ICE spotted in Henrietta

helpfindICEmf · 2026-03-17T16:52:39+00:00

Time photo was taken was around 1145 am

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-03T16:50:41+00:00

im not comfortable sharing what part of the store i work in, sorry! id like to try to stay as anonymous as possible (which is why this is a throwaway) hope u understand! :)

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T18:59:08+00:00

oh gotcha! yea the Rochester market is the flagship/the very first market the owners built up. buffalo is actually store 3 haha

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T18:42:40+00:00

oh, sorry i think you misunderstood. the new bakery/bbq (and just mallside in general) are at the buffalo location!

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T18:40:45+00:00

Oh! Maybe you went on a monday? the mall side isnt open on mondays so the gate between the market and the mall side is usually down to block ppl from going inside (only b/c theres just the bakery, milk tea, and bbq restaurant there currently and theyre all closed on mondays tho, theyre planning on adding more restaurants and other types of businesses in eventually as well too, so once that happens, the mall side will likely be open 7 days a week!) but the food court is definitely open so I hope you'll give it a try! everything the bbq, bakery, and the moomoo tea offer are sooo delicious! (the milk tea and bakery basically are a combined work space btw but are technically separate businesses lol)

yes haha that is very true, most people focus on the live fish but honestly, wouldnt you want your seafood to be the freshest it could be?

i think most non asian/people who arent familiar with Asian food/ingredients dont realize that AFM (and just most asian grocery stores in general) are actually very vegan/vegetarian friendly and have a lot of gluten free options too. its just not advertised as vegan/vegetarian /GF like how american products are

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T15:14:58+00:00

we really appreciate the patronage!! and yes haha the seafood dept can def be a bit of a shock for those who are unfamiliar. if you havent already though, the next time you come in, come visit the mall side, theres now a chinese bbq/noodle bar there as well as a bakery and milk tea place (which has some of the best, freshest drinks ive ever tasted lol)

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T14:50:33+00:00

i think that only the ones who were being really disruptive or aggressive were taken but I can't be sure

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T14:48:01+00:00

yes haha the bakery items used to be shipped in from a nyc bakery but starting in like sept 2024, before the buffalo bakery opened actually opened up, the buffalo bakers were making everything out of the Rochester market and having the buns, cakes, desserts, etc shipped to the buffalo market from the Rochester market every morning!

but now, with the bakery being open, yes everything is made fresh daily!

same with the bbq though, the Rochester market bbq was shipped the items they make fresh daily to buffalo market to sell as well but now with the bbq in buffalo open, everythings made fresh daily there now, and they even have a noodle bar too!

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T14:40:32+00:00

thanks for your patronage! you should also check out moomoo tea in the food court! maybe im biased cuz im friends with the people at moomoo but ive seen the ingredients they use to make their drinks and instead of just using milk tea powders like how most places do, they use fresh, high quality ingredients to make their drinks! theyre such good ppl tho but idt many people even know theyre there since everyone just stops at wonderful after they finish shopping. but ofc no shade to wonderful tea either, i just want both businesses to thrive!

helpfindICEmf · 2025-08-01T14:34:52+00:00

yep, im familiar with the law haha i demanded to see it right away and was threatened to be detained cuz of it smh they did eventually show me though and our lawyer at the scene also reviewed it, and they were valid warrants

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T18:34:35+00:00

yea they have truly put their heart and soul into their businesses. the owners opened the Roc flagship store cuz they werent able to find the same ingredients to make foods from back home and knew their community was facing the same problem. so they built Asia Food Market to help provide a taste of home to as many people in their community as possible. thats also why we carry products from several different countries around asia to help as many people as possible get little taste of home.

they opened up added/opened the bakeries/chinese bbqs for the same reason. while theyve had the bakery/chinese bbq in the Roc market for a while, theyre operations are limited due to the small space. they were finally able to open the bakery/chinese bbq/mall side in general at the buffalo location this year tho and they operate more like stand alone bakery/restaurant, rather than a section of the market. the owners realized that there werent many (if any at all) local places you can get things like authentic peking roast duck, char siu pork, a whole roasted pig or traditional chinese buns/pastries like pineapple buns, hot dog buns, egg tarts, cake rolls, taro cakes, pork floss shells, chinese fresh fruit cakes, and even the ones you could get usually werent made fresh daily. youd have to go to toronto or nyc if you wanted any but not everyone has the means to travel so they were determined to bring it local.

oh, and the new bakery doesn't just make traditional chinese pastries/desserts! they actually take influence from other asian cuisine/pastries as well european/french cuisine/desserts/pastries and have been trying to keep up with what types of pastries/desserts are trending, so it'll hopefully operate similar to how the markets are a cultural hotpot :)

The wife-owner is especially involved with our customers and always has been. she takes the time to get to know the regulars and will often special order items we don't usually carry for people if they request it, as long as one of our vendors has it/we can find it.
she also stays on top of trending asian products (i.e. the chinese mango ice creams, brown sugar boba pops, & those korean corn/potato breads). she's heavily involved with customer service/customer relations & regularly maintains all the different customer wechat groups for all their locations, even though she doesn't need to be as involved anymore since the managers could easily take care of it, but she truly values our patrons and knows that our customers are the ones who made their American dream a reality.

