HIGHLANDTOWN, Md. — Like the flip of a switch on January 20, businesses in the vibrant neighborhood became a ghost town.
Changes in federal immigration policies and rhetoric from the White House have had a chilling effect on immigrants, families and friends, trickling down to the businesses that are both built by and support these communities.
Manuel Garcia, who owns Manuel Style Barber Shop on Eastern Avenue, says the amount of business he used to see in three days now takes him a week.
"Folks are scared for all the problems that they're listening to in the news or social media," he said through a translator. "The business has declined, it's affecting all of the barbers and the business is definitely not doing the same."
It's the same story down the street at Spartan Pizza, where Indalecio Barranco has worked for 18 years.
“We used to have the whole thing full on the weekends, like Saturdays, Sundays. Now like the last couple of weeks you see only like two, three people come in," he said. "80% of the customers just vanished."
Juan Nuñez, a business owner himself and a son of an immigrant, says the concern is widespread as they're seeing more "blatant" rhetoric under President Trump.
Business owners Highlandtown speak on increased levels of fear regarding ICE
He's also previously served as Board President of the Highlandtown Merchants Association and is the Founder and Executive Director of Dominicans United of Baltimore.
"There’s chaos, there’s confusion," he said. "We want people to come out and shop and dine. We're one of the most diverse business communities in Baltimore City and there's hardworking families that we really need us to come together more than ever."
"Right now, people are saying: 'Do I go to work or do I get arrested by ICE?' People are afraid, they don't feel they have a choice," founder of Nuestras Raíces Inc. Angelo Solera said. "We're telling people, 'be careful.'"
But rumors, whether through word of mouth and on social media, have continued to swirl.
Barranco said he and a friend went home one day because they had heard from someone else that ICE had picked up someone nearby the restaurant.
The Baltimore City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs has issued a warning on Tuesday, urging people to seek credible sources before sharing information on ICE sightings "that can harm our community."
Solera says it's not just latino-owned stores that are affected, but also big box stores like Walmart.
"If our people don't go to work and our people don't go to businesses and spend their money, everyone is going to feel the effect," he said.
Solera says more than 200 people came out to "A day without immigrants" protest on Monday in the neighborhood, but even then, people did not show out of fear.
ICE Baltimore, which serves the entire state of Maryland, has not published the number of people detained since directives changed under President Trump. No data is available on its Enforcement and Removal Operations Page.
But Director Matthew Elliston reports the agency is only targeting known criminals and their associates, recently testifying in front of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.
"It's the worst, go first," he told Senator Will Smith (D-District 20, Montgomery County) that they had targeted a "highest-ranking" members of MS-13 in the state and ended up also arresting the four people in his apartment, who were found to not be U.S. citizens.
"What I would tell anyone is if your cousin is in MS-13 or a sex offender, that is Baltimore field office's bread and butter. So we are looking for those people first and foremost and with the administration's goals and objectives, if you're sitting in the room next to that person, we're probably going to interview you and we may take you as well," Elliston said.
"The fact that [Trump] was able to some ICE raids before, he's done it before, so who's to say he may not do it again," Nuñez said. "We hope that he's not making mistakes along the way."
In Focus look at immigration enforcement
