As the Trump administration has hardened its approach toward immigration, some businesses in Connecticut have become worried about losing their customers.
A dozen employers across the state said this steep decline in sales has them wondering if they’re able to stay open.
Owners Irene Castelan Mendez and Marco Antonio at Las Catrinas Mexican Grocery in Enfield said they are one of these businesses.
Antonio, who spoke to us in Spanish, said, “Well I think a big part is because of the fear of the situation that you can never know. You know when you leave home, but you don’t know if you come back home.”
They had a successful opening in January 2022 and said they have since lost about 75% of their business with stepped up deportations.
Several employers, who were afraid to go on camera, told NBC CT Investigates that like Marco, they had to learn to adapt and are delivering goods.
Fanel Merville at the Center of Immigrant Development in Bridgeport said that even citizens are scared and staying home.
“They are afraid to go, to go out. I mean, I have, you know, colleagues of mine who are U.S. citizens. They afraid to travel,” Merville said.
With fewer people on the streets, fewer people have been going to stores like Antonio’s.
“The future is uncertain, we’re just trying to survive and I think that a lot of people with businesses are in the same situation,” Antonio said.
He said the business was doing great a year ago, but now, they don’t know if they will make it to next month.
