Long Island Restaurants are Losing Workers and Customers During the Deportation Crackdown
Gabino Ramirez started getting worried calls at his Farmingville diner about a year ago.
On days when ICE agents were rumored to be in the area, “the customers call me in the morning, ask if it’s OK to come in,” said Ramirez, owner of Gabino’s Diner, which makes Mexican fare for a largely Latino clientele.
Over the months, business fell by 20%, so much that Ramirez had to cut staff hours.
Regulars — mostly single working men from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador, some so reliant on the diner that Ramirez sells a six-meals-a-week package — stopped showing up.
“Some of them went back to their countries,” Ramirez said. “Some go to places … where they are not targeted.”
The Trump administration says the mass deportation campaign is bringing more jobs and higher wages to American workers.
But that’s not the case for Long Island’s restaurant industry.
Newsday spoke to restaurant owners and industry experts about how this has hurt sales and has made it harder to hire and retain workers. Link in bio to read the details.
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