Woman who threatened to call ICE on taco vendors now getting scathing business reviews online
Woman threatens to call ICE on taco vendors
A Santa Clarita woman was recorded calling a taco vendor a "stinky old woman" in Spanish and threatening to call ICE. Francesca Ortega says the nationwide backlash that followed has ruined the business she spent 10 years building.
A Santa Clarita woman seen on video insulting taco vendors and threatening to call immigration authorities says the backlash has destroyed her livelihood. Meanwhile, a man who criticized her says she redirected that anger to his phone.
What we know:
The confrontation happened earlier this week at a taco stand in Santa Clarita.
In the video, Francesca Ortega can be heard telling a vendor in Spanish, "Vieja jedionda, les voy a llamar a ICE," which translates to "Stinky old woman, I'm going to call ICE." She also used several other insults, including calling them criminals.
In the video, Ortega complains that the taco stand hurts other businesses and calls it cheap and not classy for the area.
The video spread quickly online, and Ortega began receiving angry messages from people across the country.
Ricardo Morales says he was one of them. He sent Ortega a critical message. Morales says about 40 minutes later, he started getting angry calls and texts. Ortega confirmed to FOX 11 that she had changed the phone number on her Google business listing to Morales' number.
What they're saying:
In a phone interview with FOX 11, Ortega said she doesn't want Santa Clarita to turn into Mexico.
"The Valley didn't used to look like this 20, 30 years ago," Ortega said. "Look at how LA looks, look at Santa Monica, it's been getting worse and worse because nobody does anything," Ortega said. Ortega later posted her own video saying the backlash is hurting her and her house cleaning business, called Excellence Cleaning Pros.
"Now all of my livelihood is ruined, the business that I worked so hard to build for 10 years," she said in the video. "We had excellent, perfect reviews, and it got flooded, flooded by these insane, horrible Latino people."
When FOX 11 asked why she put Morales' number on her business listing, Ortega said, "Because they were harassing me. They wouldn't stop calling."
Morales says the calls haven't stopped.
"I'm getting calls from all the United States," Morales said. "It's crazy that somebody can be that vindictive and not want to own up to their actions," Morales said. He added, "There's no reason to be harassing people on the street."
Ortega says she never meant to threaten anyone. She says she got upset after a vendor took a picture of her license plate.
"I need as much help as possible to recover from this because I didn't mean to hurt them or anything," Ortega said. "It was just a confrontation. People say ugly things when they're upset."
What we don't know:
The City of Santa Clarita requires permits for sidewalk vendors. It's unclear whether the taco stand has one.