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NEW BEDFORD — A card reader dinged in Martin Ordóñez’s hand, prompting the young man who just purchased a bag of chips at Restaurante y Tortillería Guatemalteco to leave with a quick buenas tardes.

Ordóñez stood behind, and contemplated his business. How the chips he just sold for $3.50 cost only $3 about a month ago. How the rising prices of meats, coconut water, and other products have forced him to raise prices as well.

Those price increases, partly due to the war with Iran he theorized, have compounded an already challenging business climate. He also noted that business at his restaurant has dropped an estimated 35% since January 2025, when President Donald Trump took office and a mass deportation campaign began. 

“Everyone is scared,” Ordóñez said in Spanish. “Nobody wants to go out. So people aren’t spending.”

The story falls in line with a report compiled by the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship that was published in March. Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey serves as the ranking member on the committee.

“I have a responsibility to document and expose what the Trump administration is doing to the small business economy, and the findings are devastating,” Markey told The Light. “And New Bedford is exactly the kind of community where Trump’s damage is deepest.”

The report showed damaging economic trends in areas hard hit by immigration enforcement operations. Dine-in restaurant sales fell by as much as 60% in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz. Small businesses lost $81 million in revenue in Minneapolis after Operation Metro Surge. And federal immigration enforcement operations in Orange County, California, resulted in approximately $58.9 million in lost economic output over an eight-week period. 

“In Massachusetts at large, 31% of small businesses say that immigration enforcement has impacted them,” Markey said. “Over 40% of Latino owned businesses in the state say that they have been impacted, and ICE presence has made the staff afraid to go to work, causing labor shortages and lost revenue. 

“But that damage isn’t just limited to New Bedford or the South Coast.” 

The impact of uncertainty

Immigration enforcement operations that have detained at least 70 people in New Bedford have recently eased, a result of the less aggressive stance taken by the administration after the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Most local immigration arrests in recent months have occurred at New Bedford District Court as people attend their civil or criminal hearings. 

But Massachusetts was also the first state to experience surges. Nearly 3,000 immigrants were arrested in Operation Patriot in May 2025 and Operation Patriot 2.0 in September 2025. The stochastic nature of the arrests is something immigrant consumers, and the businesses that serve them, have not forgotten.

“The first impact has been the uncertainty,” said Anthony Sapienza, president of the board of directors at the New Bedford Economic Development Council. Business owners have told him that the fear manifests itself in workers suddenly not showing up to work, he said.

He pointed to the dozens of fish processing plants near and in the Port of New Bedford where hundreds of largely Central American workers work. Employers and employees worry that a big raid will happen at such a plant. 

“We haven’t had any particularly obnoxious raids at a company but sometimes it’s one or two people not showing up,” Sapienza said. “Sometimes they’ve been picked up, sometimes it’s just they’ve determined they’re at risk and choose not to come in. But the fear that there will be some kind of raid is real.”

Sapienza said that more solid economic data on the local impacts of immigration enforcement have been harder to track with academics, advocates, and business owners relying on anecdotal evidence to gauge conditions. Nonetheless, reporting by The Light has revealed noticeable impacts.

“People are scared. And when they’re scared that affects us. There isn’t as much money on this street these days.”

— Taqueria La Raza owner Tony Cabrera on how his business is impacted

Tony Cabrera, owner of Taqueria La Raza on Acushnet Avenue, told The Light last September that business had dropped 50% due to aggressive immigration enforcement operations throughout the area. Since then, “Things haven’t changed,” he said in Spanish during a recent interview

“People are scared. And when they’re scared that affects us,” Cabrera said. “There isn’t as much money on this street these days.”

The U.S. Senate business report also found that job creation is being impacted, citing an Economic Policy Institute paper which found that, if the administration reached its 4 million deportation goal, there would be 3.3 million fewer employed immigrants and 2.6 million fewer employed U.S. citizens.

“In Massachusetts, only 2% of those arrested during the September 2025 surge had violent criminal convictions,” Markey said. “They’re not rounding up dangerous criminals. They’re rounding up nursing assistants, restaurant workers, dishwashers, landscapers, construction workers, home health aides. … The people who keep small businesses open and local economies running.” 

