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A bustling shopping district in Chicago known as the “Mexico of the Midwest” has seen foot traffic plummet by 50% — as residents say they fear the immigration raids promised by President Trump.
The sidewalks were empty and some businesses were closed along a two-mile stretch of shops and restaurants on 26th Street in Chicago’s Little Village — the Windy City’s second busiest retail corridor — as Trump was sworn into office Monday.
“It’s going to be disastrous,” Jennifer Aguilar, head of the local chamber of commerce, told Bloomberg.
“If raids happen and people are too afraid to go out, it’s going to be an impact that’s going to last for years.”
Many of the roughly 400 businesses in the predominantly Latino area said that foot traffic was down 50% as immigration raids were expected to start soon, Aguilar told the outlet.
Mike Rodriguez, an alderman for the 22nd ward, which includes Little Village, told Bloomberg that businesses and residents are worried.
“People were staying home,” Mike Rodriguez, an alderman for the 22nd ward, which includes Little Village, also told Bloomberg.
“They were fearful of engaging with ICE, he said, while putting some of it down also to the cold.
A restauranteur originally from Mexico but now an American citizen said some of his employees have stopped showing up to work after he gave them the option.
“This is about how we are going to survive this — and I’m not just talking about my employees, I’m talking about the whole customer base,” he told the outlet.
The typically thriving commercial neighborhood generates more tax revenue to City Hall than any other retail stretch other than Chicago’s iconic Magnificent Mile, lined by luxury shops.
Deportation raids were reportedly scheduled to begin after Trump’s inauguration — but were later put on hold for now after losing the element of surprise, multiple law enforcement sources told The Post
New “Border Czar” Tom Homan, who had promised to target Chicago first in December, told CNN Tuesday the federal agency will initially round up migrants with criminal records — but if other undocumented immigrants are encountered they will also be detained.
Illinois’ Democratic Governor JB Pritzker told reporters Tuesday that ICE is targeting as many as 2,000 people.
“I want to be clear about what my position is and what the law is here: if there are violent criminals who have been convicted of violent crimes, who are undocumented, they are supposed to be deported,” he said.
On his first day back in The White House, Trump signed executive orders ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants in an executive order and sending troops to seize control of the southern border.
The Trump administration also announced it will end asylum and will close the border to illegal immigrants.
US Customs and Border Patrol agents have also ended the Biden administration’s “catch in release” policy. On Trump’s orders, migrants caught crossing the border illegally will no longer be set free in the US while they await their immigration hearings. Instead, they’ll be detained until they can be deported, Homeland Security sources told The Post on Tuesday.
Some migrants who had been waiting weeks to enter the US using the CBP One app broke down crying when the app shut down when Trump was sworn in.
