US restaurants targeted for opposing ICE: I refuse to cook for fascists'

"Amid calls for a national shutdown on 30 January, Anton Kinloch displayed a sign on the sidewalk outside Lone Wolf, his craft cocktail bar and restaurant in Kingston, New York. In large block letters he wrote: WE LOVE ICE IN DRINKS. WE DON'T LOVE ICE IN REAL LIFE. SOLIDARITY ALWAYS. Along with his wife and business partner Lisa Dy, he'd made the difficult decision to stay open, electing instead to donate a portion of the night's proceeds to a local immigrant advocacy group."

"With frigid temperatures and inclement weather stymying business in the region this winter, he simply could not afford the lost revenue. But he refused to stay silent in the aftermath of the brutal killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents in Minneapolis. Within hours, Kinloch discovered that the sign had been vandalized and thrown into the middle of the street."

"Earlier in the day, he'd received at least a half-dozen derogatory messages after posting support for immigrants on social media. I spoke to other business owners in the area, and they said that they had received similar threats, he said. They also saw a decline in their social media followers after speaking out. People were unfollowing them, blocking them, and sending them hate messages."

Anton Kinloch of Lone Wolf in Kingston, New York publicly expressed solidarity with immigrants by posting a sign and donating part of nightly proceeds while remaining open during a national shutdown call. Harsh weather and financial pressure made closure unaffordable, yet the sign was vandalized and destroyed, and Kinloch received derogatory messages and threats. Other local business owners reported similar harassment and loss of social media followers after speaking out. Immigrant workers comprise about 22% of the restaurant workforce nationally and exceed 30% in states like California, New York, and Texas, placing restaurants on the frontlines of immigration enforcement impacts.

Read at www.theguardian.com