As if the restaurant industry hasn’t been battered enough over the last couple of years, raids conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in many cities across the country over the last couple of months have added insult to injury.
Per the policies of President Donald Trump, ICE officers have been targeting businesses that historically employ large numbers of immigrants, including many who are presumed to be in the country illegally. Restaurants and hardware stores have been hit especially hard.
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While President Trump has specifically asked ICE to avoid some businesses, it seems to have been too little, too late for many places.
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump wrote on social media.
A popular downtown Los Angeles Mexican restaurant is the latest victim.
A Los Angeles Mexican restaurant known for its inventive margaritas is closing.
Image source: Shutterstock
ICE raids and curfews are keeping employees and customers home
LA Cha Cha Chá — a Mexican restaurant that opened in 2021 and became a post-Covid success story thanks to its inventive margaritas, aquachile verde, and rockfish al pastor tacos — will close.
The restaurant in the downtown arts district and has been a go-to spot for people who wanted “elevated” Mexican food for years.
On June 6, ICE carried out a major raid in the Downtown Fashion District, just blocks from the restaurant. Protests ensued, the National Guard descended, and many restaurants and other businesses in the area shut down out of safety concerns for employees and customers.
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LA Cha Cha Chá remained closed for 10 days. And even though the protests have ended, both tourists and locals have been avoiding the downtown area.
Co‑owner Alejandro Marín said that despite the restaurant’s vocal support for protestors, the protests and enforcement actions just blocks away discouraged customers from returning. “We have been running the numbers and have decided we just can’t continue,” he told Eater.
Marin says the cumulative losses in the aftermath of the unrest proved impossible to overcome. “After June it seemed like everyone was avoiding Downtown, and we don’t see tourists anymore,” he said.
Even midweek incentives like extended happy hours couldn’t bring traffic back to normal; Marin announced the downtown restaurant will close in Septeumber or October.
No firm date has been announced.
The impact of ICE raids on businesses across the country
The economic fallout from ICE raids is being felt across the U.S.
- In New Bedford, Mass., Latino-focused businesses like restaurants and bakeries have seen sales drop by as much as 75%, according to WBUR.
- In Chicago, where an estimated 40% of restaurant workers are immigrants, ICE fears are so widespread that restaurant owners now hold meetings to inform employees of their rights. Some have even hired immigration lawyers to help staff, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
- In Harrisburg, Virginia, a festival celebrating Latino culture was canceled.
- In Austin, Texas, restaurateur Adam Orman reported that two award-winning restaurants nearly collapsed when employees were detained. One employee self-deported due to high bond costs; another remains unable to work while awaiting asylum.
The ICE raids clearly have a ripple effect beyond the people who are being arrested. Customers stay home, employees fear coming to work, and entire neighborhoods lose out on economic activity.
While LA Cha Cha Chá’s downtown location will close soon, owner Alejandro Marin also runs Za Za Zá Loreto and Santa Canela in the Los Angeles area, and he has no plans to shutter them.
Related: Trump Burger owner faces deportation under Trump-era rules