More than two decades ago, Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, was a case study in economic collapse. Crime and prostitution had driven away a number of businesses. Fear had taken root and not many outside the immediate area dared to go there.
Few then could imagine that it would become a vibrant corridor showcasing Mexican restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores. Or that once vacant storefronts would be filled with businesses catering to many of Wyandotte County’s estimated 58,000 Hispanic and Latino residents — accountants, lawyers, hair stylists and mechanics. Or that it would attract thousands from around the metropolitan area for its Dia de los Muertos festivities.
But now a different fear is taking root, threatening to take customers from some of the businesses and affect their bottom lines — fear of deportation that began when President Donald Trump returned to office, and the confusion sown by a rush to enforce his policies through executive orders and by ignoring the law.
“People are literally scared for their lives,” said Karla Juarez, executive director of the nonprofit organization Advocates for Immigration Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR). “Being deported to countries they’re from but have never lived in, that’s scary.”
Struggling Hispanic businesses
There are no easy statistics to demonstrate how this fear has affected the Central Avenue businesses or others across Wyandotte County, which at 34% has the largest share of Hisipanic and Latino residents of any county in the Kansas City region.
Edgar Galicia, executive director of Central Avenue Betterment Association, said that Hispanic-owned restaurants and groceries throughout the city have reported a 30% drop in sales, down from the $8 million to $10 million a month they’ve generated in recent years.
“The world under executive orders is a very threatening one,” Galicia said. “We don’t have a normal day. You really don’t know what to expect or how it’s going to be affecting you.”
Carlos Gomez, president and CEO at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City, said that chamber members across the region are reporting sales are down between 40% and 60%.
The impact, he said, depends on where a business is located and the service it provides. Hispanic businesses catering to largely Hispanic and Latino neighborhoods, such as those along Central Avenue on the Kansas side or Independence Avenue in Kansas City, are most affected.
“If you’re in a more diverse community you may have other customers coming in,” Gomez said. “But in the Hispanic immigrant communities, they’re saving their money and not going out a lot. They’re not exposing themselves.”
Danery Berrios, manager of an auto repair shop on Central Avenue, is experiencing the effects of the fear firsthand. He said business has plummeted 75% since Trump took office. This, coupled with the increasing cost of parts due to tariffs, has forced the shop to let go of two mechanics.
“People are saving money just to survive,” Berrios said. “Last year at this time, after tax season, I was buying cars and selling them.” But not this year. “People with two cars are just driving one. They don’t need as many repairs.”
Berrios has worked at the shop for nine years. He is in the United States on a work visa but to renew it, he said, he will have to return to his home country, Honduras.
“When I leave, I don’t know what will happen,” he said. “I’m a little bit confused. It’s scary.”
It’s possible, Berrios said, that he could leave and decide not to return.
“I appreciate in this country everything that I have. It’s been better than my home country,” he said. “But now, with this situation, it’s no good now. At least in my home country I can eat rice and beans and survive.”
Hair stylist Alejandro Miguel, whose brother owns the barber shop where he works, said that clients who used to get haircuts two to four times a month are now showing up just once a month. Revenue is down 30%.
“It’s fear to get deported,” Miguel said through a translator. “Yesterday, someone came in for the first time since December. He had long hair.”
Lisbet Morales is an office manager at Martell’s Insurance and Tax Services. Notably, one service Martell’s offers — notarizations — is booming. People are requesting to have various legal documents notarized, she said. Some arrive with power of attorney documents, handing authority over to a friend or relative in the event they’re deported. Others are transferring property deeds.
But the same factors that are driving Martell’s notary business are hurting its tax and insurance services. Morales said business in those areas is down 25% to 30%, with most of the loss coming from people opting against renewing or purchasing insurance policies.
“They don’t need insurance if they think they’re going to be deported,” Morales said.
Juarez said that some Hispanic and Latino residents, including those who are here legally, are saving as much money as possible given the uncertain futures they face. Others have lost jobs and cannot afford luxuries such as eating out or are delaying home and car repairs. Still others are simply afraid to show their faces in public. Undocumented parents are not sending their children to school, Juarez said, or asking other parents to take their children to school. Some people have stopped attending church.
“I’ve heard multiple people not leaving their homes for more than 10 days because they’re fearful,” Juarez said. “I don’t think that the stories of actual people feeling anxious and downright scared have been told enough.”
Know your rights
Juarez cautions against allowing the fear to dominate, especially when it is generated by unproven rumors.
A May 6 Facebook post on AIRR’s page, for example, reported that rumors of a raid on State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, turned out to be false. The post encouraged followers to call the organization’s hotline, 913-999-2398, to report suspicions of a raid so community partners can investigate it. “Please verify the accuracy of activity before spreading it,” it said.
But AIRR also wants employers and individuals to remain vigilant — and strong — in the face of the very real threat. To that end, the organization offers trainings to help community members, including businesses, know their rights when ICE agents show up, as they did earlier this year in Liberty.
It’s especially important for business owners and managers to request to see a warrant and to learn how to determine if it is legitimate. It’s especially important, according to the trainings, for businesses to designate private spaces that are for employees only.
Itzel Varga Valenzeula, a program manager for AIRR, said the trainings are in high demand. Last year, the organization provided fewer than two dozen. So far this year, 46 organizations and businesses have requested one.
The trainings are offered across the metropolitan area and beyond. “But we want to make sure that all those businesses on Central Avenue have it, too,” Varga Valenzuela said.
In a similar vein, Gomez said that Hispanic Chamber members are focusing on how to survive rather than dwelling on letting the fear destroy their businesses.
“My community is pivoting,” he said. “What do we need to do? We have to get creative and find another business that won’t be impacted.”
Nevertheless, Gomez said that if the push to deport undocumented residents persists, along with the fear it creates, businesses will continue to struggle.
“We do need a solution to this,” he said. “A solution that doesn’t divide families. A solution that doesn’t hurt the business community. And a solution that treats people with dignity.”
Galicia said he welcomes any effort to empower the area’s small Hispanic businesses. He plans to attend an AIRR training soon and then determine how best to make them available along Central Avenue. But he fears that information and education are no match for the lawless approach that the administration has adopted in its relentless push to deport both documented and undocumented residents.
“We should know our legal rights and how the procedure should work,” he said. “But when it comes down to the legality of things, if the law enforcement agencies aren’t following the law, then what do we have?”
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
