Eastside storefronts feel the shock of immigration raids: ‘Customers aren’t coming out’

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on June 10, 2025.

Cesar E. Chavez Avenue — a shopping district known for its predominantly Latino community — was eerily quiet on Monday afternoon. The normal rush of shoppers looking for fresh fruit, clothing, or home goods had mostly disappeared.

Salon chairs sat empty and fruit vendors joked among themselves to pass the time.

“The customers aren’t coming out,” said Christina Guerrero as she stood behind the register of Guerrero Closeout, a clothing and furniture discount store in Boyle Heights.

“And if they don’t come, we lose business,” said her husband, Leo Guerrero. “If we normally have 10 customers, only three or four have shown up.”

After days of federal immigration raids and protests across the region, small business owners in Boyle Heights and East L.A. are wondering how their shops will fare as the city braces for further immigration enforcement actions that one state elected leader said are expected daily for the next 30 days in L.A. County.

Immigration sweeps were reported at Home Depot stores in Whittier and Huntington Park on Monday, following a raid on Friday at Ambiance Apparel in the garment district in downtown L.A., where dozens of people were arrested. Protests erupted in Paramount on Saturday after ICE agents were spotted in the area. Demonstrators have descended onto downtown L.A. since Friday to protest the immigration raids.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports circulated online about alleged sightings of immigration agents near grocery stores in the Boyle Heights area on Monday.

As one vendor along Cesar Chavez put it, “People are afraid.”

A man stands at the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and St. Louis Street on June 9, 2025.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Latinx with Plants on Cesar Chavez remained closed on Monday, after closing the previous day, “as a precautionary measure to protect our patrons, community [and] team members from possible violence as unprecedented measures are taken to persecute our Latinx [and] extended POC community in Los Angeles.” The shop reopened on Tuesday.

Enar Romero, who works at Enar’s Toys and Games inside El Mercadito, said business was unusually slow Sunday at the historic Eastside marketplace amid the protests and raids.

“I guess people are kind of afraid just to go out [by] themselves because they don’t feel safe,” said Romero, adding that many don’t even feel safe “within their homes.”

Still, Romero and others decided to open shop on Sunday. “Hopefully nothing happens and hopefully people start coming out more for the week,” he said.

Enrique Rosado, whose brother owns a deli at El Mercadito, thought it’d be a good idea for him and his co-workers to make a plan on what to do if immigration agents arrive at El Mercadito. He said business was not “like the previous Sundays.”

“Lately, because of what’s going on with the raids and with ICE in downtown … it’s slow now,” he said. “We’re going to stay put.”

At a demonstration against ICE on Sunday at Mariachi Plaza, Yesenia Castro, owner of Pink and Boujee in Boyle Heights, urged the public to support small business owners amid the raids taking place across the region.

“I have definitely seen a lot of businesses affected. With everything going on, there’s not that many people on the streets. As small business owners, it’s very important to advocate and keep our communities safe, but at the same time, we have to have our doors open,” Castro said.

“It’s been very difficult. Not many of us can afford to keep our places closed, but I feel if we all look out for each other… we can make a difference,” she added.

A near-empty hallway at El Mercadito in Boyle Heights on Sunday, June 8, 2025.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Miriam Rodriguez, who serves as president of the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, said supporting small businesses is crucial during this time, as many shops are still reeling over economic uncertainty after the pandemic.

“Right now, our community is scared to be out in public, and it’s really affecting our already struggling local economy,” Rodriguez told Boyle Heights Beat on Monday. “But what I love about our community is that what affects one of us affects all of us. So, I think it’s very important right now that, where possible, we could express the support for our people through our wallets.”

As for Leo Guerrero, of Guerrero Closeout, he already has a plan in mind in case ICE agents show up near his store.

“I’d close it and lock it if I had customers in here,” Guerrero said. “I wouldn’t want to see someone’s family broken up. That’s the way I look at it. I wouldn’t want them to do it to me.”

Boyle Heights Beat reporter Alejandra Molina contributed to this report.