Ex-Aquatic Park CEO Accused of Seizing HQ in Middle of the Night
Former CEO Eduardo Albor and about 20 armed men purporting to be state police officers arrived at Dolphin's Cancun headquarters at approximately 12:45 a.m. on April 12 and 'forcibly entered' the property, Chief Restructuring Officer Robert Wagstaff said in a sworn statement dated Monday.
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Black America Web
2 hours ago
- Black America Web
ICE Arrests Julio César Chávez Jr. Following Jake Paul Bout
Source: Anadolu / Getty Former WBC middleweight champion and son of Mexican boxing legend Julio César Chávez Sr., Julio César Chávez Jr., was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles following his high-profile boxing match against Jake Paul. The arrest, which took place on Wednesday in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, comes amid a broader investigation into Chávez Jr.'s alleged ties to organized crime and visa violations. According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), officers detained Chávez for overstaying a tourist visa, which he entered the U.S. with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024. The agency states that Chávez submitted multiple fraudulent statements when he applied for permanent residency on April 2, 2024, based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Frida Muñoz. She is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. U.S. officials claimed Chávez to be an associate of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and said that there was an active arrest warrant for him in Mexico over his alleged involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunitions, and explosives. Chávez is currently being processed for expedited removal from the United States. DHS has also labeled him an 'egregious public safety threat'. President Claudia Sheinbaum also reportedly said that Mexico first issued an arrest order for Chávez in 2023 after an investigation that began in 2019 but hadn't acted on it because he had mostly been in the U.S. during that time. She also said she did not know if Chávez had links to the Sinaloa Cartel. 'The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico,' Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing. She also noted that Mexico had not previously executed the arrest warrant due to Chávez's prolonged presence in the United States. While U.S. officials claim Chávez has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, President Sheinbaum stated that she was not aware of any confirmed connection. Chávez's legal counsel strongly denied the allegations. His attorney, Michael Goldstein, described the arrest as excessive and the charges as unsubstantiated. 'The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community,' Goldstein said, adding that more than two dozen agents detained Chávez outside his home. Chávez's family in Mexico said in a statement that they 'fully trust his innocence.' Reuters reports that Frida Muñoz Chávez, Chávez's wife, was previously married to one of the sons of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the former Sinaloa Cartel leader currently serving a life sentence in the United States. The arrest occurred just four days after Chávez's return to the spotlight in a widely publicized fight against Jake Paul. The 39-year-old boxer became the latest fighter to face Paul, who has made a career facing boxers and mixed martial artists well above his age in some of the sport's most-watched cards. Chávez Jr., a native of Sinaloa, Mexico, holds a professional record of 54 wins, 7 losses, and 1 draw. He held the WBC middleweight title from 2011 to 2012 and faced notable opponents including Canelo Álvarez in 2017. As immigration authorities proceed with Chávez's deportation, the former champion now faces serious legal consequences in both the United States and Mexico, threatening not only his career but also the reputation tied to one of boxing's most recognized family names. SEE ALSO: NYC Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander Arrested By ICE Agents Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Sues Over Arrest At ICE Facility SEE ALSO ICE Arrests Julio César Chávez Jr. Following Jake Paul Bout was originally published on
Miami Herald
14 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Applebee's, IHOP CEO sounds the alarm on customer behavior
Delivering value and getting customers to perceive value are two very different things. At various points in its history, Chiptotle has been been seen as a good value by consumers, despite it costing more than most rival fast food. That's because a burrito or bowl from the Mexican chain seems like a lot of food compared to, say, a McDonald's value meal. Related: Pepsi shockingly discontinuous two big name sodas But as we learned recently, Chipotle walked a pretty slippery slope. As the company worked to make sure team members served proper portions, customers accused them of cutting back. That took something that was once a great value in people's minds and made it less so. That could drive customers to Taco Bell or other lower-cost rivals. Few people would argue that Taco Bell is better than Chipotle, but it's definitely cheaper and could be perceived as a better value. