ICE Sparks Financial Pressure for Minority-Owned Companies

[ad_1] by Mary Spiller February 16, 2026

Store homeowners report steep losses as federal enforcement actions dampen foot site visitors.

As federal immigration enforcement intensifies underneath President Donald Trump’s renewed deportation push, small enterprise homeowners in Minnesota say the financial fallout is undermining guarantees that stricter insurance policies would profit Black and Hispanic employees.

Throughout the 2024 marketing campaign, Trump argued that immigrants have been taking jobs from minority communities. “They’re going to be attacking — and so they already are — Black inhabitants jobs, the Hispanic inhabitants jobs, and so they’re attacking union jobs too,” he stated at a rally in Studying, Pennsylvania.

However in Minnesota, the place federal brokers have carried out one of many largest current enforcement deployments, many entrepreneurs say the alternative is happening. Storefronts in various neighborhoods report sharp declines in prospects and income, with some warning they could not survive the 12 months.

Native enterprise leaders have launched “A Week to Store Native for Reality & Freedom,” urging residents to spend cash in neighborhood shops forward of Valentine’s Day. Organizers argue the downturn will not be seasonal however tied on to concern surrounding immigration raids.

Brian Atkins, co-owner of Customized Designs in Brooklyn Park, stated his store usually sees slower gross sales after the vacations. “November, as soon as after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas is sluggish,” he informed The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. “However now ICE presents made it even slower.”

Group advocates say many residents are avoiding public areas, involved about potential encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers. Yusra Mohamud informed the outlet the affect alongside Minneapolis’ Lake Avenue hall is staggering. “Proper now, ICE exercise is hitting our hall exhausting. Companies on Lake Avenue are shedding tens of tens of millions of {dollars} a month,” she stated. “That quantity continues to develop.”

Monetary estimates replicate the depth of the downturn. Russ Adams stated projections present between $10 million and $20 million in weekly losses citywide, with roughly $46 million in income disappearing throughout December and January on Lake Avenue alone. “You don’t come again from that in a single quarter,” Adams stated.

Carl Swanson of the Minnesota CDFI Coalition warned that extended disruption might destabilize lending networks. “Even a 20 p.c default charge would imply a $140 million loss to Minnesota’s financial ecosystem,” he stated, noting there's “no federal security web” to offset such injury.

For a lot of homeowners, the disaster can also be about precept. “Procuring native for reality and freedom is about saying clearly and publicly that our native economic system shouldn't be constructed on concern,” stated Lawrence Eddison of Customized Designs. Emilia Gonzalez Avalos added, “The place you spend your cash is a method we present what sort of neighborhood we need to stay in. It’s additionally about solidarity.”

The financial ripple extends past Minnesota. In Columbus, Ohio, immigrant entrepreneurs gathered on the International Mall to explain related struggles. Khalid Turaani of CAIR-Ohio stated brokers have been stationed close to companies. “In a few of these companies, we’re seeing ICE brokers are parked on the entrance actually to disenfranchise these companies who're authorized, who're taxpayers, who're employers,” he informed WCMH–TV. Mohamed Ali emphasised, “We're residents. We're taxpayers.”

On the West Coast, Los Angeles County officers reported roughly $3.7 million in losses between July and September 2025 following federal immigration raids. County supervisors commissioned the examine after enforcement operations intensified, citing issues about hurt to native economies.

From Minneapolis to Columbus and Los Angeles, enterprise homeowners say the consequences of heightened enforcement are measurable not solely in {dollars} misplaced, however in communities strained by concern and uncertainty.

RELATED CONTENT: Goal CEO Alongside With Different Minnesota Executives Name For ICE Brigade To Finish As Workforce Dwindles As A Consequence Of Raids