As raids ramp up, Chicago's Latino economy withers

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The quinceanera dress shops in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood are usually bustling enterprises, reflecting the buoyant mood of Latino families eyeing a brighter future. Not anymore.

Businesses across the Midwestern city’s immigrant-heavy districts are in peril, as a crackdown by US President Donald Trump’s administration ripples through communities and sends terrified immigrants indoors and out of view — regardless of their citizenship status.

At the heart of Little Village, nicknamed the Mexico of the Midwest for its vibrant Mexican culture and cuisine, streets were eerily empty Friday night — when the hub is usually thumping with energy.

Restaurants are closing early and laying off staff. Construction sites are dark.

One of the dozen quinceanera shops in Little Village — where families buy lavish gowns for their daughters’ coming-of-age parties — already went out of business, in September.

For Ariella Santoyo, owner of My Quince World, the crackdown’s snowballing effect on a billion-dollar immigrant economy is reminiscent of Covid and how the pandemic devastated the area.

“Definitely we have seen a decline this year” since Trump returned to the White House vowing to escalate deportations, Santoyo, 38, told AFP as she embellished the embroidery on a gown.

Now with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detaining undocumented migrants and even US citizens in an escalating series of raids in the Democratic-run city, she has experienced “about a 40 percent loss” in business.

Mike Muhammad, employed at a Latin-themed supermarket, put a similar estimate on the downturn.

“People are not coming” to buy groceries, he said.

Many men who work construction in Chicago are staying home too, said one contractor getting a haircut in Little Village.

“No one is showing up to work. They’re scared,” said the man, who declined to be identified.

Such income loss is putting tremendous strain on immigrant families, many of whom were already living on the margins.

Many Mexican-American immigrants told AFP today’s conditions felt doubly dispiriting: Trump’s steep tariffs on Mexican imports, which are raising prices on the goods Chicago’s immigrant community purchases, and now raids that are keeping residents off the job.

– Massive immigrant economy –

Immigrants are huge contributors to the US economy, spending $299 billion in 2023 alone, according to non-profit advocacy group American Immigration Council.

Chicago’s population of 2.7 million is 30 percent Hispanic or Latino, 2025 US Census figures show, and city Mayor Brandon Johnson — who has clashed with Trump over the ICE raids — warned of broader financial woes if the immigrant economy suffers.

“President Trump is literally undermining the economic prowess of cities like Chicago,” Johnson said recently.

Some Chicagoans are taking security measures into their own hands, establishing neighborhood patrols that sound out warnings when they see or suspect immigration enforcement operations.

AFP tagged along with Pilsen Defense Access group as they patrolled the district on Chicago’s Lower West Side.

“You do have these agents going through neighborhoods targeting people, and it makes people afraid, right?” said an activist who identified himself as Davis, a US military veteran, as he drove Pilsen’s streets. “To me that’s an act of terrorism.”

No ICE personnel were spotted on the 90-minute patrol past schools, community centers and shopping hubs.

But Davis said the surge in sweeps has residents scared and exasperated, triggering a trickle-down effect that can swamp a community’s economy.

Pilsen was particularly vibrant on Sunday, however, as the Chicago Marathon snaked through the neighborhood where supporters waved Mexican flags and cheered.

– ‘Back 50 years’ –

Santoyo, the dressmaker, said the latest crisis “does bring the community together, helping each other through these tough times.”

She choked up recalling how her immigrant father told her recently: “I feel like we went back 50 years in time.”

But despite the ups and downs “we got through it all, so we will also get through this,” she said.

Rosa, a 66-year-old born in Mexico, said at a local supermercado that today’s climate feels worse than Covid, because “now we can’t even go out to work or buy our things.”

She remains fearful of how the crackdown will impact her community’s economy.

“We all come here to work for a better future,” said Rosa, a US citizen who asked that her last name not be used.

“If it weren’t for us — the Hispanics, the Mexicans — where would this country be?”

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