\n<\/p>\n
At Taste of East African in Minneapolis, the manager and owner are the only employees who come to work now, serving new customers who aren\u2019t familiar with the food but are trying to support a restaurant challenged by a federal immigration enforcement surge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Like the employees, the usual patrons are afraid to come to a restaurant in an area heavily populated by immigrants that has been a frequent target of immigrant enforcement actions. Gig workers aren’t accepting orders for delivery because they, too, are afraid.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if you tell ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) you\u2019re a citizen they won\u2019t listen, so everyone is scared,\u201d said the restaurant’s manager, Hibaq Nimale, who is a U.S. citizen raised in Kenya as a refugee from Somalia.<\/p>\n Businesses across large swaths<\/a> of Minneapolis have taken a hit as President Donald Trump\u2019s administration carries out a massive immigration sweep<\/a> that has spurred protests. As staff and customers stay home and protesters target businesses they see as aiding federal immigration enforcement, countless stores have temporarily closed, canceled events or reduced hours. Some hotels that housed federal immigration officers and saw protests have stopped accepting reservations altogether, while Minneapolis-based Target Corp. also has seen protests.<\/p>\n The state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities cited devastating economic impacts in a lawsuit filed<\/a> this month imploring a federal judge to halt the immigration operations<\/a>. The lawsuit asserted that some businesses have reported sales drops up to 80%.<\/p>\n An October report from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve noted sluggish economic indicators even before over 2,000 federal immigration officers began arriving in Minneapolis and St. Paul. But a January report emphasized that some Minnesota businesses experienced dampened sales and slower foot traffic out of \u201cfear of immigration enforcement.\u201d Nearly 20% of all businesses surveyed reported lower employment head counts citing similar concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m seeing it impact everybody, just because of the lower levels of people traveling and spending discretionary income,\u201d Adam Duininck, the CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District.<\/p>\n Even white collar businesses have been impacted, according to Fred Haberman, the co-founder and CEO of a small marketing firm in Minneapolis. His operations have been impacted because of significant disruptions to \u201csupport systems,” like schools and day care programs, that employees rely on to maintain regular work schedules, he said.<\/p>\n He worries that the city’s economic landscape could be permanently altered if the federal government doesn’t reverse course soon. <\/p>\n \u201cMany of these businesses don\u2019t have huge margins to play around with,\u201d Haberman said. <\/p>\n In a statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin pointed to the protests and what she called \u201cthe fact sanctuary policies won’t allow us to work with state and local law enforcement\u201d when asked about the economic concerns. <\/p>\n Massive hotel chains like Hilton have struggled to navigate the conflict. At least one location canceled reservations for federal immigration officers after frequent protests \u2014 only to reverse course<\/a> after the Department of Homeland Security accused it of impeding law enforcement. <\/p>\n At least three hotels<\/a> in the Twin Cities that protesters said housed immigration officers were not accepting reservations Wednesday. Rooms could not be booked online before early February at the Hilton DoubleTree and IHG InterContinental in downtown St. Paul and at the Hilton Canopy in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n Over the phone, an InterContinental hotel front desk employee said it was closing for the safety of the staff but would not elaborate. Signs in front of the DoubleTree and InterContinental said they were \u201ctemporarily closed for business until further notice.\u201d The Canopy, which has been the site of noisy protests by anti-ICE demonstrators aimed at preventing federal officers from sleeping, was open but not accepting reservations.<\/p>\n Hilton and IHG did not respond to emails seeking comment. <\/p>\n Duininck said hotels are balancing economically prudent decisions with safety. He noted that many that remain open have reported fewer reservations and more cancellations than usual. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat feels safe for me as a business person is different from people that are coming down here to go to the job,\u201d Duininck said, noting that many employees in the hotel industry are non-white and fear profiling from federal agents. On the other hand, many hotel owners are trying to avoid intense economic retaliation from the federal government or protesters. <\/p>\n That impossible choice embodies \u201cexactly what the political moment is for our city and for our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Faith leaders, labor unions and activists are calling for residents of the Twin Cities to not work, shop or go to school on Friday \u201cto demand immediate cessation of ICE actions,\u201d according to the event’s website. <\/p>\n Boycotts and economic protests are a familiar tactic in the area.<\/p>\n Civil rights leaders in Minnesota<\/a> were among some of the first nationally to call for a full boycott of Target Corp. early last year after the retailer announced it would phase out a handful of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives<\/a> following Trump’s push to dismantle DEI policies<\/a> in the federal government and schools. <\/p>\n Last week, roughly 100 clergy protested at the entrance to Target\u2019s downtown Minneapolis headquarters to demand the retailer take a stronger stand against federal law enforcement activity. <\/p>\n Videos have also shown demonstrators at Target locations in St. Paul, carrying signs calling for the abolition of ICE and accusing the massive retailer of allowing federal law enforcement to stage operations on its properties.<\/p>\n Anyone \u2014 including immigration enforcement officers \u2014 can legally enter the public areas of a business. Those can include dining areas, parking lots, office lobbies and store aisles. In those places, immigration officials can question people, seize information and even make arrests, according to John Medeiros, who leads the corporate immigration practice at Minneapolis-based law firm Nilan Johnson Lewis.<\/p>\n But workers and patrons have some legal protections. They can decline to talk to immigration enforcement officers, refuse to consent to searches or ask for an attorney.<\/p>\n