As Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided Los Angeles workplaces, triggering violent protests in parts of downtown, Maria S. Salinas decided the local business community needed to speak out.
The move by the president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce was an unusual one, given the organization generally strives to be diplomatic and nonpartisan.
When President Trump mobilized the National Guard to L.A. to quell protests, the chamber risked putting itself in the crosshairs of the White House with an uncharacteristically pointed statement that the raids were disrupting communities and threatening the local economy.
“Immigrants are not only valued members of our communities but are also essential to the strength of our workforce and the success of our economy,” the statement said. “Immigrants power critical sectors and contribute daily to the region’s prosperity.”
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is the oldest and largest business association in the region, representing more than 1,400 members who employ over 650,000 people.
Salinas recently spoke with The Times about how the ongoing raids are affecting local businesses.
What impact have the enforcement actions and protests had on businesses and industries in Los Angeles?
We saw immigration enforcement actions instilling fear and anxiety in our immigrant community. This is something that was definitely detrimental to Los Angeles, not only from an economic standpoint, but something that we call the wellness of our community.
When fear like that strikes in an immigrant community like in Los Angeles, it disrupts our economy. This is because people don’t show up to work and don’t show up to school, and even to their health appointments.
I’ve seen reports that even churches have seen a significant drop of their members. The impact on public transportation has definitely been felt. So, there’s a ripple effect because it impacts the livelihood of immigrant populations. It impacts their ability to earn a living, which then impacts the ability to spend and to go about their daily lives.
The fear and the anxiety goes very deep within communities.
Which businesses have been most affected?
Most of the businesses that have been impacted are smaller businesses, retail businesses and restaurants.
The impacts came in two ways: Workers were not showing up and customers were not showing up, especially in areas and parts of town that have a thriving immigrant community.
When people are afraid to go out, they stay away from local stores and aren’t going out to eat at their local restaurants. You see the emptiness in the local neighborhoods. Anecdotally, several shared stories concerning the impact on construction projects.
What were the effects on chamber members’ employees and customers?
There are small businesses in some of the impacted neighborhoods that thrive on immigrant customers. Their stores were empty or they had to close their stores because they were in areas that were impacted by the disruptions.
For hotels in the curfew area, they had to cancel events. So, that was quite a disruption to the local economy over those couple of days. When a 1,000-person event at a hotel had to be canceled, it affects employees and the overall hospitality industry.
Los Angeles lives off tourism, and it is an important part of our economy. We want to make sure that people from across the country or internationally have the best view of Los Angeles.
Do you have an estimate of the economic cost of the unrest?
I think it was still a little early to tell. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has passed a motion to determine the economic impact of the immigration enforcement actions. We’re going to stay very close to that because obviously we are very interested in understanding our local impact.
How dependent are L.A. businesses on immigrant labor?
The Los Angeles region is home to 3.5 million immigrants, representing 35% of the county’s more than 10 million population. They work in many industries, including the construction sector, hospitality, agriculture.
How have you conveyed your concerns to the Trump administration?
We called for de-escalation and have a long history of calling for comprehensive immigration reform. We understand Los Angeles and the importance to remaining competitive with a thriving workforce.
Are you lobbying in Washington for change?
We do our advocacy through our federal elected officials that represent the Southern California area.
We visit Washington, D.C., on an annual basis with a broad delegation. This year, we visited in March and met with various departments of the administration, including the departments of Commerce [and] Transportation, [the] Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration.
Our message was one to really highlight the importance of the Los Angeles economy to the rest of the country. … It’s a workforce that needs to be competitive so that we can compete with other countries.
Aside from the raids, how are new tariffs affecting L. A. businesses?
Tariffs result in increased costs for consumers. They impact every sector because many goods and parts are sourced from outside the United States. Policies around the tariffs impact not only Los Angeles through our port complex both in Los Angeles and in Long Beach, but the rest of the country. This is because about 40% of the goods that come to Los Angeles go out to the rest of the country.
