Council hearing examines how federal immigration policy is affecting immigrant‑owned small businesses in New York City

Council Members Chanel Thomas Henry and Elsie Encarnacion convened a joint City Council hearing on May 8 to examine how recent federal immigration policy and enforcement actions are affecting immigrant‑owned small businesses across New York City.

Haris Khan, chief of staff at the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), told the committees that immigrant entrepreneurs account for roughly 180,000 small businesses citywide and that heightened federal enforcement has produced reduced customer foot traffic and worker absenteeism in some immigrant commercial corridors. Khan said SBS has expanded outreach through seven borough business solution centers, a multilingual hotline, and a small mobile outreach team, and that the agency has reached about 56,000 New Yorkers with materials and events so far.

The hearing focused in part on a recent federal Small Business Administration change that excludes most noncitizens, including many lawful permanent residents, from SBA‑guaranteed loans. Council Member Salam asked how the exclusion affects capital access; Khan said preliminary analysis shows a substantial gap — "tens of millions" for New York City and billions nationally — and urged affected owners to use city tools such as the NYC Funds Finder and city‑led loan products while the agency scans alternative lending options.

City and administration witnesses also described efforts to ensure immigrant businesses can participate in FIFA World Cup economic activity this summer. Khan outlined a city‑wide marketing toolkit, a $26 "5‑borough" promotional program for participating businesses and a mobile outreach schedule (Jackson Heights May 13, The Bronx May 15, Brooklyn May 19, Staten Island May 22, Manhattan May 26). He said SBS will continue door‑to‑door canvassing, tabling and translated print and digital materials but conceded the outreach team is small (about five to six people) and asked council members to help amplify outreach locally.

Lorena Lucero, deputy commissioner at the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), said MOIA is prioritizing legal services and Know‑Your‑Rights outreach. She described multilingual legal clinics, a Haitian Response Initiative in Little Haiti, and coordination with community organizations and ethnic media to get accurate information into neighborhoods. Lucero said legal services account for the majority of MOIA funding and that the office is running targeted in‑community clinics and a May 28 clinic in partnership with the Brooklyn borough office.

Council members pressed the administration for measurable outcomes beyond the number of flyers and events. Haris Khan acknowledged limits in the city’s ability to track business sales directly — SBS tracks storefront occupancy on a quarterly basis but not point‑of‑sale revenue — and said anecdotal surveys from chambers and community organizations have shown sizable localized drops in foot traffic, especially in neighborhoods such as Sunset Park, Jackson Heights and Corona.

The hearing also highlighted street vendor outreach and safety measures. City officials said the Office of Street Vendor Services — launched earlier than required by legislation — will provide vendor‑specific Know‑Your‑Rights materials and curated programming; Karina Kaufman Gutierrez, the administration’s new executive director for that office, was named in testimony and begins work on vendor services. Witnesses including the Street Vendor Project (SVP) and community organizers urged sustained funding for vendor outreach and for legal and mental‑health services for affected families.

Several witnesses and the Manhattan borough president, Brad Hoylman, warned of downstream fiscal impacts from federal policy changes beyond enforcement: proposed federal rules affecting HUD and SNAP eligibility could displace tens of thousands of residents from assisted housing and reduce local consumer spending, placing additional burdens on city shelter and social services budgets.

Public commenters representing chambers, immigrant‑serving nonprofits, and vendor groups described door‑to‑door field surveys and local outreach that, in many neighborhoods, recorded substantial declines in sales and customer presence since increased ICE activity began. Community groups asked the Council for increased funding for legal services networks (for example the AAPI RISE network) and for proactive steps to ensure that city agencies do not transmit data in ways that could be used for immigration enforcement.

The committee asked administration staff to follow up with more precise fiscal projections — including for the SBA exclusion and the potential tax‑base impacts from discouraged filing — and committed to sharing district‑level occupancy and outreach data to target support. The hearing closed by opening the floor to public testimony, where dozens of vendors and nonprofit representatives described immediate needs for multilingual legal help, trust‑based outreach, and fiscal relief programs.

The committees said they will collect written testimony submitted within 72 hours and requested follow‑up data from SBS and MOIA on the financial modeling for the SBA change and for neighborhood‑level impacts. No formal vote was taken at the hearing.