Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs attempted to express solidarity with the anti-ICE movement in her congressional district in an unremarkable way: by having dinner.
Jacobs, who is in her third term in Congress, tweeted Sunday that "we will continue to stand with our immigrant communities." She also tweeted pictures of herself at Buona Forchetta.
These immigration raids don’t define us, but our response to them does. I was proud to have dinner at Buona Forchetta to show my support to them as they deal with the fallout of the raid where agents threw out flash bangs in order to arrest restaurant workers — not hardened… pic.twitter.com/L6bFGiu7t8
— Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (@RepSaraJacobs) June 8, 2025
More than a week ago, on May 30, ICE raids were conducted at Buona Forchetta Italian restaurant in San Diego's South Park neighborhood during the restaurant's Friday night dinner service.
On Saturday night, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement to CBS 8 about the ICE raid.
On May 30, while executing two criminal search warrants of businesses that knowingly hired illegal aliens in San Diego, over 250 protesters verbally harassed ICE agents, pounded on car windows, and even blocked roadways to prevent ICE from leaving. The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers. In large part due to protests like this our ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults while carrying out arrests."
Jacobs, heiress to the Qualcomm billionaires Irwin and Joan Jacobs' fortune, has faced serious backlash on X from her pandering attempt at solidarity after the raid. The Congresswoman claimed in her tweet that ICE agents arrested restaurant workers, rather than hardened criminals.
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The illegal immigrants working at Buono Forchetta were arrested by ICE, but it seems the Italian restaurant owned by Matteo Cattaneo was not innocent of wrongdoing. A recently-released federal warrant affidavit is now outlining the violations of the Italian restaurant. The 34-page document was submitted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Michael Hensley.
Under probable cause, the HSI credits a tip received by the department on November 01, 2020, which reported that Matteo Cattaneo was employing illegal immigrants, exploiting, and mistreating them. The affidavit detailed the tip further.
The tipster claimed that CATTANEO is exploiting these employees by having them work over 12-hour shifts with no breaks. The tipster also reported that CATTANEO treats these employees poorly by mentally and verbally abusing them."
In January 2025, a second tip alleged that illegal workers were being scheduled under false names without documentation. There have been no criminal charges filed against Matteo Cattaneo or his business, but ICE has stated the investigation is not yet over.
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