Hispanic businesses and state economy at risk due to Trump’s immigration policies

Kleibéel Marcano and Gery Vereau / Reporte Hispano

Monroe Street in Passaic looks empty. Few people walk along its sidewalks, and few customers can be seen inside the commercial establishments. It’s a Friday afternoon in August, and this street, which months ago was usually crowded with immigrants walking and entering the many Hispanic-owned businesses that line the sidewalks, now appears almost deserted.

Suceli Salazar, owner of El Color de México, a store selling Mexican crafts and a variety of products located on Monroe Street, says her sales have dropped 80% since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration and the implementation of his repressive immigration policy.

“Trump’s immigration policies have severely affected my business. My sales have dropped by 80%. Sales are worse than during the COVID pandemic. It’s the worst time I’ve been through in the 10 years I’ve been in business,” says the Hispanic merchant. “People are afraid to go out, they’ve lost their jobs, and they don’t want to spend the little money they have,” she adds.

This situation has forced Salazar to lay off her two employees and try to change the focus of her sales. “The fear generated by Trump’s raids has greatly affected my business because we sell non-essential products, such as crafts. This has forced me to change and start selling other products like candy, herbs, and dried chilies in order to survive,” says the Hispanic woman. “Now the business is run only by my family and me; I don’t have any employees.”

Like Salazar, hundreds of other Hispanic-owned businesses in New Jersey have seen their sales decline significantly since the start of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies.

At El Especial Supermarket, located on the same street, it’s five o’clock in the afternoon in late August, and there’s no customer traffic, just two people buying avocados and soda.

«Sales have slowed down a bit in the last year. People are buying less because they’re saving money in case, they have to leave the country. That’s the reality. At some point (the Trump Administration) has to realize that some of its policies are hurting businesses,» said Carlos, a supply supervisor as he filled the shelves with noodles.

Gromex, one of the leading distributors of fruits, vegetables, and Latin American products in New Jersey and the tri-state area, whose clients include supermarkets, warehouses, restaurants, bakeries, and other small distributors, reports that its sales have dropped 15% since the start of President Trump’s administration.

Miguel Martínez, a representative of Gromex, based in Passaic, comments that the federal government’s immigration policies are negatively affecting the business, especially all products coming from California, such as vegetables, as they are experiencing harvesting problems because the «labor force is no longer there.»

This situation has also caused prices to rise considerably. For example, he points out that a box of cucumbers used to cost between $19 and $23. Now it has risen to $34.

Martínez indicates that the decline in sales was most pronounced in the first three months of the current administration, but sales have been recovering since then.

«People have no choice but to go out to work and buy food, taking risks because they have to eat, they have to keep living,» the Hispanic man affirms.

Impact on the economy

New Jersey is home to approximately 140,000 Latino-owned businesses, representing about 17% of the total small businesses in the state, according to data from the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (SHCCNJ).

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) generated by the Hispanic community in New Jersey exceeds $194 billion annually, according to the Latino Donor Collaborative. A recent report by UCLA and Cal Lutheran found that this value for Latinos nationwide reached an all-time high of $4.1 trillion in 2023, ranking it as the fifth-largest GDP in the world compared to other economies and surpassing India, the United Kingdom, and France.

According to Luis De La Hoz, Chairman of the Executive Board the SHCCNJ, it is estimated that Hispanic businesses in New Jersey generate more than 250,000 direct and indirect jobs, significantly contributing to reducing unemployment and increasing the inclusion of diverse communities in the labor market.

The undocumented population residing in New Jersey alone, estimated at 475,000 people according to the Pew Research Center, contributed $1.3 billion in taxes to state and local governments in 2022.

The disruption to Hispanic businesses caused by the current administration’s immigration policies will have a negative impact not only in New Jersey but also nationally.

Among the sectors most vulnerable to the Garden State’s repressive immigration policies are restaurants, construction, farming, and the personal services sector in homes and offices, according to the report «The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s at Risk in New Jersey?» by the New Jersey Policy Perspective.

The report indicates that 48% of kitchen staff in New Jersey are immigrants. «The loss of these workers would create a severe staffing shortage, force closures or reduce operations in restaurants, and negatively impact other roles, such as servers and managers,» the document highlights.

