{"id":293072,"date":"2026-04-30T12:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293072\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:24:15","slug":"ice-raids-paralyze-an-la-restaurant-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293072\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE raids paralyze an LA restaurant community"},"content":{"rendered":"

At only 20 feet wide and three blocks long, downtown Los Angeles\u2019 Santee Alley is, on good days, a tight corridor filled with color, noise and high energy. Longstanding food vendors like The Alley Dog serve bacon-wrapped\u00a0street dogs<\/a> to customers wading through deep, narrow storefronts filled with everything from soccer jerseys to shapewear to jewelry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Nearby, professional florists, business owners and casual flora fans stroll the cavernous Los Angeles Flower Market. A few blocks west, customers line up for the exquisite flour tortillas at local darling\u00a0Sonoratown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But lately, there\u2019s been a fear lingering in the air.<\/p>\n

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The Fashion District, a sub-neighborhood of\u00a0Downtown LA<\/a> that envelops Santee Alley, has long been home to thousands of family-owned retail shops (some of which operate as wholesale only) and more than 70 restaurants that include everything from casual taquerias to Middle Eastern spots<\/a> to an acclaimed Hawaii restaurant<\/a> to high-end options like Italian stunner Rossoblu. Many of the businesses are immigrant-, Latino- and Asian-owned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Juan\u00a0Alfaro,<\/p>\n

Juan\u00a0Alfaro, owner of\u00a0Mex Peru Gypsy, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE\"Ceviche<\/p>\n

Ceviche mixto at Mex Peru Gypsy in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Until recently, throngs of shoppers would crowd the alley on weekdays and weekends alike. But in the past year, the area has felt much more muted, and at times even deserted, due at least in part to a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that have left business owners and customers shaken, stunned and in fear.<\/p>\n

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On June 6, 2025, ICE agents\u00a0raided well-known businesses<\/a> like fast-fashion shop Ambiance Apparel, resulting in the arrest of more than 40 people from Ambiance alone. The raids sparked local outrage and helped propel months of protests across the city. On Jan. 15 of this year, armed agents once again swarmed the area near Maple Avenue and 11th Street, a corner flush with Latino-owned businesses, to make arrests.<\/p>\n

In January, the\u00a0Los Angeles Times reported<\/a> that some local businesses were seeing up to an 80% decline in sales, mostly due to a major drop in foot traffic, as both workers and customers feared being detained \u2014 or worse, deported. Nearly five months later, restaurant owners in and around Santee Alley say that business still hasn\u2019t bounced back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe alley right now is not the alley as you know it,\u201d says\u00a0Kwini Reed, whose restaurant Poppy + Rose has been serving buttermilk chicken and waffles and other California-inspired brunch fare<\/a> in the same building as the Flower Market for more than a decade. \u201cTrauma is trauma. When a person has been traumatized, why would you tell them to go back to the area where it happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

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She adds, \u201cThere are years upon years of lasting ramifications out of what happened last summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Santee<\/p>\n

Santee Alley, in the Fashion District of Los Angeles, on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE\"The<\/p>\n

The dining room of Fashion District brunch favorite Poppy + Rose.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Poppy + Rose<\/p>\n

Reed, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband Michael, reports that Poppy + Rose\u2019s business was already down \u201cat least 25%\u201d due to last January\u2019s devastating wildfires (which slowed business for restaurants across the city<\/a>) when last summer\u2019s ICE raids shook the area.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe ICE raids were just another punch to the gut,\u201d Reed says. \u201cWhere we are, there are a lot of people who \u2018fit the profile\u2019 of being an \u2018illegal alien,\u2019\u201d she adds, pointedly\u00a0echoing terms<\/a> that have been used against<\/a> LA\u2019s immigrant community by the Trump administration and others in recent times. \u201cThe traffic in the Flower Market just stopped. People were scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed adds, \u201cThen we had to do protocols and figure out what happens if ICE comes through the door. We weren\u2019t trained for any of that, just like we weren\u2019t trained for\u00a0COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed isn\u2019t the only one with concerns. Multiple other business owners declined to even speak to SFGATE on the record for this story, citing fear, exhaustion and uncertainty around what\u2019s happening in the neighborhood right now.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Mendoza family, who have operated Cuernevaca\u2019s Grill in the Fashion District of Los Angeles for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Cuernevaca’s Grill\"A<\/p>\n

A shop in Santee Alley in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

\u201cThe foot traffic is worse than COVID. Back then, you could put a mask on and go out and do your thing. Now, things are so uncertain that you don\u2019t want to go out because you\u2019re not sure you\u2019ll go home again,\u201d says Nayomie Mendoza, the second-generation owner of her family\u2019s Fashion District Mexican restaurant, Cuernavaca\u2019s Grill, which celebrates its 21st anniversary in May.<\/p>\n

