Immigration Raids Shake Kansas Community. At Least 7 Detained at El Toro Loco Restaurants
- Planeta Venus
- 30 jul
- 3 Min. de lectura
Kansas City, Kansas | July 30, 2025
By Claudia Amaro | Planeta Venus
On the morning of Wednesday, July 30, what many immigrant families in Kansas have feared for months became a reality: federal agents carried out immigration raids at two restaurants with the same name, El Toro Loco, one located in Lenexa, Kansas, and the other at the Legends Outlets mall in Kansas City.
According to Aude Negrete, executive director of the Kansas Latino Community Network, and Karla Juárez, director of Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR), at least seven people were detained. Other media outlets have reported as many as twelve.
The operation took place around 11 a.m., just as workers were preparing for the lunch service.
Negrete, who arrived at the scene after being alerted by a community member, described the scene with concern. “Not only did they take many people, they took everyone,” she said. “What I saw is that, upon entering, the doors weren’t locked. I went in to see if anyone needed help. There was no one inside — a bag with a ringing phone, a water jug, a mop with a jacket over it, like someone had arrived, put down their jacket, and started working. A container of salsa was also halfway made. And in the kitchen, what shocked me the most, and what I truly see as a public safety issue, is that the stove was left on. And everything looked half cooked.”
This is how the empty space looked after the immigration raid at the El Toro Loco restaurant, where someone had simply posted a note on the door that said "Closed." Pictures by Audé Negrete
Karla Juárez, who has been traveling throughout Kansas offering immigrant rights workshops, emphasized that even though there’s a lot of negative talk, there are also positive things happening, like the community’s united response. “The community is coming together and responding,” she said.
Negrete and Juárez called a press conference outside one of the raided restaurants. Dozens of people showed up in solidarity, including neighboring business owners.
Both community leaders are in contact with some of the families affected by the July 30 raids and are working to provide them with legal and emotional support.
Meanwhile, other media outlets tried to get comments from ICE officials but received no response. Juárez believes the detainees were likely taken to the ICE processing center in Kansas City and then transferred to jails in Chase and Green counties, which have contracts with federal officials to hold people detained by ICE.
Planeta Venus regularly monitors public inmate lists in Chase County. While official documents indicate that the county jail has a capacity of 148 detainees, on July 30 the database listed 152 individuals. Most entries included the note: “Courtesy hold for outside agency.”
Negrete and Juárez encourage the immigrant community to stay informed, prepared, and organized. They recommend following their social media accounts, where they share educational resources, including a pamphlet with steps for creating a family emergency plan.
This material is available to anyone who requests it through their social platforms. Both leaders are part of a volunteer coalition that has set up a hotline to report immigration activity: 913-999-2398.
The activists stress that the community should not act out of fear, but with knowledge. “It’s important that the community knows their rights, and if they feel safe, that they document what they see happening in their neighborhoods,” they emphasized.
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