{"id":213074,"date":"2025-09-09T14:55:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213074\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T14:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:55:14","slug":"as-immigrant-owned-businesses-suffer-due-to-ice-fears-advocates-urge-chicagoans-to-shop-locally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213074\/","title":{"rendered":"As Immigrant-Owned Businesses Suffer Due To ICE Fears, Advocates Urge Chicagoans To ‘Shop Locally’"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAGE PARK \u2013 Local officials and immigrant rights advocates are calling on neighbors to shop local and support immigrant-owned businesses as threats of raids and reports of ICE arrests<\/a> have brought foot traffic down in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

At least three people were arrested on the Southwest Side Sunday<\/a>, shocking neighbors in the area and leaving many afraid of leaving their homes, taking their kids to school or worried about family members, officials and organizers said Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cShop locally. Shop at the little tienditas [grocers], go to the local coffee shops.. Many of the businesses here on the Southwest Side are owned by immigrants,\u201d State Rep. Aaron Ortiz told Block Club Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced \u201cOperation Midway Blitz,\u201d<\/a> a plan to arrest undocumented people both in Chicago and the state of Illinois.<\/p>\n

Homeland Security shared few details about the scope of the immigration enforcement operation aimed at the Chicago area. It did list about a dozen people it said were the \u201cworst of the worst criminal illegal aliens\u201d who had gone free due to \u201csanctuary\u201d policies from government agencies including the Cook County Jail.<\/p>\n

Organizers and officials called on citizens and those who feel safe to visit neighborhoods with a strong immigrant presence, support local and immigrant-owned businesses and help neighbors who are afraid of leaving their homes. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a U.S. citizen, please visit our neighborhoods, please go to our restaurants, please do your grocery shopping at our grocery stores, we got really good produce, really good food. It is really important that we support our businesses,\u201d said Ere Rend\u00f3n, vice president of immigrant justice for The Resurrection Project, at a news conference Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know a neighbor that may be vulnerable at this moment and you\u2019re able to provide a ride or able to go to do that grocery shopping for them, please do. Be that support system, because only we can take care of each other,\u201d said Any Huamani, a member of the Southwest Side rapid response network and organizer for the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.<\/p>\n

Along Little Village\u2019s commercial corridor on West 26th Street, businesses were open and some shoppers were seen visiting local grocery stores, restaurants and shops or walking past street vendors Monday evening.<\/p>\n

However, foot traffic was \u201csignificantly\u201d down and sales have been down since Friday, when many expected immigration agents to be fully assembled in Chicago<\/a>, said Michelle Macias, daughter of Carnicer\u00eda and Taquer\u00eda Aguascalientes\u2019 owner. The Mexican grocery store has been open in Little Village for 49 years and the restaurant opened in 1980.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s really afraid to come out to buy groceries, take their kids to school and just do everyday tasks,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

A vendor who sells Mexican and other Latin American flags out of his truck on West 26th Street every September said that sales have been slower than in past years, but he continues to see people out on the business corridor. He declined to share his name. <\/p>\n

Mexican flags, including flags for car hoods and side mirrors, are among the best-selling, he said. <\/p>\n

While ICE continues to make arrests in Chicago and ICE sightings continue to circulate on social media, Macias expects business will be down, she said, standing in the taquer\u00eda\u2019s dining hall, where only three tables were full at dinner time. <\/p>\n

Pick-up or delivery orders, however, have not plummeted, she said. Those who order a minimum of $50 from the restaurant, get free delivery on groceries or other items sold at the grocery store. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the best way we can help for those who are afraid to come out,\u201d Macias said. <\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAGE PARK \u2013 Local officials and immigrant rights advocates are calling on neighbors to shop local and support…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":213075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1322,5386,1818,409,17834],"class_list":{"0":"post-213074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-immigration","13":"tag-migrants"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115174921081365055","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}