Bakery That Supplies Stadium Vendors To Shut Down After ICE Audit
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A well-known bakery that supplies key vendors at U.S Bank Stadium is shutting down just 16 days before the Super Bowl.
Saint Agnes Bakery supplies Revival and AZ Canteen along with other restaurants around town. Sources tell WCCO what triggered the shutdown was an audit by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
While the bakery was open Thursday, clients were told it will close down this weekend. Sources say that when the bakery received notice that ICE would be auditing the business as well as its employees, more than 10 skilled bakers immediately quit.
The popular Loon Cafe in downtown Minneapolis is one of many local restaurants that get bread from Saint Agnes.
Loon cooks Thursday were still dishing up specialties featuring the bakery's breads. Loon Owner Tim Mahoney says he was told by managers at Saint Agnes that the long time bakers quit because they were scared they could be deported.
"You have workers who have worked 10, 15 years -- they're established in the community and as an employer, we rely on these people," he said. "These are our people that make us go."
Mahoney expressed anger over the ICE audit.
"Who is calling these shots?" he said. "I thought we were a sanctuary city."
Both U.S Bank Stadium and Andrew Zimmern said they were making contingency plans.
In a statement Zimmern said, "I am not concerned about us finding a suitable replacement for the product they supply for us at U.S. Bank Stadium."
Managers at Saint Agnes Bakery declined to comment.
An ICE representative said in a statement that ICE did not shut down the bakery and did not make any arrests there, but declined to comment further.
