Illegal Mexican immigrants were arrested on Wednesday at the Casa Fiesta Restaurant on Youngstown's South Side.  It was the culmination of a year long investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The parking lot of the the Casa Fiesta restaurant on Midlothian Boulevard was empty Wednesday evening, the restaurant closed after being raided by federal agents.  This was one of eight Casa Fiesta's across Ohio that were raided.  All total, fifty-eight illegal Mexican immigrants were detained, though we don't know how many there were in Youngstown.

At Pal Joey's bar near the restaurant, Casa Fiesta was described as a nice place and good for the neighborhood.  But where some of the help spoke no English.  "You would ask for different drinks or extra chips and they wouldn't come through and bring it to you because they didn't know what you were talking about.", explains Lori Greenwald.

Pal Joey's owner Jim Murphy says some of the workers from Casa Fiesta would occasionally drink at his bar.  He called it a good solid business, but still agreed that the law's the law.

"I'm glad to see the laws are being taken into effect correctly.  And that the crackdowns are happening so that people in this area can get jobs that they need them.",states Jim Murphy, Pal Joey's Owner.

Murphy says he and his employees work hard to follow regulations, and everyone else should be held to the same standard.  Still, he feels sorry for the workers arrested.  "There needs to be a standard, because people get taken advantage of.  And that's the bottom line.  People come in by illegal means, and they're indentured servants, basically.  And that's not right either."

There's no indication if or when Casa Fiesta will open again. Though Jim Murphy hopes, for the sake of the neighborhood, that it's sometime soon.  "I'd like to see them back and up running, if they can get their paperwork and everything else done correctly."

Of the fifty-eight arrested, fifty-four were men and four were women.  A federal immigration judge will ultimately determine whether they have a legal right to remain in the United States.  Charges may also be filed against the owners, managers or supervisors, who knowingly hired the Illegal workers.