In the midst of a surge of public outrage over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this winter – Adriana Dominguez, “cocinera” and co-owner of Los Altos cafe Tal Palo – succinctly summarized her own feelings on the business’s window with an expletive.
At the time, violent protests were erupting in Minneapolis. One day before the original message was posted on Jan. 8 – “C***** tu MAGA” written above “F*** ICE” in a narrow window by the front door in white paint – an American citizen, Renee Good, was shot and killed by federal agents.
On Jan. 22, a member of the community erased the message on the window. Two days after that, American citizen Alex Pretti was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
“I feel like they’re trying to make us feel like I don’t belong here,” Dominguez said. “It’s very personal to us.”
The messages seemed like minor declarations in a hurricane of anti-ICE sentiment in the Bay Area around the start of the Super Bowl. But then came the hate mail.
A letter dated 2/5/26 from “R. Davidson” was received in the mail at the business on Feb. 7.
The letter read: “You were closed on Saturday when a large group of us strolled Main Street. We noticed your ‘F*** Ice’ message. Not a good business model.
Hopefully, pictures of it go viral on social media and YELP. Perhaps you could post the two inserts next to your ignorant message for a balanced perspective.”
The letter includes a list of names, their ages and the purported ways the victims were killed. There is a picture of a social media post which claims that each of the people were killed by people who were in the country illegally. Another follow-up page shows a collage of photos and another social media post related to murders by “illegal aliens.”
Today, the windows have borne the same messages for over a month. In the narrow window by the door – “Abolish ICE” – and in the foremost street-facing window “Ch**** tu MAGA” and “when cruelty becomes normal, compassion looks radical.”
“Obviously, we hit a nerve with a certain number of people from the community,” said co-owner and husband Aaron Porter. “I think it’s a free speech issue. We are within our rights and should be able to express those.”
Since posting the message, Tal Palo has seen a surge of vocal support from some members of the community, though others have condemned the messaging and business has taken a hit.
Dominguez is open about her Mexican heritage and sees the window writing as an affirmation of her values. The actual name of the business comes from the Mexican expression “De tal palo, tal astilla” – the literal translation of the idiom “from such a stick, such a splinter,” comparable to “like father, like son” or “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
In that way, she sees the messages as also a teachable moment for the youth, she said. Her children, 12-year-old twins and a 7-year-old, all have dual citizenship with Mexico.
“This is my house. Here, it feels like an extension of my home,” Dominguez said. “It doesn’t feel good to see this happening here.”
A code enforcement officer from the city visited the business in February, following up on a single complaint which included a photograph of the window and a screenshot of a translation of the anti-MAGA message in Spanish.
A code enforcement official said the wording was protected by the First Amendment and the signing was allowed within the municipal code, according to a note from an official provided by Los Altos City Manager Gabriel Engeland in an email.
“The city is aware of the messaging posted on the windows of a local business. The messages are protected speech and the city does not have the ability to regulate or limit it,” Engeland said.
The business hosted a bake sale over the weekend – a testament to community building rather than destruction, she added. And just days before that, Kristi Noem – former United States Secretary of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and the Border Patrol – was fired.
And for now – the window writing will stay up.
“I plan to be a little louder and prouder every day,” Dominguez said.
For more on Tal Palo, visit talpalo.com.
