The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has approved a new County program to protect small businesses and workers from the rising economic and community damage caused by aggressive federal immigration raids. The Small Business Know Your Rights training program — championed by Chair Terra Lawson-Remer — will equip local employers with the information they need to follow the law, protect their employees, and avoid costly workplace shutdowns.

The move follows the high-profile raid at Buona Forchetta, which forced multiple restaurant closures, left employees traumatized, and disrupted the local economy.

“Small businesses shouldn’t have to fear being shut down by government overreach when they have played by the rules,” said Chair Terra Lawson-Remer. “We’re working to protect constitutional rights, uphold due process, and make sure federal fearmongering doesn’t threaten lives and livelihoods, or destabilize San Diego’s economy.”

New data shows more than half of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in San Diego this year have been of individuals with no criminal record, with a sharp spike in disruptive workplace actions by federal agents. ICE arrests have nearly doubled locally, increasingly targeting restaurants, shops, and small businesses with no ties to crime.

The program, delivered through the San Diego County Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement (OLSE), will offer:

• Multilingual Know-Your-Rights trainings to help small businesses lawfully respond to workplace enforcement actions
• Practical tools and checklists so employers know what to do, and what not to do, if ICE and DHS show up
• Sample workplace protocols to prevent legal mistakes and reduce business disruption

Small businesses account for nearly 380,000 businesses in San Diego County, many of them immigrant-owned and operating on thin margins. 

“Running a small business is hard enough. It helps to know the rules and what to do when something like this happens,” said Juan S, a San Diego business owner. “This will make it easier for businesses like mine to protect our employees and stay open.”