Kim Luu-Ng was recently featured on the LAist AirTalk podcast alongside her husband, Chef Bryant Ng, following the opening of their new Santa Monica restaurant, Jade Rabbit. The interview profiles the couple’s culinary background and the launch of their fast-casual Chinese American concept, while exploring broader concerns related to the impacts of federal immigration enforcement on the restaurant industry, particularly in Los Angeles, where Kim works as an immigration and human rights attorney.
During the interview, Kim describes how heightened enforcement has created fear among immigrant workers and intensified labor shortages across the restaurant industry. “People are afraid to even leave their homes,” she says, explaining that workers fear they may not return to their families if detained. She adds that the shrinking labor pool has made it “extremely difficult to find good cooks” and that current conditions are “unprecedented” for restaurant owners who must navigate both compliance obligations and workforce instability.
Kim continues to offer practical legal guidance for employers in the event that Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears at their workplace. “A warrant is absolutely required for ICE to step foot onto your premises to do a search,” she states. “They must have a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. An administrative warrant is not sufficient.” She advises managers to request and review any warrant, refuse entry without proper legal authority, and contact local law enforcement if constitutional rights are being violated. Kim also encourages restaurant owners to maintain relationships with immigration and employment counsel and to clearly designate private employee-only areas to protect workers’ constitutional rights.
