Salvadoran restaurant in Columbia Heights struggles amid fears of ICE Raids

A Columbia Heights restaurant that s been in business for about two decades is now in danger of closing Widespread fears of U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are keeping customers and staff away El Rinconcito II serves Salvadoran food and is known for its pupusas Claudia Arias the owner s daughter explained it s been a rocky year and business has gone downhill amid President Donald Trump s administration s ongoing immigration crackdown Our Latino neighborhood has stopped showing up she revealed People have just stopped coming Cooks have been afraid to come to work Even though she and her sister have other jobs they ve been helping their mom Reyna by covering shifts and trying to promotion the staff Arias recalled what happened when one customer thought ICE agents were outside the restaurant We just informed him to go upstairs and hide all the way in the back because we have a back patio she revealed We were scoping the outside to make sure ICE wasn t around The threat of ICE raids is the latest in a string of challenges There was a fire in then the COVID- pandemic which they re still recovering from Arias commented they re at least in debt and are considering leasing parts of the restaurant She estimated they could end up closing in six months if business does not pick up Come out and eat and promotion us she noted Even if it s just an appetizer that goes such a long way Arias is grateful for the sponsorship they ve gotten from the group She mentioned she is hopeful the clientele they ve lost will return but understands their fear I was afraid at one point and I m an American she announced We have your back Source