On Friday evening, ICE agents stormed Buona Forchetta in South Park, one of San Diego’s most beloved neighborhood restaurants. Without warning, heavily armed agents handcuffed employees, pushed the manager against a wall, used flash-bang grenades on of the community, and turned a peaceful dining establishment into a scene of fear, confusion and trauma. Three workers were taken into custody, the restaurant was forced to shut down for the night, and neighbors were left stunned.
What happened in South Park — and is happening in communities around the country — was not law enforcement; it was intimidation. And it doesn’t make San Diego safer — it does the exact opposite.
These raids in the community do not target terrorists or violent criminals. They target workers. Neighbors. Family . People trying to earn a living and contribute to a city they call home. ICE’s conduct at Buona Forchetta was not about public safety — it was a show of force meant to sow fear among immigrants and the people who care about them, and to send a message to everyone who disagrees with the policies of an istration that will accept no dissent.
Let’s be clear: The use of handcuffs, riot-style tactics and smoke grenades near a family-friendly restaurant during dinner hour has no place in a city like ours. It was traumatizing for the workers, shocking for the owners, and deeply disturbing to the many customers and neighbors who witnessed it. This was not law enforcement — it was spectacle. It was not an operation in public safety — it was an exercise in intimidation. Employees went home in fear. Families are left wondering where their loved ones are. Businesses are wondering if they’re next. Our community feels targeted and violated.
This was not an isolated incident — it came at the end of a week when we saw an alarming string of overreach and intimidation by federal agencies that must be seen as connected exercises of heavy-handed, if not unlawful, displays of power.
We witnessed our local immigration court overrun by ICE agents detaining noncitizens showing up for their scheduled court hearings; we learned that the istration is gearing up to deport hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who applied for, and were granted, humanitarian parole before coming to the U.S. (i.e., coming “the right way”); and we learned that San Diego was placed on a new DHS “list” of hundreds of cities and counties being targeted for the invented crime of being “sanctuary cities” because they declined to take on the additional duties and expenses of federal immigration enforcement.
Friday’s raid was the latest — and perhaps most brazen — attack, not only for its visceral impact on everyday San Diegans, but for its audacious disregard of our most cherished constitutional protections.
These tactics undermine trust in our institutions, deter people from attending court and chill cooperation with law enforcement. And the most direct attacks in our neighborhoods are meant to paint our community as an enemy in the eyes of the federal government and to bully local leaders who dare to prioritize strengthening our community over fear-driven enforcement.
When neighbors are afraid to call the police, when workers fear going to their jobs, and when children are terrified their parents won’t come home — that’s not safety. That’s fear masquerading as security.
ICE’s actions this past Friday didn’t just detain a few workers — they sent a chilling message to every noncitizen, every restaurant worker, every employer and ultimately every resident in our city: You’re not safe. And that message should concern all of us.
To our leaders in Washington: San Diego deserves better. To our neighbors: Stay vigilant. And to our immigrant community: You are part of our community, and you are not alone. Fear is not safety. We must demand better from our federal agencies and from those in power. And we must stand in solidarity with those who were targeted — because the health of our community, and the future of our democracy, depends on it.
Nietor is a local immigration attorney who lives in San Diego.
