray Stevens Show on Feb. 4, Rivas further explained that the restaurant has long displayed a sign welcoming law enforcement and offering them free meals.
“We here at Sammy, which is the name of our restaurant, Sammy’s Mexican Grill. We have a sign if you come into the door into the restaurant, it just says, ‘Welcome to Sammy’s, where law enforcement always eats free,’” Rivas said.
“And we have this sign for about five, probably five years or more,” Rivas added. “And that’s because we personally feel that it is important to recognize the sacrifice that law enforcement does every day protecting every single citizen, putting their life on the line, even though they don’t know personally who are they protecting. But, you know, you and I know that once we’re in trouble, we call 911, and we expect someone to show up as soon as possible.”
Rivas is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump and has been active in state Republican politics. He ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District last year.
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Jorge (R) and Betty Rivas, the owners of Sammy’s Mexican Grill in Catalina, Arizona, address US President Donald Trump (L) during a tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment in Phoenix, Arizona on May 5, 2020.
(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
San Diego Red reported that the restaurant has faced fierce criticism online, and has been “inundated with a renewed wave of threatening phone calls, hateful messages on social media, and calls for a boycott.”
Tensions over ICE have increased after the death of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed in January in Minneapolis by an ICE agent after she allegedly attempted to ram an officer with her vehicle after refusing to exit it.
Protests against federal agents have continued to escalate since the Border Patrol killing of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.
In January, ICE reported that it has had an over 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,200% increase in vehicle attacks aimed at officers and an 8,000% increase in death threats.
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ICE officers have been injured in recent attacks, part of a wave of violence DHS said surged 1,150% in 2025. (Department of Homeland Security)
The restaurant previously faced backlash in 2016 for the owner publicly supporting Trump’s presidential campaign.
Rivas told Fox News Digital it was important to give law enforcement support, particularly ICE agents who are “being attacked.”
“We must give them our support,” he said, adding it was “not correct” if they didn’t get the respect they deserved.
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Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Tenants Union trying to save business owner given eviction notice ‘without reason or discussion’
The Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU) is trying to save a Highland Park business after they say the owner was given 60 days notice to vacate “without any reason or discussion.”
The tenants union says that Junior’s Discount Party Supply, has been owned by Silvia Flores for 20 years and that the store, located on York Boulevard, is “known and loved by thousands of community members who utilize her crucial services for party rentals, general household items and to send money transfers.”
“Her legacy small business has been successful and has supported her family,” LATU says.
That legacy is now at risk, however, as LATU says the building was purchased this past month, meaning Flores and four neighboring businesses were issued 60-day eviction notices.
“[The] 60-day eviction notice [terminates] her tenancy of two decades without reason or discussion,” LATU said in a statement tied to a petition to keep the store open. “Silvia has not violated any clause of her lease nor has she fallen behind on rent payments. In fact, the new property owner has not even introduced himself to the woman who he intends to uproot from her business and the community.”
LATU listed the new owner as Dr. Donald Abrahm and his real estate investment company AEA Investments VIII, LLC. They also said that the idea of pushing out “legacy businesses without a care for people or neighborhood[s]” is nothing new.
“In addition to causing Silvia, a low-income immigrant mother and grandmother, to lose her livelihood, this eviction will further accelerate gentrification in Highland Park. This is just one example of a war on commercial tenants,” the union said. “Displacement of tenants, whether residential or commercial, is an issue that too many of us have faced and we refuse to be complicit. Although this eviction is technically legal, it is unjust and inhumane.”
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