Kid Rock’s restaurant was among three in downtown Nashville to have recently shielded workers lacking legal status from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to local reports.
Why It Matters
Kid Rock, the musician whose real name is Bob Ritchie, has been one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest advocates. Aside from endorsing Trump during his presidential elections, which included a performance at the Republican National Convention in 2024, he has also been vocal about cultural issues, including the release of a video showing him shooting cases of Bud Light in response to Anheuser Busch putting transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney on a beer can.
What To Know
Managers allegedly told restaurant employees lacking U.S. citizenship to leave on May 10 after ICE activity surged in the area, according to the Nashville Scene.
They included workers at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse, The Diner and Honky Tonk Central. A co-owner of the Kid Rock restaurant, conservative restaurateur Steve Smith owns the latter two establishments on the popular Broadway thoroughfare in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
Newsweek reached out to all three restaurants for comment, as well as Kid Rock’s manager.
Kid Rock attends the 2023 Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Nashville Scene reported that the workers were sent away during a primetime rush, even as establishments have had issues with staffing as a result of more stringent immigration protocols enforced by the Trump administration.
The loss of workers reportedly continued into Sunday, as some of the workers told to leave the restaurants’ premises feared potential arrests upon return.
“We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend,” an employee who requested anonymity told the Scene. “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.”
The worker shortage has reportedly been an ongoing problem in the area.
On Wednesday, ICE announced that a weeklong targeted enforcement operation resulted in the arrest of 196 criminal illegal aliens, “some with significant criminal histories and outstanding final orders of removal.”
The targeted enforcement was carried out across the greater Nashville area, in coordination with Department of Homeland Security components, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Arrests included a 37-year-old Venezuelan national Tren de Aragua affiliate gang member; a 39-year-old Mexican national with six prior removals from the U.S. and convictions for felony domestic assault and sex with a minor; and a 60-year-old Iraqi national convicted of rape.
What People Are Saying
Republican Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles told WZTV Nashville: “Why are illegal aliens acting surprised when federal law enforcement finds them and sends them home? If you break American laws, you will be treated like a lawbreaker.”
What Happens Next
In their newly proposed budget, House Republicans included a new 5 percent tax on remittances. It would exempt U.S. citizens but affect green-card holders and nonimmigrant visa holders such as those on H-1B, H-2A and H-2B visas—meaning more than 40 million people would be impacted.
