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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.

Judge rules Amazon violated shopper protection law in Prime case

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Amazon (AMZN.O) violated U.S. consumer protection law by collecting Prime subscribers’ billing details before disclosing the service’s full terms, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. The decision marks a partial victory for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as it prepares for trial against the retail giant.

U.S. District Judge John Chun said Amazon’s practices breached the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act (ROSCA), bolstering the FTC’s argument that the company used deceptive tactics to drive Prime signups. The agency alleges Amazon enrolled tens of millions of people in Prime without consent and made cancellation excessively difficult, frustrating millions of attempts to quit.

“Today’s decision affirms that Amazon defrauded American consumers by failing to disclose all terms of Prime before collecting consumer’s payment information,” said Chris Mufarrige, head of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau. “The Trump-Vance FTC intends to make them whole.”

The ruling also holds two Amazon executives potentially liable for violations if proven at trial, while preventing Amazon from arguing that ROSCA does not apply to Prime subscriptions.

Amazon rejected the allegations, saying it has always acted properly. “The bottom line is that neither Amazon nor the individual defendants did anything wrong,” a spokesperson said. “We remain confident that the facts will show these executives acted properly and we always put customers first.”

Klarna IPO Puts Spotlight on BNPL Trends with Five Key Charts

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As Klarna prepares for its long-anticipated New York IPO, attention has turned once again to the rise of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services that have reshaped consumer financing in the U.S. and abroad. Once a niche option, BNPL has surged in popularity since the pandemic, with billions in online sales now processed through installment plans.

1. Share of Online Spending

  • From January to August 2025, U.S. consumers spent $696.2 billion online, with $56.3 billion (8.1%) of that coming from BNPL purchases, per Adobe Analytics.

  • In 2024, BNPL accounted for $82.4 billion in total online spending — a 9.9% increase year-over-year.

  • BNPL’s share of e-commerce continues to expand, though it still trails far behind credit card usage.

2. On-Time Payments

  • Klarna boasts a 99% global repayment rate, while Afterpay reported 96% of customers paid on time in Q2 2025.

  • Affirm disclosed a 2.3% delinquency rate (loans over 30 days late) as of June 2025.

  • However, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia data shows a slight drop in punctuality: “pay-in-four” users making all payments on time fell by 1 percentage point between late 2023 and late 2024.

3. Average Monthly Payment

  • 57% of BNPL users reported monthly payments of $100 or less, according to The Motley Fool.

  • By contrast, the average monthly credit card payment was $181 (Experian, Q1 2025).

  • Only 1% of BNPL users carried monthly payments above $1,000, suggesting most use the service for small-ticket items rather than large purchases.

4. Uses Across Generations

  • Millennials and Gen Z are the most frequent BNPL users, particularly for everyday purchases like clothing or electronics (PYMNTS Intelligence 2024).

  • Baby Boomers and seniors remain skeptical, with the majority saying they would not use BNPL for daily expenses.

  • This generational divide reflects differences in trust, digital adoption, and attitudes toward debt.

5. Credit Scores

  • BNPL attracts more consumers with subprime (580–619) and near-prime (620–659) credit scores than traditional credit products.

  • Still, about 50% of applicants have scores above 660, suggesting the service appeals broadly across credit tiers (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2023).

  • Because most BNPL providers don’t report to credit bureaus, regulators warn this creates a “blind spot” — untracked debt that could mask financial vulnerability.

Regulatory Backdrop

  • The CFPB had required BNPL firms to handle disputes, issue refunds, and send billing statements, but the Trump administration revoked that rule, easing compliance burdens for lenders.

  • Consumer advocates argue this leaves gaps in oversight, particularly as BNPL expands beyond luxury goods into everyday spending.

Outlook

Klarna’s IPO underscores how deeply BNPL has penetrated consumer finance, growing rapidly as shoppers seek flexibility amid high living costs. But questions remain: Can BNPL remain sustainable if delinquency rates creep up, and will regulators reimpose stricter protections?