‘Don’t believe everything you see’: Abilene merchant addresses ICE raid rumors, express concerns

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) raids continue across various parts of the country. Local merchants are pushing back against rumors of ICE operations in Abilene businesses, but they voiced concerns for the safety and well-being of their employees and customers.

Susana Rodriguez, owner of La Favorita, shared her worries about the climate of fear surrounding this topic.

“It’s very sad, especially because these people are here to work. They’re not here to hurt anyone. They’re here to work in our cleaning jobs, construction jobs out the fields. So it’s very sad when people are trying to hurt them just because they don’t have any legal documents,” Rodriguez expressed.

Recently, a rumor circulated in Key City claiming that ICE visited La Mexicana, located in the same shopping center as La Favorita. Rodriguez said that this rumor is not true.

“I am not seeing any difference here. I am seeing the same traffic. For instance, this weekend, on the comments that the agents from ICE were here at La Mexicana, we did not see anything. We had a normal weekend. People come in and go. Did not see any difference,” Rodriguez shared.

She also offered a message to those without legal documents:

“I just want to ask them to please be careful out there. Don’t do anything that might cause you to be stopped, and don’t believe everything you see or hear. Just do what you are here to do: to work.”

Meanwhile, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops issued a statement for a “just and humane approach to migration.”

“The bishops of Texas will continue to work with governmental officials and other people of good will to implement policies that recognize the dignity of every person, prioritize family unity, and address the root causes of forced migration, while respecting the right and responsibility of our country to secure its borders, regulate immigration in an orderly process, maintain the rule of law, and keep its communities safe and peaceful,” the group shared online. “The Catholic Church is committed to defending the sanctity of every human life and the God-given dignity of each person, regardless of nationality or immigration status. Church teaching recognizes a country’s right and responsibility to promote public order, safety, and security through well-regulated borders and just limits on immigration. However, as shepherds, we cannot abide injustice, and we stress that national self-interest does not justify policies with consequences that are contrary to the moral law. The use of sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders,’ to deprive them of protection under the law, is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image. Pope Francis has stated, ‘No one will ever openly deny that [migrants] are human beings, yet in practice, by our decisions and the way we treat them, we can show that we consider them less worthy, less important, less human. For Christians, this way of thinking and acting is unacceptable.”