Raided restaurant opens with special offer

YOUNGSTOWN — The Casa Fiesta on East Midlothian Boulevard, raided last week in a roundup of illegal Mexican immigrants, now has a sign inside the restaurant that announces a “reopening special — $1 off every dish.”

Moises Ayala-Garcia, who described himself as a partner in the business, said with the help of an interpreter that the 11 employees taken into custody July 23 have all been replaced. The new employees, he said Wednesday, are all legal, adding he didn’t know the ones arrested were in this country illegally.

Last week, special agents with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 58 restaurant employees on immigration violations after executing federal search warrants at eight Casa Fiesta restaurants throughout northern Ohio. Casa Fiesta is a chain of Mexican restaurants in Ashland, Fremont, Norwalk, Oberlin, Oregon, Sandusky, Vermillion, and Youngstown. Read more in Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com