Immigration crackdown hurting small businesses in San Jose
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — The ongoing immigration crackdown is starting to hurt small businesses in the South Bay. Business owners in East San Jose scheduled an event for the weekend to stand in solidarity for each other and for the immigrant community.
The ongoing immigration crackdown is sparking fear among San Jose residents. That's starting to hurt small businesses, which depend on people from all walks of life.
Carlos Marroquin owns Tropicana Travel and Shipping in East San Jose. He says he has seen firsthand how raids in January have scared off his customers.
Raising Cane's opens first location in San Jose, sixth in Bay Area
'They don't want to shop, they don't even want to buy essentials, they just want to stay home and hide,' Marroquin said. 'Before they get deported, they're sending their stuff ahead of time. And then we have seen some other people sending their loved ones have left behind because ICE took them, and when they took them, they didn't have anything other than the clothes they were wearing at the moment.'
His mother, Juana, runs a convenience store in the front of Tropicana Travel and Shipping. She says their family business has seen a decline upwards of 80 percent in sales over recent months.
Carlos translated for his mother Juana.
'I asked the landlord to help in some way because the rent is so high and there's no customers and she has to pay payroll too which is very high,' Juana said.
Both Carlos and his mother plan to be at Sunday's event at Tropicana shopping center and offer coupons and discounts. They say they hope the free family-friendly event will boost sales and morale.
'The Tropicana is the center of our Hispanic community, and we want to make sure the business here thrive and we make sure that our citizen feel safe,' said San Jose District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan. 'There is misinformation that ICE is out here harassing our residents or arresting a resident. That is not true. There's only one incident.'
Woman killed in San Jose mobile home fire
'There should be more done because people are still in fear, so we're hoping it will bring people to the plaza,' Juana said.
'There's a lot of hardworking people that come here to work and look for a better life and live the American dream,' Carlos said.
City officials estimate that at the current rate, small businesses could lose up to $600 million in revenue annually. Sunday's event will be held at the Tropicana Shopping Center from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
19 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Australia's defense minister downplays concerns over Pentagon review of multi-billion submarine deal
BANGKOK (AP) — Australia's defense minister dismissed concerns Thursday that a deal between the U.S., Australia and Britain to provide his country with nuclear-powered submarines could be in jeopardy, following a report that the Pentagon had ordered a review. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told Sky News Australia that he had known about the review of the deal 'for some time,' saying that it was a 'very natural step for the incoming administration to take.' He noted that the UK's government also reviewed the deal, the centerpiece of a three-way alliance known as AUKUS after it was elected, and that his own government had looked at it as part of its own review of Australia's entire defense posture. 'I think an incoming government having a look at this is something that they have a perfect right to do and we welcome it and we'll work with it,' he said. The deal, worth more than $200 billion, was signed between the three countries in 2021 under then President Joe Biden, designed to provide Australia, one of Washington's staunchest allies in the region, with greater maritime capabilities to counter China's increasingly strong navy . The deal also involves the U.S. selling several of its Virginia-class submarines to Australia to bridge the gap as the new submarines are being jointly built. In January, Australia made the first of six $500 million payments to the U.S. under the AUKUS deal, meant to bolster American submarine manufacturing. Marles met with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of a defense conference in Singapore less than two weeks ago, and told reporters afterward that he had come away with 'a sense of confidence about the way in which AUKUS is proceeding.' 'AUKUS is on track and we are meeting all the timelines that are associated with it,' he said. 'We are very optimistic.' Hegseth's address to the defense forum made multiple mentions of cooperation with Australia but no reference to AUKUS, however, though he did later mention the deal when he was taking questions. Hegseth did urge allies in the Indo-Pacific to increase their defense spending, and underscored the need for a 'strong, resolute and capable network of allies and partners' as the U.S. seeks to counter China. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
Protests against immigration raids continue to spread across the U.S. Here's a look at many of them.
Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids and President Trump's mobilization of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles continue to spread nationwide. While many have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, some protesters have clashed with police, leading to hundreds of arrests and the use of chemical irritants to disperse crowds. Activists say they will hold even larger demonstrations in the coming days with "No Kings" events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Mr. Trump's planned military parade through Washington, D.C. Here's a rundown of many of them: LOS ANGELES A group of demonstrators who'd gathered outside the federal buildings in the city's downtown marched out of the curfew zone just after it went into effect for a second night. A smaller crowd of people nearby was seen being taken into custody about 20 minutes after curfew, with the CBS News Los Angeles helicopter overhead. SEATTLE Police say the demonstration began with a peaceful march but officers intervened when some people set fire to a dumpster at an intersection late Wednesday night. As police waited for the Seattle Fire Department to arrive, some people "from the group confronted them, throwing bottles, rocks, and concrete chunks at them," police said. "A protestor threw a large firework at officers, but no one was injured. Police issued dispersal orders and moved the crowd out of the area making eight arrests for assault and obstruction." Protesters stand in front of a dumpster that was set on fire in front of the Henry M. Jackson Building in Seattle during a June 11, 2025 demonstration against federal immigration raids Ryan Sun / AP SPOKANE, WASH. More than 30 people were arrested in downtown Spokane Wednesday night as anti-ICE protesters clashed with police, CBS Spokane affiliate KREM-TV reports. The station says community members gathered at the Spokane ICE office Wednesday afternoon to protest the detainment of a 21-year-old Venezuelan man seeking asylum. Mayor Lisa Brown imposed a curfew in the city's downtown after the demonstration at the ICE office. Police Chief Kevin Hall said protesters were arrested and officers deployed "pepper balls" on the crowd. LAS VEGAS Hundreds of people gathered outside the Las Vegas Federal Courthouse in the downtown area, CBS Las Vegas affiliate KLAS-TV reported. The protest remained peaceful until around 9 p.m. when police issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly "due to protestors engaging in illegal activity." The crowd dispered 15 minutes later.
Indianapolis Star
21 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
IU's governance crisis reflects dangerous trend undermining democracy
Recent commentary in IndyStar defended Indiana University's leadership and questioned the focus and intensity of faculty criticism. But what's happening at IU isn't just a campus controversy — it's part of a national trend. Across the country, public institutions are quietly dismantling the democratic processes that once guided their decisions. IU has become a flashpoint not because of any one leader or protest, but because it shows how shared governance and expert input are being replaced by top-down control. For over a century, American universities have followed a model known as shared governance. That means faculty, administrators and trustees work together to shape a school's mission and values. It's not just tradition — it's a safeguard. It ensures that decisions about teaching, research and student life are made by the people who do the work. In recent years, IU's shared governance has been steadily eroded through a series of top-down decisions. The April 2024 no-confidence vote in President Pamela Whitten by IU Bloomington faculty — 827 to 29 — wasn't about politics or personalities. It was a response to a pattern: refusing to recognize graduate workers' union efforts; sending state police to arrest peaceful protestors in Dunn Meadow; and canceling a long-planned exhibition by Palestinian-American artist Samia Halaby without consulting curators or faculty committees. These decisions bypassed longstanding university processes like faculty review, shared governance consultation and curatorial oversight — processes that have historically guided how academic and cultural decisions are made. Now, that erosion has been written into law. Indiana's House Enrolled Act 1001, passed in 2024, officially reduced faculty governance to an 'advisory only' role. Some argue that faculty governance was always advisory in practice — but this law removes any doubt. It replaces collaboration with control. Opinion: I was running for IU Board of Trustees — until Mike Braun took it over What is happening at IU is a symptom of a pattern playing out more broadly. We're seeing the slow dismantling of democratic decision-making in public institutions. At the federal level, the National Institutes of Health was recently blocked from posting notices in the Federal Register, which froze the review of over 16,000 new research grant applications — worth about $1.5 billion. Around the same time, the agency abruptly canceled more than 1,400 already awarded grants, halting active research projects without the usual expert review or explanation. Both the review of new applications and the continuation of awarded grants typically rely on deliberative panels of scientists to ensure decisions are fair, transparent and based on merit. In both of these cases, those processes were bypassed. Though some meetings have resumed, the damage is clear: Critical systems can be disrupted with little warning and no input from the people who are supposed to guide them. Other federal agencies have followed suit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have recently bypassed their own expert advisory committees in making major public health decisions. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee was not convened to review or vote on the 2024–2025 influenza vaccine strain selection, breaking with decades of precedent. Around the same time, both ACIP and VRBPAC were sidelined in the rollout of new COVID-19 vaccine guidance and, just this week, the entire 17-member ACIP committee was fired. A top CDC vaccine adviser resigned, citing concerns that the agency was ignoring its own deliberative processes. Whether in universities or federal agencies, the pattern is the same: Leaders are cutting out the people who should have a voice. That might seem faster or easier — but it comes at a profound and ultimately self-defeating cost. When decisions are made without input from those most affected, institutions don't just lose trust — they undermine their own legitimacy and effectiveness. And in a democracy, trust is everything. Opinion: IU deserves a serious president. Pamela Whitten must go. This isn't a partisan issue. No matter your politics, the loss of open, thoughtful decision-making should be alarming. Processes like faculty governance, peer review and public advisory boards aren't meant to slow things down or push a political agenda. They exist because they lead to better decisions. When they're ignored, we don't just lose transparency. We lose trust. Indiana's public universities — and all public institutions — can only succeed when decisions are made with the people who do the work, not imposed on them from above. When we exclude the experts, educators, scientists, and advisors who sustain these institutions, we don't just weaken the process. We weaken the outcomes.
