in Clapbacks & Internet Justice

Taco Truck Tammy ‘Scared’ For Her Safety After Threatening To Call ICE On A Taco Truck

The latest white lady to call the authorities on some people of color just trying to live their lives is complaining that she’s “scared” for her “safety” after being widely roasted on social media. Taco Truck Tammy, actual name Valerie, gave an interview to local ABC channel WFAA in which she called her “comment” about calling ICE on Latinx individuals trying to make a living “unfortunate.”

”You know what, it was unfortunate,” she said. “It’s taught me to watch my words, maybe a little more carefully.”

Maybe? Did it teach you to consider that it might be inappropriate and racist to threaten to call immigration authorities because you assume anyone who works in a taco truck must be undocumented? Not to mention the fact that no one deserves to be deported for trying to sell some tacos, no matter how annoying that might be to you.

According to Tammy/Valerie, she lost her cool because nearby construction had been loud while she was trying to sell her house, and the taco truck was “honking.”

“There’s all the honking going on with the taco truck. There’s the hammering, and the beeping, and the sawing, and everything else. I just walked out and I said, ‘You guys can’t be here. This is a residential area, you guys need to move.’ It was probably that curt.”

That bit of curtness was not the problem, however. The reason people are upset is because she said “Ok babygirl, vamanos” to one of the taco truck vendors, and when the woman replied “I’m not your babygirl,” because that’s a condescending and infantilizing thing to say to someone, Tammy/Valerie threatened to call ICE.

The right thing to do now would be to apologize to the people you threatened, not looking for sympathy because now people are justifiably mad at you on the internet.

Also, people are not sympathetic.

In a glorious bit of irony, Tammy’s home was dropped from real estate listings by her listing agent. Now she’ll be stuck with the construction she blamed for her racist actions even longer!