HONESDALE, PA — Protests taking place on Honesdale’s Main Street have become heated after reports indicated that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out a raid on Elegante Restaurant and Pizzeria, a Honesdale Main Street mainstay, on Wednesday, March 19. 

The raid injected additional heat into protests that had already been taking place along Honesdale’s Main Street. 

Demonstrators had gathered on Saturday, March 8 and on Saturday, March 15, protesting for Ukraine and against Trump. Following reports of ICE on Saturday, March 22, they reconvened, this time with counter-protesters gathered outside the Wayne County Republicans' headquarters. 

“HUGE THANK YOU on behalf of the President and Elon Musk to all the Patriots that turned out to defend AMERICA FIRST! MAGA,” reads a post from the Wayne County PA Republican Committee. 

“We are not powerless. Millions of people voted against Trump and his allies. There are millions of us who won’t stand idly by,” reads a post from the Wayne County PA Democrats. 

ICE in Honesdale

Honesdale Mayor Derek Williams told the River Reporter he saw two ICE agents walk into Elegante as he was walking on Main Street. He walked around to the back of the building, and saw those agents with other agents gathered in the back parking lot. 

Williams said he talked with Elegante’s owner, who told him the agents came in “like they owned the place,” looking for one person in particular, whom they found and took. 

The ICE agents did not tell the owner why they took this person, except to say that they knew his name, said that he was a “bad person” and that he had a specific tattoo. 

Williams said he has since done some research on the types of paperwork that ICE agents may be carrying, and which types of warrants need to be followed. Williams provided the River Reporter with a PDF of compiled information, which is attached to the initial reporting here.

The general tenor in the borough is that when federal law enforcement comes in with that kind of energy, “it’s scary for everybody,” Williams said. 

Wayne County Sheriff Chris Rosler told the River Reporter he heard from an Elegante employee that one man was brought away because of the gun tattoos on his chest. 

ICE did not contact the sheriff’s office in advance of the raid, Rosler said; as a federal agency, they do not like to work with local departments. 

“I would help them if they ask; I would help the marshals,” Rosler said. 

The Honesdale Borough Police had no idea the raid was happening until ICE came to the police department and asked them if they knew the man, Williams said. 

A photograph shared with the River Reporter by Rosler shows several men in bulletproof vests with “Police, ICE” and “Police, federal agent” written on the back, standing in the back parking lot of the Elegante building. 

Elegante employees declined to give a statement to the River Reporter. 

ICE officials could not be reached for comment by press time.