Fear of immigration enforcement impacts family-run food truck in Jacksonville

Monserrat Cortes, co-owner of Burritos Puebla in Jacksonville, reveals how fear of immigration enforcement is driving customers away.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some business owners on the First Coast say fear surrounding immigration enforcement is keeping customers at home, creating financial strain for family-run businesses.

At Burritos Puebla, a Mexican-American food truck at 11000 Beach Boulevard, owners say customer traffic has dropped significantly in recent weeks.

Monserrat Cortes is a student in Jacksonville and co-owns Burritos Puebla with her mother. She says for months, business was steady — but that has recently changed.

“Yeah, yesterday we only got four people and the whole day we were open from like 10:30 to 8 o’clock and we only got four people,” Cortes said.

Cortes believes fear surrounding immigration enforcement is driving customers away.

She says family friends are afraid to leave their homes even to run basic errands, and that fear is affecting small businesses that rely on daily foot traffic.

“I have a lot of family friends and they just are scared to go outside and they’re scared to even go to the grocery store, you know, and it really does affect small businesses who depend on those people to come every day to buy maybe one or two tacos, and it’s, it’s just been upsetting to see,” Cortes said.

She added that the situation feels serious and unsettling.

“It’s scary. It’s not something that should be taken lightly or as a joke,” she said.

Cortes says she’s heard of multiple people being detained in Jacksonville over the past couple of weeks and says she personally witnessed one incident.

“Like I’ve gone through the roads and the other day I saw they grabbed someone and then I came back and the car was being towed,” Cortes said.

With fewer customers coming by, Cortes says her family’s business is now struggling to stay afloat.

“Financially, it’s rough. It really is rough because you know, there’s things that we need to buy, but how do we buy those things if there’s no customers and no money?” she said.

Despite the challenges, Cortes says she wants customers to know the food truck is still here to serve the community and is offering options like calling ahead or delivery.

“Whatever they need, we’re here for them. We offer delivery services, so if they wanted to call ahead or whatever it is, we can do that. And just stick through it because it’s difficult. What’s happening is very difficult, but I feel like things will get better,” Cortes said.

First Coast News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment regarding immigration enforcement activity in Jacksonville and any recent detainments. As of publication, we are still waiting to hear back.