What happened at Emiliano's Mexican Restaurant? GoFundMe raises over $33,000 as community rallies around beloved Pittsburgh joint amid ICE raids
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Emiliano's Mexican Restaurant (Image via Instagram/@emilianospgh)Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant, a popular local food chain in Pittsburgh, faced raids as a part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) crackdown on illegal immigration. The raid, which took place at two branches of the food chain, at Cranberry Township and Gibsonia, led to the detention of 16 workers.
The food chain, in an effort to help its workers traverse through the expenses of the legal process, had set up a fundraiser on the GoFundMe website. The plea for monetary donations has received a heartwarming response from its community of patrons and admirers. The fundraiser has already raised more than $33,000.
In its statement, the local food chain has shared details and opened up about the need for the funds. Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant has stated,
“We are raising $100,000 to cover the $3,000 bond hearing per person (roughly), and their salaries for this month which equates to $50,000 for all 16 of our employees that were detained…We stand by our team. We are working with legal experts and community partners to support the people impacted. And we will not stay silent while fear and intimidation tear through our community.
Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant on the ICE raids at its branches
On August 7, news reports emerged about a couple of raids on the popular Pittsburg food chain. Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant, on its social media page, shared details about the raid. Describing the incident, the social media statement by the chain read:
“What you saw on the news doesn’t tell the full story. On Thursday, federal agents stormed our restaurants in a show of force that went far beyond anything reasonable or humane. They didn’t just detain people — they raided the heart of our business, tore through our spaces, and left behind a trail of fear, confusion, and destruction. Our kitchens were flipped. Our walk-ins emptied. Food trashed. Doors broken. Lives shattered.”
Continuing, the restaurant added,
“But what they can’t destroy is who we are.”
The statement was accompanied by a video which showed the brunt of the raid borne by the restaurant. The social media post by Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant made reference to the fact that it employs a significant amount of immigrants, and suggested that the demography of its staff could have been a pertinent reason for the raid by ICE.
This fact was reiterated by the restaurant in its statement for the fundraiser. The introductory portion of the statement explained,
“At Emiliano’s, we’ve always been more than a restaurant. We’re a family — and like many restaurants in this country, we are built on the backs of immigrants. We will not apologize for that.”
The statement by the local chain ended on an affirmative tone. It expressed the restaurant team’s resilience, and further shared that the chain hopes to navigate through this crisis, writing,
"We stand by our team. We are working with legal experts and community partners to support the people impacted. And we will not stay silent while fear and intimidation tear through our community. With your help we will reopen. We will rebuild. And we will keep feeding this city with love, dignity, and purpose. If you'd like to support the affected families and contribute to our recovery, please donate to our GoFundMe and share with family and friends. Thank you for standing with us."
At the time of the writing of this piece, 34% of the donation target has already been raised.
TOPICS: Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant, ICE raid