The annual Cinco de Mayo festival celebration in St. Paul carries more significance this year after months of fear and financial strain for Latino‑owned businesses during the height of Operation Metro Surge.
“Coming together to celebrate our culture and West Side businesses is more meaningful than ever. The West Side community is like no other. We wouldn’t be here still if it weren’t for them,” said Milissa Silva, CEO and co‑owner of El Burrito Mercado.
The festival on the West Side along Cesar Chavez Street, which will be held May 1 to 2, has grown into one of the largest Mexican cultural events in the state. Among other things, this year’s festival will include two days of car shows, more than 40 food vendors and 80 vendors with crafts and local services, two stages of live entertainment, a kids zone and a parade.
“For a lot of people, this is the first time they’re really thinking about coming back out. This is like the kickoff of spring and summer for Minnesota. Everyone’s been stuck inside,” said Bob Cruz, executive director of the West Side Boosters Club, which collaborates with the West Side Fiesta Committee to host the festival. The nonprofit sponsors sports leagues for boys and girls.
“There’s less ICE around, but ICE is still here. People are scared to come out,” Cruz said. He said he still delivers groceries on the West Side to immigrants afraid to leave their homes, but to a smaller number of families. He also organizes a group of volunteers to stand outside grocery stores and businesses in the neighborhood.
Since the West Side Boosters took over the festival after the pandemic, attendance has increased from about 3,000 people in the first year to roughly 30,000 last year — close to pre‑pandemic turnout, Cruz said.
“There was a point when we thought about canceling this year,” he said. “But the community told us, ‘This is the time to do it.’”
Assessing the economic impact on communities
The financial impact of Operation Metro Surge stretched far beyond individual storefronts. In St. Paul, city officials estimate the operation caused about $129 million in small business losses and $118 million in lost income for immigrant residents during January and February alone. Surveys showed affected businesses experienced a 50% drop in customer traffic and 40% declines in sales, according to a report from the St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development.
In Minneapolis, a preliminary city assessment found Operation Metro Surge caused at least $203 million in economic impact in just one month, driven largely by lost wages and sharp declines in revenue from restaurants and other consumer‑facing small businesses. City officials estimated revenue losses in January alone reached up to $81 million for restaurants and small businesses, according to the Minneapolis Preliminary Impact Assessment & Relief Needs Overview report.
Those figures mirror what business owners saw on the ground, particularly along Latino business corridors such as Lake Street and the St. Paul’s West Side, where many customers and workers are immigrants.
“December is typically when businesses see their highest sales for the year and it helps them get through the first quarter of the following year. Because of Operation Metro Surge this year, we probably saw more than 50% of our immigrant-owned businesses were closed,” said ZoeAna Martinez, senior community engagement manager for the Lake Street Council.
Fear spread quickly after enforcement activity concentrated in the area. Business owners had proper documentation, but the risk was so high that many decided to not open, Martinez said.
By mid‑March, Martinez said there were modest signs of recovery. The decrease in Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence and warmer weather brought small increases in foot traffic and neighbors intentionally returning to shop, but the effects of the surge remain visible.
“Businesses know that they need to be open, but I think that fear is still really present. I hear from business owners about the trauma that this has caused them — they’re constantly looking over their shoulders,” she said.
To help businesses, the Lake Street Council has directed emergency support through its Lake Street Recovery Fund, which provides grants and other assistance to immigrant‑owned businesses struggling with lost revenue, Martinez said.
During the height of the surge, the organization fielded a large volume of calls from business owners seeking help. It still is distributing funds to cover operational gaps while encouraging donations from the public.
The support has helped some businesses weather losses, but sustained recovery will depend on continued investment and customers returning, she said.
“It’s going to take all of us to spend our dollars locally at our ethnic grocers, local bodegas, corner stores, restaurants and local retail,” Martinez said. “It’s all of those you know?”
The council has been holding “cash mobs” where they pick a local business and spread the word to drive a focused burst of customers there during a specific time.
Business owners navigating long‑term uncertainty
For business owners across Latino corridors, Operation Metro Surge forced rapid adjustments and raised difficult questions about how or when normal operations could return.
At El Burrito Mercado, a West Side institution, Silva said the impact was almost immediate.
“We were down several hundred thousand dollars,” she said. “And as the year progressed, things got worse.”
As enforcement activity intensified in late fall and early winter, the business reduced hours, cut inventory and closed one of its entrances to protect workers and customers. Staffing fell from 95 employees to 70 as some staff became too frightened to come to work, Silva said.
To stay open, El Burrito Mercado relied on volunteers to serve as door observers and provide rides for employees. They also implemented a grocery delivery program and began to collaborate with Neighborhood House to sell gift cards that people could donate to the Neighborhood House food shelf, support that helped sustain the business through its slowest weeks. Neighborhood House helps to provide basic needs including food and housing, education, and family support services.
“January was probably one of the best sales months because people were buying so many gift cards and shopping for other families, but we were not seeing any of our regular customers. These were a lot of new customers and non-Latino customers. We’re just so immensely grateful. I don’t know where we would be now if people had not stepped up to purchase gift cards from our business to donate,” she said.
Silva said she’s seeing some regular customers again, but the shopping patterns are smaller. Donations to purchase gift cards have also decreased substantially.
On Lake Street, Luis Martinez, owner of Marsu Pizzeria and Taqueria, faced a similar drop in customer traffic. In December and early January, he said, business dropped by as much as 85%.
“When this started, customers just stopped coming,” he said. “For two months, I was doing everything myself. I was here all the time.”
To remain open and protect his workers, Martinez adjusted his hours day by day, often locking the doors and handling all deliveries himself. He also drove employees to and from work to reduce risk. A few staff members eventually moved out of Minnesota altogether in search of safety, leaving him with a current staff of four.
“Little by little, people are coming back. It’s not like before, but it’s better,” he said.
“This is Minnesota and people help each other. All of this happened after COVID and then George Floyd — and Minnesotans all work together. I’ve never seen a state work together like Minnesota, and especially in south Minneapolis,” he said.
Looking ahead to spring and summer
Cruz said Cinco de Mayo festival preparations are coming along for the car shows, live entertainment, food and craft vendors, and a parade with floats, dancers and community groups along Cesar Chavez Street.
“My hope is that people come out, support the businesses, support the community,” he said. “Come get a taste of the West Side.”
Silva said El Burrito Mercado continues to navigate and manage sales that have dipped considerably.
“Our regular customers have not come back completely so our focus is trying to bring in new customers. As a family, we are looking at ways we can modify our business model and operations for long-term sustainability,” she said.
