Federal agents involved in a multi-agency operation across the state Tuesday that saw raids at eight Alabama Mexican restaurants pushed allegations of drug trafficking and financial fraud.
But Birmingham Migra Watch, a project of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, called out the the operation as a “false flag” meant to meet inflated deportation demands from President Donald Trump.
“(Tuesday’s) mass immigration raid, falsely described as a drug and money laundering operation across five different counties, represents a massive failure of the supposed objective of protecting public safety,” the group posted following Tuesday’s raids. “This terror operation involved hundreds of agents, millions of tax dollars, years of planning, and 14 simultaneous raids—only to find $100,000 in restaurant money, a few drugs, and a few guns at a single location.”
Federal agents justified the raid as a manhunt for Lee County resident Cesar Campos-Reyes, searching six residences in Lee and Macon counties in addition to the eight restaurants raided statewide. Despite their efforts, authorities did not locate Campos-Reyes during the raids; he turned himself in Tuesday evening. Prior to the manhunt, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against him on counts of bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering alleging he misused funds from Covid-era relief programs.
“They claimed the simultaneous raids we re for ‘public safety’ but the reality is they created fear and panic statewide,” continued Birmingham Migra Watch. “We are enraged at the kidnapping of over 40 essential restaurant workers, now caught up in the immigration detention machine. Countless livelihoods are affected. Families are separated yet again. The public trust is betrayed yet again.
“We believe these operations are false flags; they serve only to feed the inhumane detention quotas imposed by the Trump administration. They seek to scapegoat immigrants for the economic troubles of the country. (Tuesday) we witnessed collective terror sweep across the state of Alabama at the hands of those who claim to protect us.”
Only three people were placed in federal custody during the operation, while 48 individuals were detained by ICE for deportation.
Federal agents vaguely alleged that “a transnational, organized entity that has committed this activity” but have yet to provide evidence supporting that claim.
“This operation was not about any one offense, it was about dismantling a criminal ecosystem, one that profits off of the exploitation of people and the circumvention of our nation’s laws,” said Steven Schrank, HSI Special Agent in Charge. “Those crimes do not just hurt the individuals involved, but they harm communities. They undercut legitimate businesses, and they strain public resources. The hiring of individuals that are not authorized to work in the United States may seem like a labor issue to some, but let’s be clear, it’s a public safety issue. When employers knowingly hire illegal aliens, they create a magnet for exploitation, wage theft and unsafe conditions.”
Despite framing the issue as a public safety concern, every concern listed by Schrank would only victimize the employees themselves.
Campos-Reyes is expected to appear in federal court in Montgomery today.
