Santee Alley, a narrow, busy little street located in the heart of Fashion District in Los Angeles, is known by stores and sellers who offer a variety of products at affordable prices.
Customers crowd the region to see what is on sale. The music sharpens the senses, as well as the aromas of food salespeople preparing snacks for visitors. Or, that’s how it used to be.
A visit late last month found a very different Santee Alley. Metal blinds were lowered and closed with a lock, even on a mild day in southern California.
Instead of people woven on the stir, the street was almost empty. Even the mannequins displaying clothes to buy were absent.
Santee Alley is one of the places where the Trump government’s immigration inspection measures are having a visible and costly impact – turning parts of the second largest US city into ghost regions.
“This is something unprecedented,” said Anthony Rodriguez, president and CEO of La Fashion District Business Improvement District. “Personally, I think the impact of this is more significant than the pandemic when we were in the blockage phases.”
Immigration operations restricted access by traders and customers
Fashion District, south of downtown Los Angeles, had some of the first in workplaces by federal agents in early June.
The affiliate of CNNKtla reported that dozens of people were taken from a clothing store.
The highlight of the National Guard is now a lawsuit filed by the Trump government against Los Angeles for the policy of protecting immigrants.
“The feeling of fear is overwhelming,” said Rodriguez. “This is largely an immigrant business community here, for entrepreneurs, consumers and employees.”
The number of visitors fell 45%, Rodriguez said, which means from 10 to 12 thousand buyers less a day and huge revenue losses for what he said was one of Los Angeles’s economic engines.
Christopher Perez said his fashion store – where he and all employees are citizens or legally in the country – saw a 50% drop in sales, even though they are open. “A lot of people are afraid of taking over (as an immigrant),” he said.
Even a whisper of a potential operation by immigration and customs agents in the neighborhood may have an impact, Rodriguez said.
“Even when there is no real activity … Someone thinks he hears something and that’s all is enough to close the whole area,” he added.
From June 1st to 10th, ICE detained 722 people in the Los Angeles area, according to government data obtained and shared by Deportation Data Project, a group of academics and lawyers.
More than half of the cases – 417 – were classified as immigration violations. About 221 people – or about 30% of the 722 arrested – were convicted criminals.
The situation compares with 103 arrests in the same period that took place in 2024, when more than two thirds of the detained people were convicted criminals, show the statistics.
Running Summer Shopping Season
Santee Alley and Fashion District are strongly Latin regions, as are the Olvera Street, a few kilometers away, one of the oldest streets in the city and considered its crib.
The region also commemorates the foundation of the community called “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Ángeles of Porciúncula” by the settlers in 1781.
As the city grew, first as part of Spain, after Mexico and finally from the United States, its name shrunk to Los Angeles.
“Everyone is afraid,” said Vilma Medina, who sells jewelry in a kiosk. “People who know they are citizens are still afraid of being caught, although they are carrying their documents with them.”
This is hurting what should be a good time of year for business, the merchant added.
“We were all waiting for this moment because they are summer holidays, so you get families,” she said. But instead of the expected boom, there are no crowds and there is little trade. Medina said her sales have fallen 80% since early June.
“There were days when I sold $ 10 all day. That’s how things were bad,” she said. “That’s right with most kiosks not even opening, so you would think that would increase my sales.”
Medina said she was enjoying the economies hoping to continue as she did during Covid and then with the forest fires that devastated parts of California earlier this year.
Financial crisis
For a 63 -year -old man, continuing means putting his tacos truck on the streets, even if he has no documents to show ICE agents if they look for him.
Urban, who declined to inform the full name, told the CNN that immigrated from Mexico for 43 years and has lived without documents in Los Angeles since then.
“We have to go out to work because otherwise who will pay the rent? He asked.” Who will pay our taxes? How I am paying taxes. Can you imagine? “
Urban’s history is far from unique, and the contributions of undocumented workers are recognized and applauded by state leaders.
Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis highlighted the conclusions of a recent report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, stating that California’s undocumented document contributes over 23 billion dollars in local, state and federal taxes.
And if all 2.3 million people without documents in California were deported, the report said that the state’s gross domestic product would decrease by $ 278 bilhos.
“This represents 9% of our GDP. This value of GDP is higher than the entire state of Nevada, than the entire state of Oregon. These are not small results,” said Abby Raisz, the group’s research director.
“These workers are really contributing to an entire economic engine that, when a part of it collapses, when we remove these workers who make up 8% of the workforce, have cascade effects that go far beyond only that worker being deported,” Raisz added.
Anthony Rodriguez said Fashion District is trying to get assistance for salespeople with financial problems, but acknowledged that some may not survive the crisis. Even so, he insisted that Santee Alley would resist.
“This is a resilient area. Let’s recover from that,” he said, in front of a scenario of closed showcases. “It will be a challenge, it will be difficult – but surely we will persevere.”