A sense of safety

Those closest to the immigrant community said the solution to the economic anxiety is simple: make communities feel safe.

“We’re talking about working people, not criminals,” Ordóñez said. “These are people working and contributing as much to the community as for their families. 

“We need immigration reform,” he said.

Sapienza said governments should focus on creating a sense of safety as a means to help local businesses. Initiatives by the state such as a recent executive order prohibiting the use of state property for immigration enforcement by federal agencies and the PROTECT Act making its way through Beacon Hill came to mind. 

“We should hold federal officials accountable about any violent behavior when they’re in town,” he said. “Certainly we should be supportive of what the state has implemented.”

Markey said he supported the PROTECT Act as well. The legislation recently passed by the House would prohibit civil immigration arrests at state courthouses, require employers to notify employees of I-9 audits, and limit the ability of state and local agencies from entering into 287(g) partnerships with ICE. 

“It’s absolutely imperative that we move in that direction,” he said, “to lift that chilling effect, that cloud, which has been built over the immigrant community as they comply with the law. Because ultimately, that effect will spread to Main Street.”

Markey also pointed to legislation he has put forward in the U.S. Senate, such as the Small Business ICE Disruption Act, introduced in December. Should it become law, the bill would create a $200 million fund that would provide grants of up to $1 million to small businesses who incurred losses due to federal immigration enforcement actions. 

“This is disaster relief for Main Street,” he said. 

Recently, Markey also introduced the Securing Help for Immigrants through Education and Legal Development (SHIELD) Act. The legislation would authorize the Attorney General to provide grants to agencies to build a workforce to ensure legal representation for immigrants facing removal proceedings. 

Removal proceedings are considered civil matters. Although a person has a right to an attorney in such courts, the government will not cover the cost of one, forcing many defendants to appear without representation. In Massachusetts, the state’s Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative, established last year, often provides such counsel.

“We need to make sure that lawyers are available,” he said. “Otherwise innocent people are going to be forced to defend themselves — and that is just intolerable in 2026 in the United States of America.”

Sapienza said he thinks local government action would be helpful. He suggested keeping know-your-rights material accessible in public buildings as an easy way to signal support to immigrants. 

He also pointed to other municipalities, such as Worcester, that took the governor’s order and applied it at a local level as models.

“Economically, it would help folks to feel a little safer going out of the house, going to work, applying to jobs,” he said. “The insecurity of going out means people are not entering the labor force. Anything we can do to encourage people to live their normal lives is helpful.”

Contact Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org 

31 replies on “‘New Bedford is exactly the kind of community where Trump’s damage is deepest’”

  1. This New Bedford Light article is partisan propaganda dressed up as journalism. It recycles a Democratic Senate Small Business Committee staff report from Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, that cherry picks short term anecdotes from immigrant heavy businesses while ignoring broader economic realities, massive fiscal costs, and the consequences of decades of lax enforcement.

    Yes, enforcement creates temporary disruptions in restaurants and services reliant on unauthorized labor, but economies adjust as businesses hire legal workers, raise wages, or automate. The piece completely ignores that the average unlawful immigrant imposes a large net fiscal drain on taxpayers (tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per person over time in benefits and services), while also straining housing, schools, and public services in places like Massachusetts.

    New Bedford’s challenges stem from years of failed open-border policies and sanctuary tendencies, not sudden “Trump damage.”

    Fear fades, markets adapt, and enforcing immigration law upholds the rule of law while protecting American workers and taxpayers, something this selective reporting deliberately downplays.

    Just another left wing organization that can’t seem to write a non biased article.

    1. “economies adjust as businesses hire legal workers, raise wages, or automate”

      When do these things start happening?

