It was a Monday evening at the Midtown Global Market. Normally, the market, which calls itself the economic and cultural center for Lake Street business, would see a healthy weeknight dinner rush. With more than 1.5 million annual visitors and more than 30 vendors, expects a healthy flow of customers.
This night, it sat nearly silent.
Manny Gonzalez, the owner of Manny’s Tortas, has been a vendor at the market since it opened in 2006, seven years after he launched his first restaurant. Through the ups and downs of more than a quarter-century in business, Gonzalez said he’s seen his local community hold strong.
The past month, though, has been very different. With the influx of federal agents flooding the Twin Cities’ streets, immigrant-owned and operated businesses across the metro are facing dire circumstances.
In December, thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents flooded the Twin Cities metro in a campaign dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” Taking to the streets of Minnesota’s largest immigrant communities, agents have arrested more than 2,400 people over the last month and a half, according to KARE 11. The aggressive campaign has created terror within these communities.
Four of his employees don’t feel comfortable showing up to work anymore, Gonzalez said, leaving him with few staffing options. His sister, who typically handles the behind-the-scenes finances of the restaurant, now has to work the register.
“I talk to them and they say, ‘No, we don’t want to risk it. We want to stay home’,” Gonzalez said. “So basically, I’m just working with two [employees].”
His employees are among the many who don’t feel comfortable going outside, even for work. Several restaurants owned and operated by minorities, including The Donut Connection and Brasa St. Paul, have closed their doors altogether. Some say it is out of respect for staff and customer safety. Fast food locations across the city, such as the McDonald’s on Hiawatha Avenue, have sat closed for several days with no public explanation.
In many places across the Twin Cities, including in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, businesses aren’t covering operating costs, even if they take the risk and stay open. The once-bustling sidewalks of the Somali and East African cultural hub now sit unnervingly calm.
Over the past month, President Donald Trump has targeted the Minnesota Somali community. The increased immigration enforcement in neighborhoods such as Cedar-Riverside have been accompanied by disparaging public comments about the Somali community. The negative attention has pushed many even farther from the area’s local marketplaces and restaurants.
Masha Allah Restaurant, which sits in the heart of the neighborhood, has felt these struggles deeply. Ramlo Botan, who helps to run the restaurant, said not just businesses, but the entire local community has fought growing financial struggles since immigration officers overwhelmed the neighborhood.
“Everyone has to pay their rent, pay their utility bill, their car payments, credit card payments,” Ramlo said. “If people can’t work, how are they going to pay their bills?”
Gonzalez echoed the sentiment. The Latino community has great economic power in South Minneapolis, but with ICE activity driving members to stay home, there is very little support left for local businesses. According to many business owners in Gonzalez’s neighborhood, revenue has fallen more than half over the past several weeks.
“My sister is my partner, so she does the financials, and she said we’re not going to make it,” Gonzalez said
Though Gonzalez said the market is working with vendors as their struggles mount, he believes that his and other businesses may very well fail. Executive Director of Midtown Global Market, Matt Tell, said the current conditions are similar to the financial side of the 2020 pandemic, when social distancing left restaurants without in-person sales. However, unlike the pandemic, there is no federal or state relief aid planned for these businesses, which was essential in keeping many afloat. Still, Tell said he and other members of the Lake Street Council are working to find ways to support these businesses.
“It’s challenging for them financially, but it’s just as challenging for them as people,” Tell said. “They’re concerned about their well-being, they’re concerned about their neighbors, so we have to be there for them in multiple ways.”
Despite grim prospects, Gonzalez and many others still hold hope. In the community, he’s seen nothing but support. A few days prior, a protest down Lake Street brought many community members into the market, which he said created optimism in a time when many are struggling.
Still, even as a citizen, Gonzalez acknowledges that he isn’t safe from the chaos. Frequent racial profiling means he may still be a target for officers.
“I can show them my passport,” Gonzalez said. “But in the meantime, you don’t know. You don’t know what will happen.”
As a mother, Botan said she feels the anxiety of immigration sweeps and rising political tension through her children. Following the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a federal agent last Wednesday, and the protests that ensued, Botan said she struggled to explain the reality of the situation to them.
“My kids ask me a lot of questions like, ‘What is this, who are these men and why do they have guns, where are they going?’” Ramlo said. “Can I tell them that our government that gave us citizenship and is supposed to protect us, have now turned on us?”
These questions have also brought her to reexamine the role of authority in America.
“We’re supposed to be able to trust the police,” Ramlo said “I tell my kids the police are the people who are supposed to protect people and work for us, but at the same time they see them killing people.”
This chaos, driven by immigration enforcement, is something she never expected to see. Even with citizenship, Botan fears for herself and her family as ICE’s grip on the neighborhood draws tighter.
Botan sees much of the aging community of Cedar-Riverside as especially vulnerable, with stress and potential harm weighing on everyone, young or old. With every member of the community struggling, she sees herself and many other businesses running out of options.
“If businesses are closed and ICE remains in Minneapolis, then we’ll end up sleeping on the streets,” Ramlo said. “In this life, even if we’re Somali, we’ve got rights.”