In the construction sector, the report indicates that approximately 112,000 immigrants work in this sector, representing 36% of the workforce. “A significant reduction of immigrant workers in construction would exacerbate labor shortage, raise construction costs, and dramatically increase costs at a time when New Jersey is faces a crisis in housing availability and affordability.”

In the farming sector, the document notes that more than half of farmworkers are immigrants, mostly undocumented or seasonal H-2A workers. Even a small reduction of 5 to 10 percent in the immigrant labor force would lead to food shortages, higher food prices for families, and unsustainable labor costs for farmers.

Likewise, the personal services sector in homes and offices, such as janitors, gardeners, manicurists, and cleaning staff, are predominantly filled by immigrant workers. In New Jersey, immigrants represent 46% of cleaning staff and 74% of domestic workers. Mass deportations would cause severe labor shortages in these positions, affecting both homes and commercial establishments. Consequently, the costs of these services would increase, affecting family budgets and businesses across the state, the report highlights.

Fear, anguish, and abuse

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country and in New Jersey have created an atmosphere of anguish and fear in immigrant communities.

As this “culture of fear has developed, we have heard some people reluctant to come to our centers and have heard from some local business owners that business has decreased because people are not on the streets”, said Gloria Guerrero Romero of the New Labor organization.

Fausto Cabrera, former president of the Express Service Drivers Association, which handles between 40,000 and 50,000 passengers a day, mostly Hispanic immigrants, says the decrease in passengers is noticeable given the fear and anguish that has been unleashed in the community.

“The decline in ridership on our service began with the COVID-19 epidemic. From then on, there were times when ridership increased and others when it decreased, but now, since the raids began, the decline is more noticeable, because people are returning to their countries or simply not leaving their homes,” Cabrera said.

According to figures from the Deportation Data Project, between January 20 and June 26, ICE arrested 2,391 immigrants in New Jersey, of whom only 30% had been convicted of a crime.

While raids and arrests occur daily throughout the state, several have attracted media attention for the tactics used and the number of people detained. These included the July raids on a liquor distribution warehouse in Edison, where 20 immigrants were detained, and another in Princeton, where 15 immigrants were arrested. In late August, ICE also raided a distribution warehouse in Edison, where 29 immigrants were detained.

Fear and anxiety have increased further following the Supreme Court’s decision in early September to allow immigration officers to use «racial profiling» during raids and operations in Los Angeles, California. This tactic could spread to other states where Trump has already signaled his intention to increase ICE raids, including New Jersey.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor strongly criticized this court decision, warning that » We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job… The Government, and now the concurrence, has all but declared that all Latinos, U. S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work, and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction.»

This environment of fear has also allowed «unscrupulous employers who have already been taking advantage of workers to continue doing so, threatening them with immigration enforcement to keep them silent,» says the New Labor representative.

Wage theft and labor abuses are some of the problems that have increased within the undocumented community, as reported by national media.

New Labor believes that business owners, for the sake of their finances and the safety of their employees, must take steps to ensure that their workplace is safe for everyone. «Most private establishments have the right to deny entry to ICE agents if there is no warrant signed by a federal judge and they can post signs indicating this… this is in everyone’s interest,» emphasizes the organization that represents immigrant workers.

Miguel Martínez, of Gromex, comments that «we would like President Trump to respect people who work, who contribute to the economy. Workers pay taxes. The government has sufficient funds and technology to investigate who is truly criminal and has committed crimes, and focus on them, but not do what they’re doing: arrest everyone. They shouldn’t be entering businesses, farms, and factories and taking out all the workers who aren’t criminals”.

In his opinion, the government’s immigration measures are a recipe for the country’s economic failure. «This situation negatively affects everyone. There are fewer consumers, less labor. This causes the prices of products and services to rise, which leads to less consumption, which generates job losses, reduced working hours, and further impacts consumption. This is a recipe for the country’s failure.»

This story is part of the NJ 2025 Reporting Fellowship, in collaboration with 15 local and community news organizations, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, and NJ Spotlight News. The stories in this collaboration focus on immigration, education, healthcare, the economy, and the environment from the perspectives of diverse communities in New Jersey.