ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) \u2013 Birria ramen noodles and street tacos are among the most popular items on The Taco Shop\u2019s menu in Rochester. <\/p>\n
Despite the restaurant bringing creative Mexican cuisine dishes to the Med City, its manager, Ian Ruelas, says it\u2019s been a rough start to the year following the surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur business was super-duper slow,\u201d Ruelas said. \u201cWe definitely noticed that a lot of our Hispanic or Latino people who used to come in stopped totally coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since opening in early 2025, Ruelas says the restaurant has made about $100,000 each month, but due to recent cold weather and fewer customers, the business has only seen about half of that in January.<\/p>\n
According to Ruelas, customers and his employees are concerned that they may be targeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing that a lot of the tactics that ICE has been using have been kind of discriminatory, I don\u2019t leave the house without my passport,\u201d Ruelas said.<\/p>\n
Ruelas says ICE agents have come inside the restaurant to look around but left shortly after without making a scene.<\/p>\n
In response to the concerns, the Rochester restaurant has a \u2018No ICE or CBS Access\u2019 sign on its front door.<\/p>\n
At its St. Louis Park location in the Twin Cities, the staff only opens the door when it\u2019s a customer. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you see anybody who we think might be in uniform or anything like that, we kind of keep it away,\u201d Ruelas said.<\/p>\n
The restaurant says no matter the customers\u2019 political views, they treat everyone with respect.<\/p>\n