By María León
Tucson, US (EFE).- Immigration enforcement raids across the United States are forcing Hispanic-owned businesses to shut locations, lose workers, and shoulder mounting legal costs, with restaurant chain Taco Giro in southern Arizona among the latest to be affected after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation earlier this month.
Taco Giro closed seven of its 10 restaurants indefinitely after a Dec. 5 raid in which ICE agents arrested 46 workers and seized hiring-related documents, according to company executives.
The operation has disrupted staffing, deterred customers, and triggered legal expenses, underscoring the broader economic impact of stepped-up enforcement in immigrant-heavy communities.
Restaurant closures after ICE raid
“From one moment to the next, we lost 10% of our employees,” said César Rodríguez, director of operations for the southern Arizona-based chain.
He said agents, some heavily armed, carried out a surprise operation at multiple locations and later visited employees’ homes, increasing the number of detentions.
Rodríguez said rehiring and training replacements takes time and has become harder as fear spreads beyond undocumented workers. “Even employees with US citizenship are afraid, not for themselves, but for undocumented family members,” he told EFE.
ICE said the Taco Giro operation followed a lengthy investigation into the alleged hiring of undocumented workers, cash payments, and potential tax and drug trafficking violations, claims Rodríguez described as “ridiculous.” The chain’s founders, the Ramos Mora brothers, declined to comment.
Customer traffic has also dropped. “Some customers are afraid to come because they fear ICE could return,” said regular patron Mario Ramírez, speaking at a largely empty Taco Giro location.
Lingering effects on small businesses
Similar disruptions have hit other Hispanic-owned businesses in Arizona.
Marco Antonio López, owner of Beefmaster Meat Market in Tucson, said his shop was targeted in March during one of the first ICE operations in southern Arizona under United States President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Although no arrests were made during that raid, López said the impact was immediate. “The next day, no one showed up to work,” he said. “It was very hard; my wife and children had to help keep the business going.”
López said it took months to rehire staff and rebuild his customer base.
Nine months later, he continues to face legal uncertainty, including ongoing federal inquiries and the threat of a substantial fine. “If I have to pay that amount, I don’t think my business will survive,” he said.
He has also incurred attorney fees and paid to train an employee to use E-Verify, the federal employment eligibility verification system.
The pattern extends beyond Arizona. In Los Angeles, 43% of Hispanic business owners surveyed in the areas most affected by raids reported revenue losses of 50% or more, according to a November report by the Los Angeles Economic Equity Accelerator and Fellowship (LEAAF).
The figure rises to 68% among owners who do not speak English fluently.
Local leaders warn of economic damage
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said the operations are harming local economies without improving public safety. “Targeted, disruptive and violent federal raids do not make our community safer, nor do they lower prices for Tucson residents,” Romero told EFE.
The city’s first Latina mayor said enforcing the law should not come at the expense of small businesses. “They scare away long-time employees regardless of immigration status and use federal resources to intimidate people based solely on skin color or accent,” she said.
Romero added that the raids are worsening existing economic pressures on communities already hit by rising rents and food prices. “These actions further increase the economic problems facing our neighborhoods,” she said. EFE
ml/seo
