Federal agents conducted an operation at LaFontanella Foods’ facility in Kansas City, with outlets reporting that law enforcement detained up to eight people. The company manufactures food products, including Cascone’s pasta sauce.
A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to IEN that “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City conducted a federal criminal search warrant in Kansas City, Missouri July 9,” but declined to provide additional details. Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté wrote on Facebook that the operation “was not an immigration raid” and that federal authorities identified a person he described as an unregistered sex offender at the scene. According to Forté, a sheriff’s office detective arrested the individual and transported them to the county’s detention center.
However, local media, an immigration support organization and a state representative described additional details about the operation.
State Representative Wick Thomas said they visited the scene and witnessed masked agents in unmarked vehicles detain four people, while also receiving reports that six to seven people were taken into custody. The Kansas City Star reported that agents wearing HSI jackets escorted “at least six people” out of the facility. Meanwhile, NPR member station KCUR and the Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR) reported that federal authorities detained eight workers.
According to Thomas’ statement, family members attempted to show agents that individuals taken from the facility had work visas and were authorized to be in the country. AIRR said the site’s manager claimed agents presented a warrant for the building, though the organization said it could not confirm the warrant’s existence.
LaFontanella Foods and AIRR have not confirmed to IEN the exact number of people detained or how many of those individuals worked at the facility. Thomas has also not responded to IEN’s request for comment.
AIRR’s statement said the operation lasted from about 10 a.m. to noon. The Star reported that law enforcement escorted people from the facility at approximately 11 a.m. and that additional agents arrived around 11:45 a.m. wearing jackets labeled HSTF (Homeland Security Task Force), a partnership between HSI and the FBI. The publication also reported that agents appeared to remove computers and documents from the facility but declined to disclose what they seized.
