Memphis food truck employees detained by federal agents, city says. Here’s what we know

AI-assisted summary
• Federal agents detained employees of the Memphis food truck chain TACOnganas.
• The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the agents were federal but did not confirm if they were ICE agents.
• TACOnganas claims the agents did not identify themselves or provide a warrant.

Employees of food truck chain TACOnganas were taken from their jobs Monday by federal agents, the City of Memphis confirmed.

In a video released Monday by TACOnganas on Instagram, three men in plainclothes walked into the food truck and forced three employees inside to leave. The men did not appear to identify themselves as law enforcement or show a warrant. One can be seen wearing a gaiter mask over his face.

TACOnganas said in its post that it was not and has not since been informed what prompted the employees being detained. It said no identifying paperwork was left at the scene.

TACOnganas owner Greg Diaz did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday.

“We have heard from the employees,” the statement reads. “They’ve been told they’re being detained by ICE. We don’t know if the men you see in the video work for ICE or for someone else.”

The City of Memphis confirmed on X late Monday evening in a statement credited to Mayor Paul Young that they reached out to federal authorities to identify the men. Young said Homeland Security Investigations confirmed that federal agents were involved, though did not explicitly say if they were part of the ICE branch of HSI or another agency.

HSI did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday.

TACOnganas and Diaz came under fire in late 2022 for allegedly recruiting dozens of taco workers from Mexico — possibly illegally — then making them work long hours for low wages.

The Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division confirmed to The Commercial Appeal in December 2024 that the federal agency was still investigating TACOnganas more than two years after the allegations surfaced.

TACOnganas has eight locations across the Memphis area. It was unclear which location the employees were detained at.

The raid comes after President Donald Trump swiftly ordered a crackdown on illegal immigration across the country. The president has repeatedly emphasized that the deportations will first target undocumented immigrants with violent criminal histories.

ICE has recently published daily arrest totals — for example, 2,891 arrests were made from Jan. 29 to 31. And though ICE proudly displays examples of “The Worst First” on X, a report by NBC found that nearly half of the people arrested on just one day in January did not have criminal records or were nonviolent offenders.

Large deportation numbers are nothing new — President Joe Biden’s administration deported more than 271,000 people last year, the largest number since 2014, according to an ICE report.

But the new administration has vowed to pursue deportations more aggressively than in the past, including utilizing Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to hold what the administration deems to be the most serious violent offenders.

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering DeSoto County, as well as Dining in the Memphis area. You can reach him at[email protected].