May 20, 2026
When Policy Stops Being Abstract
Before I launched the LLI more than 12 years ago, I spent much of my career in and out of Washington, D.C., managing economic policy portfolios tied to workforce development, entrepreneurship, education, and economic opportunity, particularly within Latino communities. That experience taught me something I have never forgotten: policy is never abstract. Policy eventually shows up in payrolls, hiring decisions, family stability, and whether a business owner decides to expand or shut their doors.
Earlier this week, I joined a briefing hosted by the Brookings Institution and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on the state of Latino entrepreneurship. It was a sobering reminder that we need a far more honest conversation about what is happening right now inside Latino communities and Latino-owned businesses across this country.
Policy is no longer happening somewhere “out there.” It is happening inside Latino homes, businesses, and communities every single day.
What we are witnessing right now is a collision of intensified immigration enforcement, tariff instability, shrinking access to capital, and rising economic uncertainty. And Latino businesses are increasingly carrying the burden first.
Immigration Policy Is Creating Fear, Paralysis, and Economic Harm
Immigration policy is tormenting our community in ways that challenge the very moral compass of our society. Across the country, Latino families are living with fear, uncertainty, and emotional exhaustion. Parents are afraid to leave their homes. Workers are afraid to report to job sites. Business owners are watching customer traffic disappear overnight in neighborhoods that once felt vibrant and alive.
The human toll alone should force serious reflection and action.
But beyond the human toll, there is also a growing economic chilling effect moving through Latino communities and commercial corridors in real time.
In Los Angeles, more than 80% of businesses surveyed reported disruptions tied to immigration enforcement activity, and nearly half reported losing more than 50% of their revenue. In Chicago’s Latino commercial corridors, 95% of businesses reported declining sales. In Texas and Florida, Latino-owned businesses are reporting labor shortages, declining customer traffic, delayed projects, and operational instability tied directly to fear within immigrant communities.
Fear does not stay inside households. It spreads into payrolls, storefronts, job sites, and entire local economies.
This is the ripple effect of policy.
When families stop going out to eat because they fear enforcement activity, restaurants lose revenue. When construction workers stop showing up because they fear detention or deportation, projects slow down. When customers avoid shopping districts because anxiety and uncertainty are hanging over the community, retail businesses suffer. Suppliers lose orders. Employees lose hours. Hiring freezes begin. Expansion plans are delayed.
Entire business corridors weaken.
And because Latino-owned businesses are heavily concentrated in industries like construction, hospitality, transportation, retail, and food service, these effects compound quickly.
Tariffs and Uncertainty Are Crushing Stability
At the same time, tariffs and policy volatility are creating another layer of pressure on Latino-owned businesses already operating on thin margins. Many rely on imported products, raw materials, equipment, or construction supplies. Constant shifts in trade policy and rising tariffs are increasing costs while making it nearly impossible for business owners to plan with confidence.
Large corporations may be able to absorb uncertainty. Most Latino-owned small businesses cannot.
For a Latino-owned construction company, rising material costs can erase already-thin margins. For restaurant owners, increased food costs combined with declining customer traffic can quickly become unsustainable. For transportation businesses, rising fuel and supply costs cut directly into profitability.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is not just the disruption itself, but the unpredictability surrounding it. Latino entrepreneurs are being asked to make long-term decisions in an economy where labor, costs, supply chains, and demand can shift overnight.
That is not economic stability. That is economic whiplash.
Latino Employer Firms Are Under Threat
As the Brookings report highlighted, Latino-owned employer firms now represent more than 495,000 businesses nationwide, generating over $730 billion in annual revenue and employing more than 3.8 million workers. These businesses are not side stories within the economy. They are employers, job creators, community anchors, and one of the most important pathways to wealth creation within the Latino community.
What makes this moment so concerning is that the very businesses that already beat the odds are now operating under growing economic pressure and instability. Latino employer firms are disproportionately concentrated in industries being hit hardest by immigration enforcement disruptions, labor instability, tariffs, rising supply costs, and declining consumer confidence.
The report estimates that even a modest 3% decline in Latino-owned employer firms nationwide would result in nearly 15,000 lost businesses, more than 114,000 lost jobs, and over $21 billion in lost revenue. At a 9% decline, those losses grow to more than 44,000 businesses, 344,000 jobs, and nearly $66 billion in lost revenue.
These numbers represent businesses that already figured out how to hire employees, sustain payroll, build teams, and contribute to local economies at scale despite the barriers Latino entrepreneurs often face.
The businesses now at risk are the very businesses Latino communities fought hardest to build.
And what makes this even more alarming is that these figures only measure the risk facing existing Latino employer firms. They do not account for the far larger number of Latino-owned businesses that never make it to employer status in the first place. At a time when so few Latino-owned businesses successfully scale into employer firms, policies that create fear, instability, labor disruption, and economic uncertainty will only widen that gap further.
Resilience Alone Will Not Save Us
For generations, Latinos have been told to simply work harder, sacrifice more, and stay resilient. And resilience is absolutely part of our story.
But resilience alone cannot overcome systems built on instability and intentional harm.
We cannot continue asking Latino entrepreneurs to build businesses while simultaneously forcing them to operate under fear, labor disruption, rising costs, shrinking access to capital, and constant policy volatility.
At some point, we must acknowledge that policy decisions are not just shaping politics. They are shaping economic outcomes for millions of Latinos across this country.
What We Must Do Now
This moment requires more than outrage. It requires organization, investment, and action.
We must protect Latino employer firms already carrying local economies and creating jobs within our communities. We must invest in systems that help Latino-owned businesses scale beyond survival mode and into long-term wealth-building enterprises.
That means expanding access to capital and procurement opportunities. It means strengthening local business ecosystems and technical assistance networks. It means supporting organizations that are helping Latino entrepreneurs navigate uncertainty while building operational strength. And it means demanding policies rooted in economic stability, human dignity, and long-term growth rather than fear and disruption.
The Ripple Effects Are Already Here
The truth is that policy decisions being made today are already shaping which Latino businesses survive, which communities remain economically strong, and which futures become possible for the next generation.
And whether people want to admit it or not, the ripple effects are already here.
The future of Latino wealth and safety will not be determined by our demographic might alone. It will be determined by whether we demand policies and pathways to shared prosperity.
