Video shows Francesca Ortega telling a taco vendor in Southern California she would call ICE; she later confirmed changing her cleaning company's Google listing to critic Ricardo Morales' number. Morales said he received calls and texts meant for the business.
Ortega told FOX 11 she changed the number because people were harassing her and would not stop calling; Morales called the move vindictive. Morales said calls began about 40 minutes after he sent Ortega a critical message, with callers from around the country apparently believing they had reached her. Ortega did not dispute making the comments in the video, said she had not meant to hurt the vendors and said she did not want the Santa Clarita area to “turn into Mexico.” She also said negative reviews and angry messages had ruined her cleaning business.
FOX 11 initially cited Santa Clarita's sidewalk-vending permit rules, but KHTS later placed the stand on The Old Road in Stevenson Ranch, an unincorporated Los Angeles County community. The county requires public-health permits for qualifying sidewalk food operations, and county business and vending requirements may also apply there. Reporting did not establish whether the stand held permits applicable to its location.
