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Fear of Trump’s Immigration Raids Pushes Hispanic Shoppers Toward Online Buying

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In Newark’s largely Latino Ironbound district, business owner Rosa Ludena watches customers vanish from her electronics shop. For over two decades, she has sold phone accessories to her community, but now the aisles are quiet.
“People are afraid to go out because of immigration raids,” says Ludena, who emigrated from Ecuador in 1999.

Since President Donald Trump renewed his hardline immigration crackdown, high-profile raids — from Home Depot parking lots to farms and factories — have shaken Hispanic communities nationwide. A January raid on a fish market near Ludena’s store still haunts local shoppers.

The impact extends far beyond Newark. Flea markets, small retailers, and national brands alike report falling in-store traffic as Hispanic consumers retreat to online shopping, fearing ICE patrols and public scrutiny. “It’s unsurprising given concerns over changing immigration policies,” said Mark Mathews, chief economist at the National Retail Federation.

Retail surveys by Kantar show store visits by Hispanic shoppers fell nearly 15% between April and June, while non-Hispanic visits dropped only 4.5%. Online shopping, meanwhile, reached record highs — 60% of Hispanic consumers shopped online last quarter.

For small business owners, the shift is devastating. “These aren’t big companies with websites,” said Oliver de la Garza of Proyecto Azteca, a nonprofit in Texas. At an Alamo flea market, he said, vendor numbers have halved since a June raid.

Major brands are noticing too. Heineken and JD Sports both reported sales declines among Hispanic customers. Shoe Palace, which caters to Latino shoppers, saw foot traffic collapse earlier this year. “You can see definitively the impact of immigration policy,” said JD Sports CEO Régis Schultz.

Large retailers like Walmart — whose online sales jumped 26% this summer — are benefiting from the trend, while smaller stores lacking e-commerce channels are losing customers fast.

Even legal residents say they’re nervous. “There’s fear of being watched or harassed,” said Julie Craig, a Kantar vice president.

Hispanic Americans, who represent 19% of the U.S. population, have a projected $2.8 trillion in buying power next year — but fear, not spending potential, is shaping how they shop.

Heineken’s Q3 Revenue Slightly Exceeds Forecasts, Full-Year Guidance Unchanged

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Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer, reported a 3.3% rise in organic net revenue for the third quarter, narrowly surpassing analysts’ expectations of 3.2% growth. The increase was driven by higher-priced and non-alcoholic beers, with the Heineken brand itself seeing an 8.7% rise in global volumes, particularly strong in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Non-alcoholic beers and ciders also saw growth, up by 11%.

Despite these gains, overall volumes grew just 0.7%, with two of Heineken’s three largest regions experiencing declines. The company has kept its full-year guidance unchanged, targeting 4-8% organic operating profit growth, despite earlier concerns raised by weaker half-year results.

CEO Dolf van den Brink noted that the business is performing in line with expectations, though challenging market conditions persist. Analysts, including Trevor Stirling of Bernstein, emphasized that Heineken is in a rebuilding phase, needing consistent results to regain investor confidence after previous disappointments.

Shares of Heineken were up 2.34% in early trading following the announcement.