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(Omaha, NE) -- Mayor-elect John Ewing Junior is calling for better coordination between federal immigration authorities and local officials following a widely circulated video showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting a man at a West Omaha restaurant.
The incident occurred Sunday at the Early Bird restaurant’s West Omaha location, where ICE agents detained an employee. The arrest, which was captured on video and shared across social media platforms, has sparked concern among community members and city leaders.
Mayor-elect Ewing commented on the arrest at a news conference on Wednesday. He says he and his team were not informed of the operation in advance and only learned of the incident through a text message.
"We certainly would like them to do things in a way that doesn't have the people of our community feel as if they are in jeopardy so that is something that we will share, because the person that texted me had a great deal of fear when they saw weapons being drawn," said Ewing. "We are going to be reaching out to ICE to see if there can at least be some coordination and making us aware of these things rather than the video and things that people are circulating on social media, that's not the way we want to do law enforcement in Omaha, Nebraska."
Videos circulating social media show Romero Edilzar Yaxcal-Tiul being arrested by ICE during business hours on Sunday, June 1. Multiple reports say Yaxcal-Tiul is a Guatamalen National, that came into the country illegally.
Early Bird has also commented on the incident in a Facebook post, saying that they had "no knowledge or involvement prior to living it alongside our guests and staff."
Ewing also said that given his background in law enforcement, he understands why people are scared.
"My plan for this is to make it a safe place for all of our residence so they will feel welcome and safe. As a former Omaha Police Department Deputy Chief I understand how this creates fear and this creates uncertainty," says Ewing.
Police Chief Todd Schmaderer says the department was unaware of that Ice activity, though it is pretty customary Omaha Police are not informed of individual arrests.