Latino Voices

Mass Deportations a Cause of Concern for Illinois Restaurant Industry


The U.S. restaurant industry relies on the labor of undocumented immigrants. But in the wake of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation orders, some Illinois restaurant owners are raising concerns.

“There’s over 140,000 business owners, Latino-owned business owners, in the state of Illinois,” said Sam Sanchez, founder of Third Coast Hospitality Group and a board member of the National Restaurant Association. “You start closing these restaurants and they start affecting the business, inflation is going to go through the roof.”

To help business owners and their employees ready themselves for potential visits from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the General Consulate of Mexico in Chicago and other local organizations to launch a new program called “Tools to Protect Your Business: Be Prepared in Case of Deportation.” The initiative offers tools that include legal preparedness, financial security, operational support and more.

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“The main challenge is that this administration has installed fear in our community and people are not doing what they used to do before,” IHCC President and CEO Jaime di Paulo said. “Yes, it is affecting our businesses, but at the end of the day it’s affecting the whole supply change system. Because we don’t own our own supply chain, you know? We buy fruits and vegetables like some other groups.”

Immigration reform that provides economic security is a top priority of Comité de 100, a bipartisan group of Democratic and Republican Latino business leaders from across the country. This includes Sanchez, who owns several restaurants in the Chicago area and is also a member of the American Business Immigration Coalition.

“This group, we’re over 118 members right now and in over 25 states,” Sanchez said. “We have Republicans and Democrats to be able to work together and come to the middle, OK? President Trump said it at his inauguration, he wants to bring common sense to the White House, common sense to immigration. Congress has failed for 40 years. For 40 years on both sides of the party. But we know that not all the Democrats and not all the Republicans want to pass something, so we need both parties to work together.”


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