Businesses owned by Somali Minnesotans continue to struggle months after Operation Metro Surge brought fear and chaos to the state’s immigrant communities.
Shop owners say some customers are returning, but the economic hit has been huge. A legislative effort to provide financial relief failed, but the city of Minneapolis and other entities are moving to help. Still, some businesses have not survived.
At Madina Mall in Minneapolis, business owners recently told Sahan Journal that the number of shoppers has dropped by at least 20%, and that they are struggling to pay rent.
Ismail Ahmed, who owns a halal market in the mall, said foot traffic has declined dramatically since December, when Operation Metro Surge began, and that he may have to close his shop.
Ismail said he and his co-owner once ran the business full-time, but because fewer customers now come to the mall, they take turns driving for Uber to catch up on rent.
“We are two months behind on our rent — that’s why we are considering selling it if we find a buyer or just closing it,” he said.
Unlike other shops in Madina Mall that sell apparel or offer money transfer services, Ismail’s shop, which has existed since 2017, sells food, such as rice, pasta and spices, along with many other household items.
Before Operation Metro Surge, Ismail opened his shop at 9 a.m. Now he opens at 11:30 a.m., but customers still don’t come, he said.
Ismail said he is not the only shop owner who’s looking to sell or close if business doesn’t pick up. He said some mall shops have already closed.
Mohamed Cali, Madina Mall’s owner, said that out of 40 shops, 12 have closed and returned the keys because of the immigration crackdown.
“My business of running this center also took a hit because many businesses have closed, and the ones that are here are not making money and cannot pay their rent,” he said.
Many businesses import their products from overseas, and because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and rising tariffs, many imported goods are either more expensive or take too long to arrive, he said.
Madina Mall businesses are also grappling with safety issues. Since the beginning of this year, there have been multiple break-ins, and profane graffiti has appeared on the mall’s walls, Mohamed said.
Many employees also lost their jobs because the shop owners were not making sales and laid off staff, he said.
Karmel Mall’s ‘businesses blackout’
Dahabo Farah, a jewelry shop owner at Karmel Mall at 2910 Pleasant Ave. S. in Minneapolis, said customers are beginning to return, but her business hasn’t recovered from Operation Metro Surge. She said business has declined by 50% since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began targeting the mall and the immigrant-centric Lake Street corridor in December.
Dahabo attributed the lack of business to people having less money. Many people lost their jobs, and others who might be undocumented or noncitizens see themselves as easy targets for ICE, making them afraid to come out in public, she said.
Dahabo, who sells jewelry, said that with the cost of living surging, many people are either stretching their last dollar or buying only necessities, such as food.
“It’s constant pressure and problems, and we are appealing to the government to take the pressure off our community and businesses,” she said, referring to President Donald Trump’s verbal attacks on the Somali community in December.
Online businesses are a bright spot
Aden Ibrahim and Zeinab Ali, siblings who run a family business, said that while Karmel Mall’s foot traffic has declined sharply, their business hasn’t been affected as much.
Their family owns two electronics shops in the mall, where they have few competitors. Since opening in 2015, they have built a base of online customers across the country, which keeps their businesses afloat.
“During the ICE raids, even though the mall was empty, we were making steady sales with our online orders,” Aden said.
Karmel Mall owner Basim Sabri said customers are starting to return, but many businesses have taken a big hit over the past five months.
“Currently, even though people don’t have money, the atmosphere is starting to feel normal again,” he said.
Foot traffic is slowly returning to the mall’s 650 businesses, but many are struggling. “Some have not paid their rent for months, resulting in a total delinquency of $1.5 million,” Sabri said.
“Some of the businesses received small grants ranging from $500 to $1,000,” he said. “I also helped some businesses that were struggling by giving them more time to pay their rent, while others wanted their rent reduced; it’s case by case.”
Hoping for a turnaround
Saida Hassan, who spent much of the winter in Somalia while also helping her mother with online orders at Mama Safia’s Kitchen on Lake Street, said the number of customers is slowly increasing compared with the period of Operation Metro Surge, but business recovery will take time.
Her mother, Safia Munye, had six employees at her restaurant, but now has downsized to four, including herself. The restaurant is behind on rent and has applied for a grant, Hassan said.
Inflation has also become a major setback for businesses, she said. “I often accompany my mother to Restaurant Depot to buy stock for the restaurant, and everything is double the price now, and my mother has not changed her old prices,” Hassan said.
