lloyd addresses recent criticism Posted by Lloyd Taco Trucks on Monday, October 28, 2019

For years, the most controversial thing about Lloyd Taco was its prices: $8.49 for a single burrito.

That all changed last week when the popular Buffalo, New York-based food-truck empire served Chorizo Mackin' Cheese and Aztec Brownies to workers at a federal immigration detention facility in Batavia. After receiving a handful of "yikes" responses from leftists on social media, the company swiftly apologized and promised to make amends, only to spend the next few days bombarded with thousands of angry messages from conservatives who accused the regionally beloved chain of disrespecting law enforcement, veterans and America.

With the controversy beginning to cut into their profits, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials accusing them of discrimination, the beleaguered owners apologized again at a Monday news conference. This time, they said it had been a mistake to say that selling burritos to ICE employees was a mistake.

"We are not political," said one of Lloyd Taco's embattled co-founders, Pete Cimino. "Why would we be? How can any business choose sides in our politically divided country and ever hope to succeed?"

Despite Cimino's fervently expressed desire to remain neutral - "We make tacos, not war," he repeated during the news conference - Mexican food has emerged as a battleground in the Trump era's culture wars, often serving as a proxy for immigrants. In 2018, amid widespread outcry over the administration's family separation policy, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled by protesters while eating dinner at a D.C. Mexican restaurant. Just two months after that, a Mexican restaurant in Houston faced calls for a boycott when the owners enthusiastically welcomed Attorney General Jeff Sessions after he gave a speech calling for a crackdown on illegal immigration.

Taco trucks, too, have been politicized. In the lead-up to the 2016 election, Marco Gutierrez, the founder of Latinos for Trump, claimed that unrestricted immigration would lead to "taco trucks on every corner." The line was widely mocked as liberals took the opportunity to argue that the fragrant meats and grilled corn served up by street vendors proved that immigration was a net positive.

In Buffalo, a Democratic stronghold in Western New York, the flagging Rust Belt economy has been revived by the arrival of new immigrants and refugees. Cimino, who founded Lloyd Taco with his childhood friend Chris Dorsaneo, grew up in the city and has credited its resurgence with their success as food-truck entrepreneurs. After starting out with a single truck during the early days of the food-truck craze in 2010, the two bearded, bespectacled men became a reliable presence at office parks, college campuses and football tailgates, eventually expanding to four trucks, two restaurants and a side business selling soft-serve ice cream.

The company unwittingly stumbled into the middle of a heated political debate on Wednesday, when it posted an otherwise-mundane tweet listing its trucks' lunchtime stops. One destination, described only as "Department of Homeland Security," stood out to a few left-leaning burrito enthusiasts who recognized the address as a detention center where undocumented immigrants are held while they await deportation hearings.

Compared with the backlash that would later follow, the initial pushback was fairly mild. Roughly 18 people posted critical responses to the tweet, questioning the decision to serve food to "government bootlickers" and expressing sentiments such as "Guys this really sucks" and "Yikes boys I know where I'm not eating again."

"Y'all hand delivery tacos to ICE agents now? I'd rather eat some sad Chipotle, byyyyyye," one woman wrote.

On Thursday, Lloyd Taco posted a profuse public apology on social media, saying that serving lunch at the detention facility was an "honest mistake." Citing their commitment to hiring immigrant and refugee workers, the owners pledged to donate the day's sales to Justice For Migrant Families WNY, a local group that advocates for the rights of undocumented immigrants.

"We're sorry, Buffalo," the apology concluded. "You deserve better."

Some Buffalonians praised the response, calling it "thoughtful" and "refreshing." In a statement, Justice For Migrant Families WNY called the apology proactive, and said the donations would be used "to fund much needed phones and food for immigrants who are currently detained or who have just been released from detention."

But many others were angered by what they saw as an attack on law enforcement, and accused Lloyd Taco of caving to pressure from the left wing.

"In what world does a company feel the need to apologize for serving food to federal law enforcement officers who work in dangerous conditions?" Rob Ortt, a Republican state senator from the nearby community of North Tonawanda who is currently running for Congress, wrote on Twitter. "Pathetic pandering. The men and women who work to enforce our immigration laws and protect us deserve better."

On social media, the company was flooded with more than 5,000 responses, nearly all of them angry, Cimino said on Monday. Critics accused Lloyd Taco of "siding with law breakers" and threatened to vandalize the company's trucks. "You are a now a discriminatory organization, trying to be 'woke' and appeasing fascist violent misguided leftwing extremists," read one typical comment. "Moderates like my family, once enjoyed your food, but we will never buy from you ever again for your traitorous Anti American Anti Law stance."

One man even started a GoFundMe, saying that he hoped to raise $2,500 to throw a free "Food Truck Rodeo" for the detention center guards. As of early Tuesday morning, he had collected $270 in donations.

ICE, too, weighed in, issuing a pointed statement to local media outlets that noted that nearly half the employees at the detention center are veterans.

"We are doing our jobs, enforcing the laws passed by Congress," said Thomas Feeley, the Buffalo field office director for ICE. "Just like we have for many Presidents. We will not apologize for doing this, not even to a food truck that now chooses to discriminate against us."

Online abuse poured in all weekend from both sides, Cimino said. Local TV and radio stations devoted considerable airtime to the controversy, and, amid the uproar, Lloyd Taco saw three of their upcoming stops canceled.

On Monday, the company changed its tune. Calling the initial apology "hastily made," Cimino said they had "reacted too quickly" to criticism, and pointed out that they offer a 50 percent discount to anyone in uniform.

"We're big fans of the police," Cimino said.

Asked if Lloyd Taco would make lunchtime stops at the detention center in future, though, the beleaguered taco entrepreneur refused to discuss what he deemed a hypothetical question. The status of the company's planned donation to a local migrants-rights group also remains hazy, with both sides claiming that they haven't heard from one another.

"We live in divisive times," Cimino said. "People get emotional and feel strongly about issues like immigration policy and social media only magnifies those emotions. But we make lunch and dinner, not policy."

The company's apology for apologizing appears to have done little to mollify critics, and, on social media, Lloyd Taco was blasted from both sides for refusing to firmly commit to a stance on federal immigration enforcement.

But by Monday night, many locals seemed sick of the controversy altogether, with one Twitter user deeming it "asinine and ridiculous."

“It seems Lloyd is trying to stay as apolitical as possible but even trying to sell some tacos gets everyone all worked up,” one Reddit user wrote. “It’s the same hyper-polarized politics we’re unfortunately used to seeing in this day and age.”