The last few months have been difficult for Boi Na Brasa, a Brazilian restaurant in the heart of the Ironbound district, in Newark, a region with a strong Latino presence and where the Brazilian team is training for the World Cup.
Sales have fallen since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began conducting high-profile raids in the area last year.
Manager Kalani Mubarak, whose family owns the establishment, remembers seeing ICE agents arrest one of his regular customers as he arrived to eat.
Mubarak has not seen the man since. “We went through a long period with a lot of red numbers in sales,” he said.
After a round of layoffs and shift reductions, Mubarak is banking on the World Cup to bring in the influx of customers the restaurant desperately needs.
The establishment will host a party with tickets to watch Brazil’s debut game against Morocco this Saturday (13), with live music and an outdoor bar.
But fears persist that ICE could return — or that fear alone could reduce public presence. “It’s been a concern, but I try to tell people, ‘You’re safe here as long as you don’t do anything wrong,'” Mubarak said.
Brazil, five-time world champion, is among the favorites to win the World Cup, and its fervent fans historically turn out in droves.
Parts of Ferry Street — Ironbound’s main thoroughfare — will be closed during the games, as well as for the city’s annual Portugal Day celebration, a three-day event that coincides with Brazil’s first match.
‘The fear is still here’
But while bars along the entire street expand capacity and reinforce security, some business owners are silent about the fear that the public will not live up to expectations.
Memories of recent ICE raids — which scared people into staying at home and left businesses like Mubarak’s empty for days — remain fresh in the minds of many residents.
“The World Cup is revealing that the fear is still here, because I’m listening to my friends talk about it, wondering if they should leave the house,” said Michel De Souza, 39, a Brazilian fan who lives in the US on a temporary visa.
Cozy Sports Bar and Grill on Ferry Street saw its sales drop about 75% last year, said manager Andrea Muniz.
Down the street at Sol-Mar, a Portuguese seafood restaurant, bartender Maria Perez recalled several layoffs and cutbacks in the past year.
This weekend’s crowd is difficult to predict, Perez said, because many local residents rely on social media users sending out alerts when ICE is spotted nearby. Typically, she says, movement slows down for a few days after this type of alert.
ICE’s operations last year were a “collective trauma,” said Hazel Applewhite, executive director of the community advocacy group Ironbound Community Corporation.
“They fundamentally changed how the community functions,” Applewhite said. At large gatherings, such as World Cup viewing parties, “people now scan their surroundings for unfamiliar faces, park further away and plan escape routes.”
The World Cup comes at a time of renewed tensions over immigration in Newark, where some detainees at the nearby Delaney Hall Detention Center have gone on hunger strikes over reports of poor medical treatment and conditions.
Protesters against ICE have been gathering near the facility in recent weeks, sometimes clashing with security forces.
For establishments that invested heavily in parties to watch the World Cup, the risks are high.
During the 2022 World Cup match days, Mubarak said Boi Na Brasa made about five times more than its typical daily sales. This year, he stockpiled enough beer to consume 800 to 1,000 cases during Saturday’s game, four times the amount on a typical day.
In addition to the specter of ICE, security is a concern for the event, business owners said.
On Friday, officers were stationed outside most establishments planning game viewing parties, although the Newark Police Department did not respond to requests for details about its security plans.
Mubarak hired his own security company, planning to have ten security guards stationed at various entrances to the restaurant.