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter It's a scenario most restaurant brands are facing: What's the line between perceived value and just being cheap? And Dine Brands CEO John Peyton has struggled with it across his major brands - Applebee's, IHOP, and Fuzzy's Tacos. You could argue that Applebee's, when it comes to perception of quality, trails behind rivals like Chili's, TGI Fridays, Miller's Ale House, and a few others. It's sort of the bottom rung of the casual sit-down restaurant - vaguely, but not exactly, in the sports bar category. The company has somewhat courted that reputation with its $1 drink and all-you can-eat riblets promotions. A $1 drink mixed in a trash can doesn't seem high-end, and nobody fully knows what a riblet is. That doesn't mean there aren't Applebee's loyalists. It occupies a narrow space where it offers a lot off food that's good enough, along with cheap drinks. The problem is that rivals like Chili's have also staked out value as well as the perception of higher value. Two people getting a solid hamburger, decent fries, and a beer for $20 might strike some people as a better deal than a bottom-shelf margarita and the left-over parts of the pork rib. Bankruptcy stories: Iconic auto repair chain franchise files Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular beer brand closes down and files Chapter 7 bankruptcyPopular vodka and gin brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy It's a very fine line, and a remark made by Peyton does not bode well for any company that can't fully lean into value. "Guests remain cautious with their spending, particularly the lower-income guests, and we continue to see check management and trade down to lower priced items," he said. Applebee's - and IHOP, to an extent - offer lower-priced items with higher perceived value. While some chains are not well positioned for a value-based model, IHOP and Applebee's are set up to allow regular customers to trade down. "Across Applebee's and IHOP, the value mix increased versus Q4. At Applebee's, the value mix increased from 28% to 34%. And at IHOP, that mix increased from 16% to 19% due to the rollout, more broadly, of House Faves. Despite this challenging backdrop, sales, traffic, and our development pipeline each improved in March, and that positive momentum continued into April," he said. That's good news for Dine Brands (DIN) , but a warning shot for the broader restaurant business. Consumers want to eat out, but only if they can see and feel the value. Dine Brands also has a secret weapon - dual-branded IHOP and Applebee's locations. These given the chain the ability to present not only perceived value, but a lot of choice. "We're pleased with the performance of our dual-brand concept, and we remain on target for our 14 domestic dual-brand openings this year. Our first domestic dual brand in Seguin, Texas, continues to perform above expectations, doing approximately three times the sales compared to when it was a standalone IHOP," the CEO shared. Related: Popular pizza dining chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again Customers seem to appreciate and understand the concept while also enjoying the broader selection. "Guest feedback is very positive, especially around the fully combined menu of brand favorites. In fact, our franchisee in San Antonio just signed up to open eight more dual brands in the market over the next two years," Peyton added. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
The Hill
18 hours ago
- The Hill
Trump's treatment of immigrants is harmful, immoral, un-American
In May, an 18-year-old named Marcelo Gomez, who has lived in the U.S. on an expired visa since he was 7, was arrested on his way to a volleyball game in Milford, Mass. During his six days in detention, Marcelo was unable to change his clothes. He slept on a concrete floor and shared a toilet with 35 to 40 other men. In June, 48-year-old Narcisco Barranco, an undocumented immigrant with no criminal record who was working as a gardener in Santa Ana, Calif., was pinned to the pavement and repeatedly hit in the head by four masked Customs and Border Patrol agents. After a formal request by the Mexican Consulate General in Los Angeles, Barranco received medical attention for his wounds and a heart condition. One of his three sons — all of whom served in the U.S. Marines — rebutted Trump administration claims that Barranco had attempted to assault officers with his weed trimmer, and said that if he had treated someone in this way when he was in uniform, 'it would have been a war crime.' Around the same time, Sayed Naser was detained by ICE agents following a hearing on his Special Immigrant Visa application and placed in an expedited removal facility in San Diego. A civilian interpreter who had worked with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Naser fled to Brazil after the Taliban had killed his brother and abducted his father during a family wedding. Naser subsequently traveled 6,000 miles to Mexico on foot and was granted parole into the U.S. while seeking asylum. In May, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem terminated