Three workers at a New Bedford car wash found themselves in handcuffs after a sudden Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid. According to NewsCenter 5, the detained individuals were Guatemalan employees at Minit Man Auto Wash, having been with the company for about a decade through a temporary agency. Manager Randal Stykowski received the distressing news Tuesday morning as homeland security agents descended upon the business.
Randal Stykowski, the manager caught in the middle of this drama, told 12 News, "By the time I got here, they were all basically investigating three of my employees. They cuffed them and took them away." This fourth-generation family business had never experienced such a raid before. Stykowski added, "It’s tough to find workers as it is, but now even through these agencies, there's no guarantee. They can just show up with very little explanation and do this."
The incident quickly stirred emotions amongst Minit Man's clientele, showing that small businesses embed themselves deeply into the fabric of a community. Stykowski described a morning filled with stress where customers began to cry for the detained workers, “They know these guys; they’ve been around for so long. We’ve had the same customer base for that same amount of time," he explained to 12 News. "They were actually crying for them, for their families."
New Bedford officials and the wider immigrant community have been shaken by the aggressive federal move. Corinn Williams, executive director of the Community Economic Development Center, voiced to 12 News, "It’s really sad. It’s really very shocking." The city purportedly was not given ahead notice of the operation, deepening the sense of unpredictability and anxiety already prevalent amongst those seeking to make their lives in the shadow of such raids.
While specific reasons for the detentions haven't been officially disclosed, Stykowski recounted agents mentioning issues like improper documentation or illegal border crossing. As of yet, NewsCenter 5 reports that ICE has remained silent on the matter, making no response to requests for comment.
