A conservative Nashville bar owner reportedly had to close down several locations amid fears over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.

Conservative restaurateur Steve Smith had to close the kitchens at three of his Broadway properties last weekend as workers became afraid of being arrested by immigration officials, according to the Nashville Scene. But later reports indicated that the raids were just rumors, as there was no ICE activity in the area.

“At the instruction of managers, restaurant employees without legal citizenship status left the premises at The Diner, Honky Tonk Central and Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse during a primetime rush on Saturday night to avoid detention by ICE agents. Locations, already struggling to provide full service, suffered through at least Sunday due to fears from employees who did not want to risk arrest by returning to work,” the outlet reported.

“We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend,” one worker said. “Then, around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, our manager came back and told anyone without legal status to go home. Events at the Ryman, Ascend, the Savannah Bananas’ baseball game all let out, and it was crazy busy. But there was no one in the kitchen to cook the food.”

The Nashville Scene noted that workers said they didn’t know if Smith, a Trump supporter and donor, was consulted about the closures. Nightly traffic stops by unmarked ICE vehicles and state troopers reportedly “dramatically increased” in the area beginning May 3.

“We’ve been affected massively from this,” one restaurant manager near Broadway told WZTV. “We’ve had to completely shut down our kitchen.”

“It’s just creating this general sense of fear all the time,” the manager said. “There were rumors flying around about ICE being on Lower Broadway. It was credible enough that we had to close the restaurant because back-of-house staff had to leave. Everyone split.”

WZTV noted that reporters had no “direct contact with ICE or sightings of uniformed officers” after visiting multiple bars and restaurants on Sunday. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office told the outlet they have “not heard of any immigration enforcements that occurred in downtwon Nashville Saturday night.”

“More than half of our restaurant staff is not attending right now, so we’re currently closed for business,” one manager told the station.

There was considerable criticism about the alleged raids, which reportedly detained more than 100 people since the start of the month, with one restaurant manger saying, “For a city that runs on the service industry, this is extremely detrimental to us.”

“In my opinion, anyone who comes into this country illegally loses any opportunity or chance to become a citizen of this country,” commented U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) “It’s a criminal act, and when you look at the recent ICE raids, the Trump administration is doing a fantastic job. You have smugglers, traffickers, individuals with illegal guns.”