Temporary Protected Status for Afghans, putting 11,000 of them at risk of deportation. If Naser, who does not have a criminal record, fails to pass his 'credible threat' interview, which will be conducted over the telephone without his lawyer, he will almost certainly be deported. His wife and children remain in hiding. A few days ago, Kilmar Abrego Garcia stated in a legal filing that he had been beaten and tortured in the notoriously brutal Salvadoran prison which the Department of Justice deported him to by mistake. These cases provide compelling evidence that the Trump administration's detention and deportation polices conflict with the traditions, values and 'do unto others' sense of fairness and decency of a nation of immigrants. Of the 59,000 immigrants now in detention, over 70 percent were arrested in the interior of the U.S., not at or near the border. Forty-seven percent have no criminal convictions; of those who do, the most common crimes are violations of immigration and traffic laws. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has so far apprehended only 6 percent of known immigrant murderers and 11 percent of immigrants convicted of sexual assault. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt — apparently unaware that living in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant is a civil, not a criminal offense (except for those apprehended while crossing the border) — told reporters that everyone arrested by ICE is a criminal 'because they illegally broke our nation's laws.' In fact, the immigrant population, both documented and undocumented, commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born citizens. In Texas, undocumented immigrants are 47 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than those who were born here. Facilities housing detainees are often grotesquely overcrowded. Medication is not always provided, detainees can spend a week between showers, and family members are not always told where their loved ones are. According to Paul Chavez, director at Americans for Immigrant Justice in Florida, 'conditions were never great, but this is horrendous.' Between Jan. 1, 2025 and late June, 10 immigrants died while in ICE custody, two of them by suicide, almost three times the rate while Joe Biden was president. Last week, two detainees were added to the list. One of them, Isidro Perez, was a 75-year-old Cuban immigrant, who came to America 59 years ago and was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in 1984. Law enforcement officials are required to identify themselves when making an arrest 'as soon as it is practical and safe to do so,' indicate their authority to detain the suspect and obey restrictions on searches and seizures. But federal laws don't stipulate the circumstances under which government officials can wear masks. Although President Trump has called for the immediate arrest of masked protesters, Homeland Security officials defend masks as necessary to protect ICE agents from retaliation. Critics point out that masks and plain clothes increase the likelihood that suspects will mistake law enforcement officers for criminals and make it more difficult to hold agents accountable for using excessive force. 'What other definition of secret police is there,' Boston Mayor Michelle Wu asked, 'when people are getting snatched off the streets by masked individuals, not being told where they're going, disappeared until somehow someone finds some information?' Although Americans continue to support secure borders, a recent poll revealed that 57 percent of them do not approve of Trump's handling of immigration and ICE tactics. Perhaps for this reason, Trump has tried to have it both ways on immigration. During his 2024 campaign, he promised to arrest 'the worst first.' Last month, Trump declared, 'all of them [i.e. '21 million Illegal Aliens'] have to go home, as do countless other Illegals and Criminals, who will turn us into a bankrupt Third World Nation.' Yet Trump also said that employers feared that 'our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with their jobs being almost impossible to replace.' Vowing to 'get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA,' Trump indicated he would pause ICE raids on farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurants. But Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS, quickly declared, 'The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE's efforts.' It remains unclear at this writing whether Trump will order a pause. Meanwhile, the number of detainees and deportees keeps growing — as do reports of denials of due process and access to legal representation. Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) and five other congressional Republicans have called on the administration to prioritize enforcement: 'Every minute that we spend pursuing an individual with a clean record is a minute less that we dedicate to apprehending terrorists or cartel operatives.' How low do poll numbers have to sink, and how many more employers will have to pressure the White House, before the president decides his approach to immigration is bad policy and bad politics? Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.
