Fear of immigration crackdown slows sales on Lake Street

Axios

19-02-2025

Some shop owners told reporters Tuesday that sales have dropped off sharply at many Lake Street businesses that serve Minneapolis' Latino communities.
Why it matters: They believe the Trump administration's campaign against illegal immigration is sowing fear among Minnesota's immigrants — and hitting the businesses that both employ and cater to them.
What they're saying: "People are afraid to come out, thinking that immigration [agents] might catch them," Colonial Market owner Daniel Hernandez said Tuesday.
Zoom in: Hernandez said sales at his grocery store have dipped by "at least" 50% over the last month — or about $100,000.
The cash flow hit means he'll "need help" to move ahead with plans to open a grocery store in North Minneapolis, whose residents have begged for a full-service grocer since Aldi's closure in 2023. ("Don't worry about it," he promised. "I'm coming.")
Zoom out: Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters Hernandez's losses are typical, saying he's heard from many immigrant-oriented businesses that have seen declines in sales of at least 40%.
Threat level: Even immigrants with proper documents may be staying home to avoid the possibility of a run-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"We're talking about any Latino — they're just afraid [ICE agents] might confuse them," Hernandez said.
With ICE agents under pressure to hit quotas for arrests, per the Marshall Project, many shoppers fear being "collateral," according to John Pacheco of the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota.
Plus: Non-retail businesses are also suffering in their own ways, partially because employees fear showing up to work, Pacheco told Axios.
Between the lines: Federal immigration agents have stepped up raids, but the perception of a crackdown is also key to the administration's goal of discouraging undocumented people from wanting to be in the U.S., Axios has reported.
By the numbers: ICE made about 8,500 arrests during Trump's first two weeks in office, but the administration hasn't released updated detention figures since Feb. 4.
By comparison, ICE made 7,500 arrests in November 2024, when former President Biden was in office.
Data on ICE activity in the Twin Cities was not immediately available, and Frey's office is unaware of any uptick in enforcement, a spokesperson told Axios.