California National Guard troops and Homeland Security Police assemble in June 2025 at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles and protests against ICE and immigration raids continued. A new study released Wednesday says businesses suffered "an immediate economic shock" from the raid. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
July 22 (UPI) -- Latino-owned businesses in areas targeted by federal immigration raids last year in Los Angeles County suffered an "immediate economic shock" as well as lasting effects, a report released Wednesday says.
The surge in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June 2025 created a "chilling effect" that drove customers from businesses anchoring the county's commercial corridors serving Latino and immigrant communities, the study says.
The authors of the report used focus groups and entrepreneur surveys, as well as data on foot traffic. They said businesses closest to the raid sites were hit hardest. In two weeks, businesses in the nine sites studied had 46,000 fewer customer visits and an estimated $3.16 million in accumulated losses.
The authors note that those estimates only include "formal" businesses and not street vendors, home-based businesses and food trucks, common Latino small businesses.
