Some business owners say ICE’s presence threatens small businesses in Minneapolis and Minnesota.

Manny Gonzalez has run Manny’s Tortas, a Mexican sandwich booth at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, for more than 25 years with his 68-year-old sister. Since early December, four of the company’s 10 employees have stopped coming to work for fear of being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, he said.

Gonzalez, 65, is also concerned, he said. The trained chef immigrated to the United States from Mexico City in 1982 and now carries his passport everywhere he goes. He estimates average monthly income is down about 50%. He added that he and his sister usually manage the company’s books, but they also work 12- to 15-hour shifts standing to make tortas to keep the business afloat amid the labor shortage.

Gonzalez said small business owners in Minneapolis fear for their safety, the safety of their communities and the survival of their businesses as ICE agents flood the city. The federal government’s Operation Metro Surge has brought thousands of ICE agents to Minneapolis since December, and tensions between law enforcement and protesters escalated after two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Preti, were killed by ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents in January.

Residents are having their daily lives restructured, and local small business owners are no exception. Many businesses along Lake Street, a roughly 6-mile stretch of road in Minneapolis that is home to an estimated 2,000 restaurants, markets and shops, have seen an estimated 40% to 100% drop in revenue compared to last winter, said Marie Campos, communications and marketing manager for the Lake Street Council. The Lake Street Council is a nonprofit organization that supports small businesses, primarily immigrant-owned businesses, in the corridor.

Richard Trent, executive director of the Main Street Alliance, a national small business network, said small businesses in Minneapolis were vulnerable even before December. While some companies have weathered the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd protests, U.S. tariffs on imported goods and federal cuts to Medicaid funding have forced them to readjust their business models, he said.

Now, with customers and employees alike staying home and worrying about witnessing violence or getting themselves arrested, sales are plummeting and businesses are running out of cash to pay expenses, Trent said.

As the state’s largest city by population, Minneapolis tends to influence the state’s overall economy, Trent said. He estimates that one-third of the Minnesota-based small businesses in Trent’s network, which typically already operate on relatively low cash flow, are “currently on the verge of bankruptcy.”

“When a small business in Minnesota has a cough, the entire state catches a cold. … When a small business suffers, it can literally bring the entire state’s economy to its knees,” Trent said, noting that small businesses account for roughly half of all job creation in the United States.

Midtown Global Market is usually busy on weekends with live music, children laughing and a variety of businesses, Gonzalez said. Gonzalez said she had heard people blowing whistles outside to signal that ICE agents were nearby, but now it’s quieter with several shuttered businesses.

Campos estimates that about half of the immigrant-owned businesses in Minneapolis have closed temporarily or permanently since early December, citing safety concerns and staffing shortages. Other companies have also decided to temporarily close or cancel events.

Some have converted themselves into community centers for locals in need of warmth and free coffee during sub-zero protests and patrols. Campos said many business owners remember how the community’s support helped them financially weather the pandemic and the George Floyd protests that engulfed Minneapolis in 2020.

“(They) recognize that the community has given so much back to them,” she says. “We have an environment here where you don’t turn your back on the community that supports you.”

Pillar Forum, a cafe and event space in northeast Minneapolis, is one such organizing hub, said owner Corey Bracken. The business has a history of hosting protesters, and Bracken said revenue is actually up compared to this time last year, whether it’s because of community support or simply staying open when other stores are closed. But even for businesses not facing imminent closure, stress is high.

On Jan. 11, one of Pillar’s baristas called Bracken to report an incident with ICE agents outside, Bracken said. The barista told Bracken that employees “picked up” the two people as they came out of a nearby Latino-owned grocery store, and the barista and some of Pillar’s patrons ran outside and blew whistles, only to be pepper-sprayed and beaten with batons, Bracken said.

“Sometimes I feel like they’re there to make their presence felt. Other days I feel like they’re there to intimidate or bully,” Bracken says. So far in January, there have been four confrontations involving ICE agents outside Pillar, he said.

ICE did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for comment. Asked by ABC News about economic concerns for the region, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin pointed to the protests and what she said in a statement: “In effect, the sanctuary policy precludes us from cooperating with state and local law enforcement,” the outlet reported on Jan. 21.

On Tuesday, three days after Alex Preti’s murder, US President Donald Trump addressed the tensions in Minneapolis in an interview with Fox News, saying, “I’m going to de-escalate it a little bit.” As of Wednesday, the two Border Patrol agents who fired their weapons when Preti was shot were on leave.

Jessica Peterson White, a city council member in Northfield, about 55 miles south of downtown Minneapolis and home to Carleton University and St. Olaf College, said the emotional toll extends beyond the city limits. Stores there are also closing due to staff shortages, she said.

Peterson White, who owns Content Bookstore in downtown Northfield, said other owners in her store’s neighborhood have also been questioned by ICE agents about their hiring practices. She said she has begun training employees on their constitutional rights and what to do if ICE agents come into the store and start harassing customers.

“I could barely do my normal job of running the business and keeping inventory flowing…because I spent so much time evaluating and reevaluating, ‘What feels safe today?’” says Peterson-White. She and her staff spend part of their workday delivering supplies to groups that organize grocery delivery services for families who are afraid to leave their homes, she said.

“Our Penguin Random House boxes are the perfect size (for groceries),” Peterson-White says.

One recent evening, Bracken said she was walking to a local pub when she passed people marching down the street holding candles in memory of Preti. Mr Bracken said a bagpiper was playing outside the pub and chanting Scottish prayers.

“I’m usually pretty level-headed about things. I’m able to take on a lot of challenges and work with a lot of tension with a lot of different people,” Bracken says. “This is a whole new level of stress and anxiety, and there’s no strategy for having to deal with this as a business owner or just as a human being.”

Correction: Marie Campos is the communications and marketing manager for Lake Street Council. The organization name was incorrectly listed in previous versions.