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Wheaton chamber warns immigrant-owned businesses are seeing steep sales drops amid enforcement and federal workforce changes
Summary
A Wheaton chamber leader reported many immigrant-owned restaurants and shops are seeing 25'30% declines and said fear of immigration enforcement and reduced federal worker foot traffic are keeping customers away.
Omar Lazo, representing the Wheaton and Kensington Chamber of Commerce and the Montgomery County Latino Restaurant Association, described how immigrant-owned small businesses in Wheaton are affected by both declines in federal workforce foot traffic and increased immigration enforcement.
"I've been asking my restaurant owners, you know, how are your sales compared to a year ago? And I'm getting 30% down, 25% down," Lazo said, adding that a combination of the federal shutdown, higher input costs (he cited beef prices rising ~$3 per pound as an example), and fear in the immigrant community are suppressing demand. He said restaurants and other retailers in Wheaton serve broad clienteles but that the local immigrant population's reluctance to go out has tangible effects across sectors.
Committee members and panelists acknowledged the issue and said targeted, hyper-local responses may be needed; Councilmember Glass and others asked staff to use local chambers and regional services to monitor the problem and consider streamlined, easy-to-access supports. No formal program was adopted during the briefing.
