Man in NY restaurant threatens to call ICE on people speaking Spanish
A man lashed out at customers and employees at a New York restaurant on Wednesday for speaking Spanish, threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Video posted to Facebook captured the incident at a Fresh Kitchen in Manhattan.
{mosads}Edward Suazo, who posted the video, wrote that the man started calling his wife and her best friend names after they began speaking Spanish with an employee at the restaurant.
“Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English,” the man says, pointing toward an employee.
“Every person I listen to — he spoke it, he spoke it, she’s speaking it. This is America!” he says.
“My guess is they’re not documented, so my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country,” he continued. “If they have the balls to come here and live off of my money — I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here — the least they can do is speak English.”
The video shows a woman attempting to confront the man before he leaves, to which he turned around and said: “Honey, I’m calling ICE.”
The man then stormed out.
According to CNN, the man is a lawyer in midtown New York City. The law firm did not return CNN’s request for comment.
The incident prompted an apparent response from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) on Twitter.
New York City’s diversity is our strength. It’s what makes this city great. The 8.6 million people who call this city home speak more than 200 languages – they’re all New Yorkers and they’re all welcome here.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 16, 2018
The New York Daily News also featured the incident on its cover, juxtaposed with President Trump’s meeting on sanctuary cities that also took place Wednesday.
Cómo se dice racist? https://t.co/Z8ua4e2BcD
PLUS: Trump calls immigrants “animals” https://t.co/bTGQXEWEDA
An early look at Thursday’s front… pic.twitter.com/arWN3PltuP
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 17, 2018
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