Small businesses still reeling from Operation Midway Blitz: ‘It almost destroyed us’

Even though Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino and many of his agents left Chicago, some small business owners in predominantly Latino neighborhoods say their clientele has yet to fully return.

Small business owners in some of Chicago’s predominantly Latino neighborhoods say business hasn’t bounced back since Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and his team of agents left Chicago last week.

Even though Bovino’s departure from the area signals a scaled back deportation campaign, business owners say members of their communities still feel scared to leave their homes.

Melissa Quintana, the founder of the Hermosa Belmont Cragin Chamber of Commerce, said months of low foot traffic brought about by the ICE raids have forced at least one restaurant on the Northwest Side to shutter, and others to lay off staff. Just this week, Quintana said, a local grocery store laid off seven of its employees.

“I wish I could say that things are turning around, she said. “Unfortunately, it’s just not how it works. The damage is so severe that we’re just not sure when things are going to turn around.”

Quintana fears that more empty storefronts will pop up in the area in the months to come. The Chamber allocated roughly $50,000 of the money they raised this year to support local businesses in Belmont Cragin and Hermosa.

They’ve also been giving stipends to local families whose loved ones were detained by Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents, made possible through a donation from Hangry’s, a neighborhood restaurant.

On Wednesday, El Mercadito in Belmont Cragin was mostly empty at lunch time, save for a handful of diners. Before ICE, “It was full every day,” said Neri Guzman, who works at the Mexican restaurant. But when federal immigration raids intensified in Chicago this fall, “nobody wanted to come in. Just pick-up and delivery orders.”

Now that many of the federal immigration agents have left Chicago, Guzman said he’s hopeful that customers will start to trickle back in. For starters, he says, there was a good turn out at this week’s $1 Taco Tuesday event.

Just a couple of blocks to the east, Pozoleria El Mexicano co-owner Ricardo Rodriguez, said foot traffic was so low at his restaurant this fall that he began thinking about closing it down. Roughly 90% of his clientele is Latino. But then new diners stepped in to help.

“These last two months, the increase in white customers has been incredible,” he told WBEZ in Spanish. “I’m very grateful to them. Not everyone thinks the same way as the man in power.”

ICE raids “almost destroyed us”

Over in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Jose Luis Lopez is also hopeful that regular customers eventually come back. Together with his wife Clarita, he runs a restaurant near the corner of 26th Street and Central Park Ave. called Los Candiles.

He says they poured their life savings into the restaurant last year to remodel it. “We just wanted to put a stamp on the community that we’re here to stay,” Lopez said.

Their regular customers disappeared “in the snap of a finger” when the immigration raids began this fall and dine-in sales fell by roughly 60%.

“It almost destroyed us,” he said.

This weekend, Lopez says he saw some regular customers at the restaurant that he hadn’t seen for a couple of months. He hopes it’s a sign that more people are feeling comfortable going outdoors, and that business will pick up again soon.

“I’m crossing my fingers, my toes, my nose hairs,” he said. “But we’re still consistently watching the door,” just in case the federal agents return.

Jennifer Aguilar, the executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, said businesses that have been most affected by ICE raids are those that rely on foot traffic from immigrant families. These include the small retailers, restaurants and barber shops lining the 26th street commercial corridor. She said some of those businesses have had to reduce staff hours or temporarily lay off employees due to lower sales.

Aguilar said the La Cámara de Comercio de La Villita has been rallying support for local businesses. They launched a social media campaign highlighting the businesses that were hit the hardest, and they plan to have a free Holiday Trolley running up and down 26th Street on weekends in December to make it easier for shoppers to visit the area this holiday season.

Mercedes Ugalde, co-owner of Tortilleria El Rey in Little Village, is among those who are counting on a bustling holiday season.

“We just pray that everything goes back to normal,” she said.

Anthony Vasquez and Jackie Serrato contributed to this story.