Munye said from December to March, her restaurant went from operating from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. to being open only from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“My restaurant is on Lake Street, which was ICE’s main hunting ground, causing most of my customers to disappear overnight,” Munye said. “The only customers who came to support me throughout the time ICE was here were a few white folks.”
Currently, she operates the restaurant from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and is gradually working toward a return to her previous routine.
Since the beginning of April, she has seen some customers return. “My only concern is that I’m three months behind on rent. Other than that, we are hopeful that things will be back to normal,” Munye said.
“My landlord has been understanding, and he told me to pay him when the business returns to normal,” she said.
Abdulkhadir Farah, a manager at Abdinasir Fashion Furniture on 4th Avenue S. in Minneapolis, said that business is nowhere near recovered, but in the past month and a half, customers have started to return.
Like Mama Safia’s Kitchen, Abdulkhadir’s business is near Lake Street, in what he said was an “ICE hot spot.” “ICE’s vehicles were parked on our street, and customers did not want to risk being arrested or stopped in the cold,” he said. “Our business completely stopped from late December to March, but we are seeing about 30% of our customers returning.”
Abdulkhadir himself was briefly detained by ICE and released after agents verified his documentation.
Abdinasir Fashion Furniture is three months behind on rent. The store primarily sells imported goods, mainly from Turkey and China, including rugs, sofas, curtains, and other household items.
A legislative effort to help falls flat
During the legislative session, which ended May 17, a bill was floated to pass $100 million in relief to help small businesses impacted by Operation Metro Surge.
At a news conference on May 11, Rep. Jay Xiong, DFL-St. Paul, and Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, and several immigrant business owners talked about the urgent need for such relief.
“I watched small businesses opening their doors, not knowing if their employees would show up, because those employees were terrified to leave their homes,” Xiong said. “Customers stopped coming. Revenue collapsed overnight. These weren’t struggling businesses. They were thriving community-rooted enterprises that got blindsided by federal enforcement officers. The damage is real, and it is deep, and it’s unfolding.”
Yusra Mohamud, of the nonprofit Lake Street Council, said that on Lake Street alone, “at the height of Operation Metro Surge, at least half of all immigrant-owned businesses along Lake Street were closed. We conservatively estimate that over 1,000 businesses were impacted, with a collective monthly revenue drop of over $30 million.”
A Hennepin County survey of 81 businesses on Lake Street found average revenue losses of $57,000 per business. Nearly all — 96% — experienced a negative impact from federal immigration operations this past winter. Sixty-six percent reported revenue losses from 30% to 50% compared to the same period a year ago, and 75% said their employees were directly impacted through missed shifts, reduced hours, and increased layoffs.
Despite testimony and pleas, the bill was cut from a broader measure and not passed.
“While the $100 million relief bill did not pass this session, there are still avenues businesses can pursue,” said Mohamud, of the Lake Street Council. She cited small business loans from lenders serving those that don’t qualify for traditional financing, and technical assistance and other resources from nonprofits like the council.
Minneapolis moves to help
At a June 10 news conference, Minneapolis leaders discussed updated numbers showing the economic impact of Operation Metro Surge.
Mayor Jacob Frey said the federal crackdown, particularly in the Central and Whittier neighborhoods, has cost the city almost $700 million. City businesses lost $445 million in revenue and workers lost $152 million in wages, he said.
In late March, the Minneapolis City Council approved a plan to help small businesses impacted by Operation Metro Surge. The $7 million Small Business Resiliency Fund will provide license fee relief, support for events and activations in commercial areas, and cultural market grants in an effort to recover from an estimated $81 million in restaurant and small business losses.
For some businesses, that relief is arriving as a refund check in the mail. More than 1,100 eligible businesses who already paid their 2026 license fees are receiving checks totaling over $1.75 million in refunds.
The city said it plans to refund license fees for 1,200 businesses through the Small Business Resiliency Fund for $1.7 million. It will also provide $3.8 million in emergency rent assistance, with another $3 million donated by the Twin Cities-based Wilson Foundation.
With the help of such efforts and as more customers begin to return to Somali-owned businesses, there is hope for recovery.
“We are seeing some incremental stabilization, but recovery has been slow and uneven,” Mohamud said. “Customers who left out of fear don’t return overnight. Trust takes time to rebuild, and many community members are still navigating real uncertainty about safety in public spaces.”
