TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Dept. of Homeland Security (HSI) served a notice of inspection to La Indita, a local restaurant in Downtown Tucson, to make sure their employees have the legal right to work in the U.S.
Denise Shafer, manager and owner of La Indita, wants other businesses to be aware and prepare.
“If you think it’s not going to happen to your business, you’re wrong. Especially, we felt targeted because we are Mexican and we have a Mexican Indigenous restaurant," said Shafer.
Shafer rushed to the restaurant after receiving a call from an employee saying Homeland Security was there to serve an audit.
“And basically what that means is that they want us to hand over all of our employee verification paperwork," said Shafer.
Shafer called her civil rights attorney Stacy Scheff to meet her at the business.
Scheff says it’s legal for them to request the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms, but the notice didn’t seem official.
“They had just scribbled out someone else’s address and written in the address of La Indita restaurant on top of it and I said you know this could be anything, anybody could have done this. It does not look official. Can we get an official copy?," requested Scheff.
The agents left and returned with the forms corrected and told Scheff they wouldn’t speak to her as an attorney without a G-28 form.
“A G-28 is a notice of appearance in an immigration case. And I asked if there was an immigration case and he said no and I said well then you don’t need a G-28 and he admitted that in fact he did not,” Scheff said.
Scheff says the way they went about the whole incident was very suspicious.
“It feels as though they are on a fishing expedition for information so they can deport people,” Scheff describes.
We reached out to HSI and they responded, “It’s part of an (on)going investigation, nothing further to add at this time.”
Shafer says her business has nothing to hide and was preparing for an audit, but didn’t think it would come this quickly.
“We don’t have an open case or anything like that. It’s just a Notice of Inspection that they want to inspect our paperwork and this is a National Immigration Act that has been in effect since 1986, it’s called INA,” says Shafer. “We’ve been in business since 1983 and we’ve never received an inspection of this form.”
Shafer has owned La Indita since April 2024 and the paperwork she needs to provide is from then through now.
She complied with the agents, signed the document and has three days to hand over her employees paperwork.
Businesses need to provide I-9 for employees, but not for contractors.
“Which is one of the things that they asked for here, was verification for any contractor like repairing the plumbing or landscaping or something like that, would need to be verified as well, but it is my understanding that is not the case,” Scheff said.
You can find I-9 exceptions here.
Shafer and Scheff say they want other businesses to know their rights and not be afraid.
“You don’t have to answer any questions when they serve you, the agents are not allowed to go further into the business other than the lobby without a warrant,” says Scheff.
You can also consult an attorney or the Community Rapid Response Team for additional help if needed.
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