Undocumented workers power L.A.'s restaurants. Will the industry protect them?

Tucked into a Chinatown shopping plaza, the modern Filipino restaurant Lasita is typically bursting with energy.Orbs of yellow light wash over plates of juicy chicken inasal; longtime friends catch up over handpicked wines as music thumps in the background.That all changed on the evening of Friday, June 6, when more than 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement vans filled the parking lot across from the restaurant, leaving guests and staff “spooked,” said co-owner Chase Valencia.

“We were in a position of just reacting and in a state of shock because we didn’t know how to respond accordingly,” said Valencia, who manages a predominantly Asian and Latino staff.Since that evening, the Lasita team has weathered canceled reservations and understaffing as the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area has been swept by fear.Restaurant owners and managers have had to scramble to provide a framework of security and support for their staff, many of whom are undocumented immigrants.“The industry is deeply confused,” said Corissa Hernandez, the owner of Nativo, a Mexican bar and restaurant in Highland Park.

“We’re alarmed.We’re frustrated about the lack of transparency, especially legal clarity.“We’re business owners, we’re not immigration experts.” ICE has made sweeping arrests since arriving in the region, resulting in widespread protests as well as a financial downturn for businesses across the county as many workers and customers remain home out of fear of being profiled.

This absence of economic activity has been felt acutely in the restaurant industry, which is staffed overwhelmingly by Latinos and immigrants — 79% and 66% respectively, according to the the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.Immigrant workers have always gone hand in hand with the restaurant industry, said Kevin Johnson, a professor of public interest law and Chicano studies at UC Davis.“The thing about the restaurant industry is that ...