  2. An illegal immigrant is an illegal immigrant and has good reasons to be “scared” as they have ignored and continue to ignore the immigration laws of the USA.
    Companies employing illegal immigrants (undocumented workers) are subject to criminal and civil penalties and these penalties should be enforced against these companies.
    If you are a legal immigrant (documented worker), you have no “fear” of showing up for work. If you are an illegal immigrant (undocumented worker) you should not be employed to begin with and have generated your own, justified “fear”.
    This article is an unbalanced political point of view article, during an election year, that panders to the candidacy of Senator Ed Markey, nothing more and nothing less.

    Holding all politicians responsible for the criminal activities of criminal, illegal immigrants,that they offer “sanctuary” to, would be justified and a great start to help protect all legal residents of the USA.

    1. I am not sure who the “Citadel of Illegal Immigration” is, and have researched and looked this up. There appears to be no organization with this identity. Having said this, as a retired professional who worked extensively in the field of labor, organized labor and management of contractor associations in the Boston area for 3 decades assisting working families and rooting out bad actors, those who violate the laws of Massachusetts and the DOL should be held accountable.
      First you are correct with the statement, an illegal immigrant is an illegal immigrant and if there intent is remain here illegally then they should be deported. But, many immigrants who arrived here illegally have turned themselves in and applied for asylum and a green card, thus, now attaining legal status to remain and work in the US. To make this simpler to understand, individuals who arrive at the port of entry or are already in the US can apply for asylum if they fear persecution in their home country. Many immigrants also arrive from other countries, not Central America, and overstay their visas then turn themselves in. This is fact and truth. Once they are approved by the judge in the immigration court they can get a work permit as they apply for a green card.
      Second, as for businesses, I agree 100% with the statement that businesses who knowingly engage in hiring illegal immigrants, individuals who are illegal should also pay the consequences. Any company hiring this type of labor force is paying their workers under the table and avoiding the tax liability, thus gaining an unfair competitive advantage in the market place. This is facts and truth. My office made many bad actors whole for this type of practice.
      To sum this up, immigrants who have come forward and turned themselves in receive a SS#, allowing them to work and pay taxes are legally employed. ICE has been arresting and taking away immigrants who have successfully applied for asylum, received working permits, and applied for a green card. By arresting these individuals ICE has impacted the working community and deprived local business of labor. This is not just about “businesses owned by Immigrants”, this also has impacted the construction field where many of these workers work as laborers and earn a better living. Your comment is only an opinion and is not truthful. I have no opinion, I do not care about politics, dems, GOP, etc. I am an independent, politics is irrelevant, Facts and Truth matter period.

      1. Thank you for stating the case for asylum seekers and green card applicants who have legal permission to be here but nevertheless have been detained, often violently and without due process. They are often denied humane treatment and medical care in the large, for profit detention camps where legislative oversight and media coverage have been denied.

          1. They are absolutely doing what Jane has stated. Open you eyes, open your ears. You have to live under a rock not to be aware. Legal immigrants are afraid to go shopping. They are afraid to go out of their houses. Leave the legal immigrants alone.

  3. It’s the governors problem that she created by inviting illegals and distributing materials instruction to assist. No one is above the law.

    1. I don’t think she per say invited them when Texas and Florida sent or flew busloads to us. Funny both places have had severe flooding, GOD don’t sleep. Now if Texas and Florida processed them properly and then set us as there destination, well, we need workers. LEGAL workers. Without the use of our tax dollars. They pay coyotes to smuggle them in, let them savne enough to survive here, 6 months of income, to get them started. It would save everyone involved!

  4. It’s nothing more than diarrhea of the mouth from King Clown Ed Markey. I mean c’mon the guy looks and belongs like an ice cream truck driver which is an insult to them. New Bedford Light yes you are partisan but this one is nothing more than state propaganda. Save it, we ain’t buying it.

    1. NBL is not partisan. If they were, people wouldn’t be writing in “where is my comment” if they were!

  5. The New Bedford Light is and always will be a far left liberal soapbox. Like most I am not surprised to read another article about the plight of illegal immigrants. Once in a while it would be nice to read an article about the hardships that our state’s Veterans, Seniors, Families, and Hard Working Residents have endured due the far left liberal policies of the Healey and Biden Administration (Open Borders and putting Illegals before American Citizens). It’s time for the New Bedford Light to start serving all of the readers in our area.

