She Didn't Get Deported. She Sells Cleaning Supplies Now. That's What ICE Did to Her Business.

Marí Lucy Toj Méndez ran Lucy's Party Store on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford, Massachusetts for thirteen years. Quinceañera dresses. Party orders every weekend. Then Trump's mass deportation campaign started — and the weekends went quiet. ICE never raided her store. They didn't need to. The fear emptied the street. Across Acushnet Avenue, five businesses are down 12 to 50 percent. A taqueria. A barbershop. A grocery store. A Guatemalan restaurant. All of them paying a price they never voted for.

A U.S. Senate Committee report documented the same pattern nationwide: $81 million in losses in Minneapolis. $58.9 million in Orange County in just eight weeks. 60 percent drops in Chicago restaurants. 31 percent of Massachusetts small businesses say immigration enforcement has directly impacted them. Trump's ICE didn't just go after immigrants. It went after the economy of every community those immigrants built.

#NewBedford #ImmigrantBusinesses #Trump #ICE #SmallBusiness #Tariffs #EdMarkey

SOURCES

1. The New Bedford Light — "Impact of Trump policies worsens for immigrant businesses":

newbedfordlight.org

2. The New Bedford Light — "'New Bedford is exactly the kind of community where Trump's damage is deepest'":

newbedfordlight.org

3. GBH News — "Tariffs. Loans. ICE. Immigrant business owners face plenty of hurdles under Trump administration":

wgbh.org

4. New Bedford Guide — "Massachusetts Sen. Markey Pushes Small Business Liberation 2.0 Act":

newbedfordguide.com

5. U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship — "Federal Fear Campaign: How Trump's ICE Raids Are Threatening Small Businesses Across America":

sbc.senate.gov

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