The kitchen at Kid Rock’s Nashville Bar in Kidlock had to shut down when the manager asked employees not legally in the U.S. to leave due to rumors of an ICE raid.
Robert James Richie, more commonly known as Kid Rock, is a supporter of Trump as well as a restaurateur. He operates an establishment dubbed “Kid Rock’s Big Butt Honky Tonk Rock Roll Steakhouse” in Nashville.
This month, the restaurant unexpectedly closed its kitchen during a busy evening upon hearing news of a possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation.
Just a few weeks prior, multiple Nashville venues had to send staff home because of similar rumors about ICE raids.
“We were already short-staffed over the weekend due to ICE activities,” explained an employee. “Then, on Saturday around 9:30 PM, my manager returned and instructed anyone without legal status to go home. It was really hectic out there, especially with all the baseball games happening.”
Neither Richie nor his partner, Steve Smith, offered any comments about the incident.
Restaurants and bars in Nashville are dealing with a staff shortage as workers opt to stay home amidst the increasing visibility of immigration agents in the area.
At the same time, ICE agents along with state police were setting up checkpoints, making numerous arrests during routine traffic stops.
This growing ICE presence in Nashville has angered the city’s left-wing mayor, Freddie O’Connell.
O’Connell has claimed that the corporation under scrutiny is a “Nashville citizen” and is now insisting that police inform the “New American Office” whenever ICE reaches out for help.
