Steve Smith, a successful local businessman in Tennessee, owns multiple restaurants in Nashville. Three of his establishments — Honky Tonk Central, The Diner and Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonky and Steak House — had to curtail operations during the dinner rush on Saturday night because ICE was in town rounding up "illegals".
Smith must have had mixed emotions. It is a rare business owner who will celebrate interruptions to cash flow and a dent in profits. Yet Smith is an unabashed MAGA and a devoted member of the Trump cult.
If there were any doubts about Smith's political proclivities, owning a restaurant that pays royalties to a Trump golfing partner ought to dispel them. So presumably he was ecstatic that his boy's Brown Shirts were kicking ass and taking names. Even if some of the ass getting kicked belonged to hard-working grunts generating Smith's livelihood. Or perhaps it finally dawned on him that there were consequences to his bigotry.
Or not. I don't know what price MAGAs think is worth paying to see intolerance become the official position of the American government. But a lot of them are paying it.
The Nashville Scene reported last weekend's events in a piece headlined:
Kitchens Close to Avoid ICE at Steve Smith's Broadway Bars
Conservative bar owner lost prime weekend service at Honky Tonk Central, The Diner and Kid Rock's because of heavy ICE presence
The report detailed the consequences of ICE's activities
Downtown kitchens shuttered over the weekend to avoid immigration agents in at least three locations owned by conservative restaurateur Steve Smith.
Smith, the wealthy owner of Broadway establishments including Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and Rippy's, has been a public conservative presence in Nashville, notably mounting local opposition to COVID-related restrictions on public gatherings.
He's also a Trump supporter and donor. Recent panic at his restaurants indicates that his own Broadway empire — and the wealth it has generated —relies directly on employing immigrants not authorized to work in the United States.
[Bolding mine]
Smith has said nothing about the matter. However, if he protests that he did not know he was trying to boost his profits by hiring undocumented aliens to replace American workers, he should talk to his managers. They knew what was going on. The piece continues:
At the instruction of managers, restaurant employees without legal citizenship status left the premises at The Diner, Honky Tonk Central and Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse during a primetime rush on Saturday night to avoid detention by ICE agents.
Locations, already struggling to provide full service, suffered through at least Sunday due to fears from employees who did not want to risk arrest by returning to work.
An employee explained:
"We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend. Then, around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, our manager came back and told anyone without legal status to go home. Events at the Ryman, Ascend, the Savannah Bananas' baseball game all let out, and it was crazy busy. But there was no one in the kitchen to cook the food."
Trump and his knob-polishers have insisted that the government's anti-immigrant resources would focus on the worst of the worst — the violent murderers, rapists, and drug lords they claim are rampaging through America's neighborhoods. However, it seems the Administration has been lying. The Nashville Scene adds:
State troopers and unmarked ICE vehicles dramatically increased nightly traffic stops on May 3 in South Nashville, where the joint operation has resulted in at least 196 arrests by ICE agents. These arrests included 101 individuals with no criminal history, contradicting Trump administration claims that immigration enforcement has been targeted toward violent criminals.
Less than half had any recorded criminal history at all; a DHS press release confirmed that four had previously been involved in violent crime.
Before Smith worshipped at Trump’s altar, he should have studied the hypocrite's business practices. CNN reported Trump's "Do as I say, not what I do" philosophy after people like Smith voted him back into office. In a piece headlined: Trump vows to 'hire American.' His businesses keep hiring foreign guest workers, the site reports:
President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to do everything in his power to benefit American workers. "We will build American, buy American and hire American,"he said during a rally in August.
Despite that pledge, Trump's own businesses sought to hire more foreign guest workers this year than any other year on record, according to a CNN review of government labor data. Companies linked to some of Trump's top political backers and administration picks also have been given the green light to use guest workers this year.
I don't know if it will occur to Steve Smith that in voting for Trump, he shot himself in the wallet. But you have to imagine the number of people regretting their vote for fascism is picking up speed.