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Mendoza\u2019s parents, Maria and Marcos, both born in Mexico, opened the restaurant serving homestyle fare like tortas and tacos<\/a> as a way to provide for their family. Mendoza recalls a visit last July from Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Gov. Newsom came to see us, we told him we needed funding. We were down 80% in sales,\u201d\u00a0Mendoza says. \u201cI took him to the cash register and showed him that we\u2019d only had two sales that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that the January raids were particularly devastating for businesses, many of which were preparing for the Valentine\u2019s Day holiday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt caught everyone by surprise, because it\u2019s usually a slower month,\u201d she says. \u201cAround 60% of the businesses shut down for 72 hours that weekend\u201d due to the raids, she adds.<\/p>\n

Juan\u00a0Alfaro has been operating his cozy, bustling Peruvian Mexican restaurant\u00a0Mex Peru Gipsy a block away from Santee Alley since 1982. He\u2019s seen many sweeping changes in the neighborhood over the decades, especially since last summer.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The exterior of Mex Peru Gypsy in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE\"A<\/p>\n

A chef cooks tallarin saltado at Mex Peru Gypsy in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, the neighborhood is very slow. I\u2019ve been part of this community for a long time, and I understand what they\u2019re going through,\u201d\u00a0Alfaro says. \u201cPeople don\u2019t want to come for security reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

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According to LA Fashion District Business Improvement District President Anthony Rodriguez, these stories aren\u2019t just anecdotal. The BID has seen \u201ca clear impact, particularly on small, family-owned businesses, many of which are immigrant-owned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still hearing from business owners that sales remain below previous levels. While it varies by business, many are reporting declines anywhere from 10% to 30%, depending on location and customer type,\u201d Rodriguez tells\u00a0SFGATE in a statement. \u201cThe recovery has not been linear, and external factors, such as enforcement activity, tend to slow progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Beard Award-winning writer Bill Esparza, who has covered Mexican and Mexican American culinary traditions in LA and beyond for decades, says the ICE raids in the Fashion District aren\u2019t necessarily new, though they are no less devastating because of their frequency.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about a community that has had psychological torment and stress since before the pandemic,\u201d Esparza says. \u201cI\u2019ve been covering the vendors at the Mercado Olympic in the [nearby] Pi\u00f1ata District for years. All of those vendors are dealing with the constant stress of the health department. I witnessed a garbage truck with a bunch of officers grabbing people\u2019s rigs. They were just throwing them in the trash compactor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Santee<\/p>\n

Santee Alley in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE\"A<\/p>\n

A team member at The Alley Dog pours agua fresca into a cup in\u00a0Santee Alley in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Esparza adds, \u201cThe ICE raids have just killed everybody\u2019s will to go out. Once an area has become dead, it\u2019s really hard for it to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those restaurants still operating in the Fashion District, the drop in business has meant cutting staff or reducing hours. Reed, for one, had to downsize the team at Poppy + Rose.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn top of that, the economy is all wacko, and now our food costs are going up,\u201d Reed says. \u201cWe\u2019re having to do a lot more with less, if that makes any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Esparza notes that cutting workers affects all of the businesses in the area, from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn LA, there\u2019s not a trickle-down economy, but there\u2019s a trickle-up economy,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re cutting the workers, they\u2019re not going to grab a hot dog or a taco or a pupusa for lunch, and that affects everyone.\u201d He adds, \u201cLA built an economy with undocumented workers that pay taxes but don\u2019t get benefits. It\u2019s a great deal for everyone except for them. They really fueled this restaurant boom that started in 2008. You had a labor force that made money and could afford to eat out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the way that things have gone over the past 10 months, restaurant owners aren\u2019t all that hopeful that business will bounce back soon.<\/p>\n

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\"Santee<\/p>\n

Santee Alley in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE\"Shoppers<\/p>\n

Shoppers walk in\u00a0Santee Alley in Los Angeles on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jessie Alcheh\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought we would have a bigger crowd for Coachella<\/a>, because people usually come to the alley to shop for costumes, but that didn\u2019t happen,\u201d Mendoza says. \u201cI would\u2019ve thought by now numbers would have picked up, but the community is trying to stay away from predominantly Latino areas because you don\u2019t know what might happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed adds, \u201cThe neighborhood doesn\u2019t feel right. The air feels icky. Hopefully, the government will do something. You can\u2019t plan for something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cICE continues to change tactics and evolve. They\u2019re trying to keep a lower profile after full-on street battles with citizens in LA and Minneapolis, but they\u2019re still quietly doing the same thing, and our community knows it,\u201d Esparza says. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a day where we don\u2019t have unlawful arrests \u2014 and the people who have been living this, week after week, aren\u2019t going out and spending money.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds, \u201cIt\u2019s not just Santee Alley. It\u2019s all of the Mexican communities, from Huntington Park to Bell to East LA to Pacoima.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At only 20 feet wide and three blocks long, downtown Los Angeles\u2019 Santee Alley is, on good days,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,2008,106625],"class_list":["post-293072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-sfgla","tag-sfglafood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}