A long-time employee of Hojas Tea House was detained Tuesday morning while taking out the trash at its Wilmington location, according to a post the concept shared on its Instagram account. According to the post, Eloy was part of Hojas Tea House for 12 years.
Guadalupe Oruza knows Eloy well. They met when she began working at Hojas back in 2014. She recalls him often working double shifts, and in between his shifts, rushing out to a nearby high school to check on his kids. They began as co-workers and have been friends for several years now.
“ He's one of the men that you wanna have in your family,” says Oruza. “ That's why it's, it's been very difficult for everybody in the community because we know him the way he is.”
“ He was a cook, he was in the back. He was always, the way he works, and the way he prepares everything, he was, with dedication,” she adds. “ Hojas really lost one of the best employees.”
Eloy’s hospitality, kindness, and dedication was clear in the comment section of the Hojas Tea House post, where customers expressed their heartbreak over his detention and fond memories of him at the shop.
“Omg, I'm so sorry. He literally came to my car to give me hot sauce packets after being told there wasn’t any but I guess they had found some. His attentiveness and taking that initiative stuck with me,” wrote one Instagram user.
“I just know what a great worker and person he is and the interactions I had with him were always very beautiful and respectful, and if he was making my food, I knew it was going to come out perfect,” Rocio Soltero told L.A. TACO, who said she didn’t know him personally but has been a loyal Hojas Tea House customer for 12 years.
It is clear that Eloy is a valued and integral part of the Wilmington community. His detention by federal immigration agents leaves a community devastated.
“ I was just there [Monday] morning,” says Sonia Madrigal, a loyal Hojas Tea House customer since they opened. "As I was looking at my order, I saw [Eloy] in the back and I just waved. He [had] this music on and [was] so happy back there."
Madrigal says she can’t remember a time when Eloy wasn’t at Hojas–she fondly remembers hearing cumbias softly playing in the back where he was usually cooking.
“ My husband and I were just talking about it, ‘Is the chef special gonna be the same? Is the tea gonna be the same?’” says Madrigal.
L.A. TACO reached out to Hojas Tea House for comment and will update if we receive a response.
Hojas Tea House started a GoFundMe to help Eloy and his family with legal fees and family needs.
“We're in very uncertain times, and we're very vulnerable to the new laws,” says Oruza. “Like, if I'm walking on shells, like eggshells. I don't even know now how to feel, because look at this is taken from us, somebody that is so valuable.”
