Community members reacted with concern and support after witnesses reported seeing immigration officials detain people at a Kroger in East Price Hill this weekend.
Community minister Walter Vasquez showed The Enquirer a video he took of federal officers detaining a man in the Kroger parking lot off Warsaw Avenue the morning of May 31. Some witnesses reported seeing three people taken away – Vasquez agrees that he’s heard this – but he only saw two people detained himself
While this weekend was not the first time ICE has come to East Price Hill in recent weeks, Vasquez said, it was, in his eyes, the most publicized occurrence, instilling fear in the community. Multiple videos of the incident surfaced on social media.
“People are afraid and exhausted,” Vasquez said. “They keep seeing reports of ICE showing up across social media constantly.”
There’s a perception among the community that ICE is picking up people in public places, acting first and asking questions later. Some say this fear might be a part of the agency’s strategy for those it considers to be in the United States illegally.
Spokespeople for ICE did not immediately respond to requests to comment from The Enquirer about this story.
A day after the Kroger incident, roughly 75 people, some from East Price Hill and others from nearby neighborhoods, returned carrying signs of unity.
“The people united will never be divided,” the group chanted.
Still, the fear of ICE actions is having an impact beyond the people being arrested. In East Price Hill, where roughly 14% of its residents are Hispanic, owners of local businesses have reported seeing fewer patrons in the hours after an appearance by immigration officials.
Rosalba Arreaga, owner of El Valle Verde Restaurant across from the Kroger on Warsaw Avenue, said Hispanic-owned businesses like hers around the neighborhood were quiet the afternoon of May 31.
Some owners, Arreaga included, closed early because people were staying home after hearing ICE was in the area.
“It’s difficult to pay my bills, my employees, the utilities when it’s so slow,” Arreaga said.
Nancy Sullivan, a local advocate with Transformations CDC, said she has been getting calls from people asking if it’s safe to go out and if ICE has been spotted again.
On May 30 and 31, 29 people were booked in the Butler County jail who are listed as being held for ICE, according to online jail records. Butler County is one of the local jails being paid to hold ICE detainees.
However, it is still unknown if any of those bookings are connected to the incident in East Price Hill.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ICE reported at East Price Hill Kroger leaves residents ‘afraid’