    1. I’m sorry I don’t agree, NBL has covered up so many comments it only proves there is a big cover up involving the city and schools.
      Immigration with Biden was out of control, but there was reigning in and it was done humanely. It took time, many wait years. We just didn’t see it because the current regimen loves to be on camera brutelizing illegals and many legal immigrants.
      So yes the Biden administration was lackcie daisy allowing illegals in, but unfortunately, those of us that believe in rights for all people even if the process is less harsh and time consuming than seeing the brutality of the current admin. Fast and brutel does not make it better!

  6. I appreciate the service New Bedford Light provides to the entire New Bedford community by publishing information about current issues that includes facts about current and re ent legislative and government actions. In this case as regards the impacts of government policy and action on immigrant members of our community, our city’s economy and public safety. I’m glad to know of Sen. Markey’s views and support actions and those of the New Bedford Economic Development Council. These impacts have ripple effects throughout our entire community that reduce everyone’s quality of life in our neighborhoods, city and region.

    The violence of ICE’s approach in these roundups and in ICE’s proliferating, gruesomely inhumane “detention” centers grossly disrespects the humanity of those it seeks to incarcerate and deport. The peace and safety of the public at large are victims. Lives are endangered, terribly damaged, cavalierly terminated. Communities’ economic lives are devastated. Many legal immigrants and even American citizens have been arrested and detained; many members of communities of color carry their passports at all times hoping to be protected from ICE detention. A tiny fraction of detained people have any criminal record. This is a warped vengeance, not lawfulness.

    All this in the interest of “protecting” this country from people who are peaceful contributing members of their communities. While grift and corruption, lawlessness and deception thrive at the highest levels of our nation’s government, ICE distracts our attention by attacking people living productive lives as our neighbors and friends.

    I am concerned about how and whether there are good assistance networks growing here, to enable the types of support, assistance and information-sharing that served Minneapolis-St. Paul communities so well during their ICE invasion. Perhaps there is a way to cover this topic without exposing those who are potentially endangered.

  7. Everything was fine when Democrat presidents deported illegals, but now that the Republicans are doing the same thing its bad. Can’t understand what the difference is except blatant ignorance of those on the left.

    1. The first was humanely the latter inhumanely!
      At least you admit the first was deporting!

  8. New Bedford should not have to pay for the sins of others. New Bedford needs to stop being open armed in accepting illegals, including the school department.

  9. Based on the comments I guess New Bedford is filled with descendants of the Mayflower. The lack of knowledge about immigration law for the past hundred years in this country is astounding.
    Trust me no one is interested in you fore bearers but all they had to do was get on a boat and walk off to be here “ legally”. Immigration laws were passed in the 20’s to keep out the Southern Europeans- specifically Italians and the Portuguese as well as the dirty drunken Irish.
    Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so welcoming to those groups.

    2. Great comment. I am sick of all this immigration talk. Yes many have come illegally, yes many have come forward and turned themselves in to attain legal status. Yes many have come here legally. Having said this, here’s a thought, all of us are immigrants. It doesn’t matter if you, we, I, are 1st generation, 2nd generation, 3rd generation and so on, we are all here because of immigration. Our forefathers were immigrants also, mmm, now imagine this, why don’t all of us, yes you, pack up your bags cash out and move back to the country of your heritage, Italy, Poland, Portugal, other European countries, South America, Asia, and do this in the next 12 months. Give this great country back to the real citizens of North America, the people of color, indigenous people, the Indians who were hunters and gathers and lived an absolute free life until we, the caucasian people came over here and claimed ownership of their land. This will not sit well with many but it is not absurd, actually it is so true.

  10. That was the best title I have seen in a long time. “Legal citizen descended from Irish need not apply. It would have been better in all caps!

  11. A lot of good comments, but one thing that is for sure, our country can never afford to have another presidential administration that puts us in the position again where our borders are left wide open, millions of undocumented illegals are allowed to enter, and billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted.

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