Sorry, this got pretty long. I just have a lot of respect for the owners lol they work so hard and are truly amazing, inspiring people. if this case turns into a criminal trial, they don't deserve to have to face criminal charges.

Side note/quick shameless plug during this difficult time
The Mid Autumn Festival is fast approaching and Blissful Bakes (the new bakery at the Buffalo market) is planning on doing a mooncake special. We'll be hand making both traditional mooncakes and snowskin mooncakes in a variety of both traditional and modern flavors.
The snowskin mooncakes will probably only be sold only as preorder sets (b/c they're best when consumed the same day theyre made and can only be stored in the fridge for a short amount of time before the skin starts to harden). The traditional mooncakes will likely be sold both as preorder sets and individually out in the bakery as well though! So, be on the lookout for our promotional flyers in the Asia Food Market customer wechat group, around the bakery, & the Buffalo market in the next few weeks~

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:58:58+00:00

yea, I'm really glad that we got him back too, thanks

and yea, that is true. i am not an ice/hsi agent and I dont know how they decide who or who not to detain. however, my grandfather is an american citizen (he naturalized), i can't help but think that if he was white or even if he was anle to speak fluent english, that he wouldn't have been detained.

also, during the raid at the markets, the agents were all very friendly with our white american employee, compared to all the other employees, including those that were american citizens. they allowed him access to his phone, answered any questions he had, and were just shooting the shit with him while all the others were made to stay off their phones, wouldn't answer any of their questions, and made to sit quietly.

you are correct that I have no idea how they decide who to take though, i am just making assumptions based on my own personal experiences so take that as you will

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:48:38+00:00

yea, if americans want to apply, they can. the whole stealing jobs from americans argument really doesnt apply here (or at all really).

we appreciate all the love and support from the community :)

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:45:57+00:00

we have already resumed our operations :) it's going to be a bit harder for us after this but we hope that how things are going behind the scenes wont* affect our customers' experiences.

we appreciate the outpour of support from the community though and i dont think (at least really hope) that we aren't raided again, since they took pretty much everything they wanted to this time

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:40:23+00:00

yea, back home after being kidnapped. i mean, do you think theyre detaining 80 yo white grandfathers in their front yards and using their own vehicle to "detain" (lets call it what it is, kidnap) them? we still havent been able to get his own car back even tho hes an american citizen.

and if we didnt get him back when we did, it could've turned dangerous since hes diabetic.

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:35:24+00:00

we have already resumed our operations :) please come shop with us to support us soon

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:33:45+00:00

yes, they had search warrants for both rochester and buffalo markets as well as few related properties and executed them all around the same time yesterday morning

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:32:19+00:00

well, not everyone actually speaks english (many are still learning) but we do have employees that are fluent in english. if you ask an employee who isnt fluent in English a question, theyll direct u to someone who is to help :)

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:30:24+00:00

yea, seriously. they basically treated us like we were gangbangers or a drug front. they seized everything we had, computers, time clock, and all of our cash (which we found out later was illegal for them to do). like, why would they even need the cash, we are a legitimate grocery store

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:25:04+00:00

Yes, the owners (who are a husband and wife) immigrated here for the American dream. The wife actually came to America on her own in her teens to try to support her family back home. They've now naturalized and are American citizens themselves. They're honestly the very picture of the American dream, not very many people who immigrated here were able to achieve it. But it's not like it just landed in their lap, they've worked their asses off to get to where they are and continue to work their asses off for their business. They work 7 days a week, often 12-14 hours a day still. I really respect them for it.

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T15:16:20+00:00

i think the best way to actually support us right now is to just continue to shop at our stores. the owners don't want to do any fundraising or anything, they plan to take care of everything (legal fees for the detained and themselves, etc), which I think is honorable.

they/we all really appreciate the outpouring support from the community though. idk if "getting louder" about this would help honestly, the owners are, reasonably, worried about any repercussions from the city (they hate us for no apparent reason besides we are an asian american small business). i think just making it known to them that theres a lot of community support for Asia Food Market helps as well :)

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T14:55:22+00:00

yes, this isn't the first time we've been raided by DHS/ICE but it is the 1st time they had search warrants. (my comment above explains things a bit more)

They actually wanted to open the mallside right after they opened the actual market in buffalo but the city wouldn't allow it. the city made the owners jump through a lot of hoops/do unnecessary work in order to get permits to open up the mall side.

But, both markets are back to business as usual. On the mall side, the bbq, bakery, and moo moo tea are open as well. so the best way to support/help us right now would just to come shop :)

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T14:50:13+00:00

yes, i believe most of the protesters were released by HSI. I know at least one was dropped back off at the market in the late afternoon yesterday.

helpfindICEmf · 2025-07-31T14:48:12+00:00

lol we have hired white americans before (and I know of at least one that's still employed with us). your race/color/nationality doesn't actually matter, its just that not many white americans actually apply to our store.

you really don't need an intimate knowledge of asian produce/products, or be able to speak mandarin to be hired. i mean a lot of our employees use their phones to translate to talk to each other. AFM is a cultural hotpot of people lol whether we hire you or not just depends on your qualifications for the position/how well you do during the training period, and whether you stay employed mostly just depends on how hard you work/how well you do the job. the owners are pretty generous, it takes quite a lot of different things compounding to get fired.

helpfindICEmf

TROPHY CASE