9 February 5 - 11, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Risky Business After an employee at White Rhino Coffee quit after being told to give ICE agents discounts, Dallas hospitality businesses faced a tough choice. BY COURTNEY E. SMITH W idespread outrage over the death of two pro- testers shot by U.S. Im- migration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota last month has put small businesses in Dallas in a jam, espe- cially in the hospitality industry. Already operating on narrow profit mar- gins and recently hit by lost business from January’s winter storm, business owners face a quandary as patrons call on them to take public stances on President Donald Trump’s harsh immigration policies. Immigrants make up more than 20% of the restaurant industry workforce, so join- ing calls to condemn ICE’s heavy-handed actions seems a natural fit. But for all of the protesters’ calls to “Fuck ICE,” in red Texas, Trump and ICE have plenty of supporters. Picking one side might alienate the other, and with the pressure of social media, even saying nothing can come with a price. This point hit home last week, as many local coffee shops and cafes felt compelled to clarify their positions on serving ICE agents following an incident at White Rhino Coffee’s downtown location. Nearly a dozen employees quit after being told to give ICE agents a first-responder discount. White Rhino later said the order was unauthor- ized, and there would be no discount. That was followed by calls on social me- dia for a National Day of Action, including not working or shopping on Friday, Jan. 30, in solidarity with the Democratic-leaning city of Minneapolis, which was targeted by the Trump administration to face a flood of immigration agents in Operation Metro Surge in late December. When ICE arrived, tensions ratcheted up, and protesters took to the streets, leading to the deaths of immi- grant advocates Renee Good and Alex Pretti. ICE arrested around 3,000 people just in the first half of January in the city. Of those, 150 were U.S. citizens, and one was 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who a judge recently ordered returned home from a detention fa- cility near San Antonio. There have also been chilling reports of customers and workers being detained by ICE agents at restaurants. In the small town of Willmar, Minneapolis, agents ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant, then returned to fol- low workers after closing and arrest them. After ICE agents raided another Mexican restaurant, the owner reported that many workers were too afraid to return, and the restaurant had to close until community members volunteered to work shifts. The American Civil Liberties Union shared a statement on Instagram from a citizen it is representing who was arrested by ICE. “ICE agents dragged me out of the res- taurant and put me in a headlock on the ground,” M.H. says. “I repeated, ‘I’m a citi- zen, I have I.D.’ The officer kept saying, ‘That don’t matter, that don’t matter.’” Demands from customers on both sides of the political divide, and in some cases a sense of personal obligation, set restaurant owners in Dallas scrambling to figure out their philosophy, talk to staff about what they are and aren’t comfortable doing, and whether they need to clarify their stance on serving ICE agents. Then there was the question of whether to join the National Day of Action, which would add another hit to their bottom lines, already stretched after being closed for sev- eral days that same week due to a winter storm’s blanket of ice. Some local businesses, including Lucia, Cultivar Coffee and Herby’s Burgers, posted on social media that each would donate to charities that help undocumented people navigate the legal system. Others simply posted their solidarity and support for any- one participating in the strike, most explic- itly stating their opposition to ICE. Beyond the National Day of Action, ICE’s actions have already affected Texas restau- rants. Black Box Intelligence, which tracks restaurant data, reported that restaurant sales are down in places where 40% or more of the community is Hispanic. A report from the Texas Restaurant Asso- ciation also found that “due to immigration enforcement activities this year, 19% of Texas restaurant operators indicated that they lost employees, while 23% reported fewer job applicants or acceptances and 19% saw customer traffic decrease.” Now, many are struggling with whether to serve agents, how to keep their staff safe and whether to declare their position on In- stagram. The Dallas Observer spoke with three hospitality professionals about where they stand, what they are and aren’t saying to customers and staff and whether their businesses have been affected. Little Joy Cafe R ussell Tibbits and Allison Macalik of Little Joy Cafe had to make de- cisions that went far beyond the typical actions of a community coffee shop last week. Macalik says messages poured in on Ins- tagram and in texts from friends after for- mer White Rhino manager Margot Stacy posted that she quit her job because of the cafe’s ICE policy. People wanted to know where Little Joy stood and if it would re- spond. While they were debating, the two sent a text to their staff letting them know ICE is not welcome in the cafe and will not be served. They also consulted a lawyer to find out what is allowed. (Officers of the agency are allowed to enter public areas of any business, according to the National Im- migration Law Center, but need a warrant to enter a non-public area of the business. Businesses can legally refuse to serve ICE officers.) They decidde to donate all of the earn- ings from last Friday’s National Day of Ac- tion to Vecinos Unidos, a West Dallas activist group that supports immigrants and their families. Macalik also offered any help or a job to Stacy, if needed. Little Joy is interviewing four other employees Stacy referred who also quit White Rhino. On the National Day of Action, the cafe raised $2,000, which Tibbits says is about five times their normal earnings. “It was a ton of regulars, people I’d never seen, people who said they’ve wanted to come in but didn’t know who we were or our vibe — are we really for the community? And people who saw our Instagram post,” Macalik says. The reaction was better than they ex- pected, Macalik and Tibbits say. In person, it felt like a celebratory day, minus a few com- plaints about service being affected by the additional customers. Online, there were hardly any negative remarks. “Nothing on our Instagram, not one ugly thing,” Macalik says. “A lot of [negativity] happens on Facebook, and I shy away from it.” The pair already donates a percentage of their monthly earnings to local causes and charities, and they are shifting to a quarterly focus to give more over a longer period. “We started this coffee shop not necessarily for us, but for this community because we love it,” Tibbits says . Black Swan G abe Sanchez is arguably the most award-winning barman in Dallas. In January, he was named a semifinalist for the James Beard Awards for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service for his work at the downtown bar Midnight Rambler. He and his business partner, Ryan Payne, own Black Swan Saloon and Saint Valentine in East Dallas. “You see people, law enforcement, in this country with their faces covered,” Sanchez says. “They’re not wearing any identifica- tion other than [patches with the words] ICE, they’re not wearing body cameras, and they’re running ramshod through American cities. I’ve never dealt with this in my adult life. … If someone comes in, are they Photo-illustration by Sarah Schumacher;’ Adobe Stock | CITY OF ATE | t Dish >> p10 THE ICE OUT ISSUE
