ICE raids slowed foot traffic for these small businesses. Then came the Boyle Heights warehouse fire

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Last week, Felipe Hernandez saw fewer customers than usual. The produce vendor had already lost some foot traffic in East L.A. due to the ongoing ICE raids and COVID before that, but after the Lineage warehouse fire blanketed the area in smoke, Hernandez felt like everyone disappeared all at once.

“I think this was worse [than COVID]. They all really went away just like that — but this time it was on a whole new level,” said Hernandez, who works afternoons at Ponciano Produce, his nephew’s produce truck.

Claudia Hernandez, owner of Mariscos El Manglar in East L.A., closed early on the first day of the fire because she couldn’t handle the amount of smoke blowing at her food truck, parked one mile away.

“With the raids, sales dropped by 60%,” said Hernandez. “And this week, because of the smoke, they’ve gone down by about 80%.”

The compounding effect of the ICE raids and now a week full of smoke due to the Lineage fire, has left small businesses in both Boyle Heights and East L.A. struggling more than ever. 

Many businesses were forced to close entirely due to the intensity of the smoke and others that did open served even fewer customers as people were forced to stay indoors or leave the area.

According to a report from the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute nearly 13,600 jobs are located within the smoke advisory zone, 66% are held by Hispanic or Latino individuals.

The report notes that many small businesses in retail, accommodation, and food service closed or experienced a steep decline in clients.

Cristina Medrano works on a customer’s hair at Kassandra’s Salon in Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 26, 2026.

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Isaac Ceja

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Hair stylist Cristina Medrano fought back tears when thinking of the impacts ICE have had on her customers at Kassandra’s Salon and the greater Boyle Heights community.

“Our people are scared. All of us are, right? We go through a certain amount of stress regarding our people, it really is very difficult,” said Medrano. “Even though it doesn’t affect us directly, our people do go out but they go out afraid.”

After the fire Medrano was forced to cancel appointments due to customers’ concerns about the smoke. She says she never expected the fire to go on for as long as it did.

“It’s been more than we expected, a whole week like this. And there’s still more to come, just think of everything that’s in the air, what we’re breathing in. But we have to work. I mean, you can’t just sit around doing nothing, we have to keep going,” Medrano said.

On Wednesday, Inclusive Action, the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce and the Hustle & Heart Collective launched the Boyle Heights Fire Relief Fund for Small Businesses, targeting brick and mortar shops and street vendors in the four zip codes around the Lineage fire.

“Some businesses are still trying to come out of the hole that they were put in because of the ICE raids today,” said Rudy Espinoza, CEO of Inclusive Action. “So then you layer this new fire for the especially the small businesses on the east side and it’s just like another obstacle for them to get ahead and to take care of their families and to make payroll for their workers.”

Applications are not open yet but they are accepting donations via GoFundMe.

Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office is also working with the Emergency Management Department and the Boyle Heights Business Source Center to connect impacted businesses and street vendors to city resources,

After struggling with a loss of about 65% of their sales after the ICE raids, Tacos Los Arabes in Boyle Heights lost about 35% in sales during the week of the fire, according to Jonathan Villegas, one of the sons of the family-owned Tacos Los Arabes. 

“It was an unfortunate thing to happen but it’s in the past. We’re trying to move on and we don’t think it’s going to affect the future for now because it seems under control, but the raids are still in the back of people’s minds. They’re a little bit more ready to go out, but you still hear stories about people being raided” Villegas said.

Villegas said he appreciated when customers would wear N95 masks to support his business during the week despite the obstacles facing the community.