About three months after the immigration raid on Saturday, June 14, the small merchants of the popular Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet in Los Angeles County are fighting to survive and regain customers.

"Things have gone very badly for us. Right now sales have started to pick up a little, but at first they dropped 80%, we were just surviving on expenses. Fortunately, the swap meet “They cut the rent in half, but when they go back to charging us full rent, many of us are going to have to close,” says Enrique, a small business owner for more than 20 years at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, who asks that his identity and full name not be revealed.

In fact, he says, many business owners are keeping their businesses closed due to the uncertainty of raids.

It was around 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, June 14, when a platoon of about 100 heavily armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents descended on the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet. In the skies, a helicopter circled above the open-air market.

There were almost no people around. The merchants had just closed at 3:30 p.m. to take a break and reopen at 5 p.m., shortly before a big concert that was sold out that night.

“I wasn’t here that day. I was paying my taxes to the IRS. June 15 was the last day to make the bimonthly payment,” says Enrique.

His brother-in-law, who also prefers not to reveal his name, took charge of the establishment.

“I saw the officers walk past the stand. They weren’t masked, but they were well armed. They approached me and asked for my identification. I had my U.S. passport with me. I always have it because I go to Tijuana often. I showed it to them, and they left me alone,” he says.

During that operation, a Colombian immigrant couple was taken into custody.

“What we learned later is that they let the girl leave, but not him. It was "It's bad luck that they stopped them," says Enrique, who complains about the immigration raids.

"Most of us are honest, hard-working people. From my business,My wife and two children depend on us. They were already born here. We're people who come to earn our daily bread, we're putting down roots. We're labeled, that we're this, that other; and I agree that they should arrest the people who do wrong, and it doesn't fit anywhere." It's almost noon, and the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet looks desolate. Many businesses are closed. The heavy metal band, Damage Inc., a Metallica tribute band, attracts a few dozen attendees, but not enough. Claudio Eclicerio, a fruit vendor at the swap meet for 34 years, witnessed the raid on June 14. "I heard them walking nearby looking for someone, and suddenly I knew they were already about 20 meters away, and then they went inside. When I saw them walk by, I said, 'Wow, they're here.' Until then, they weren't aggressive."

From then on, he says, sales dropped between 60 and 70%, although the economy had been slow for months.

"It affected us a lot because undocumented people got scared and didn't want to come for fear of being separated from their families and losing their jobs."

In these 34 years, says Eclicerio, who is a naturalized Mexican-American, he had never seen such fear among children toward adults.

No entertainment for months

Arturo Gallardo, entertainment director of the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, says that after the raid, they were forced to cancel all scheduled events because 85% of those who attend them are Latino.

"People were scared; there was a lot of controversy and rumors; and for everyone's safety, we've canceled three months of concerts."

It wasn't until August 30 that they held their first concert after the June raids and noticed a big difference in attendance.

"It was 50% full. Of the 4,000 attendees we normally had at concerts two or three a month, only half showed up. We must continue fighting and we are grateful to the clients who support us.”

Gallardo acknowledges that the raids have not only affected them but that some artists and businesspeople have also had their visas revoked.

“It is a chain that is affecting everyone.”

He explains that even when giving away tickets, people are reluctant to go to his concerts, which are focused on being family entertainment.

“They tell us they have no way to get there, that they are busy, and others openly confess their fear.”

He points out that the low attendance at concerts and shopping at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet has also been observed at other open-air markets in Los Angeles County.

“In addition to the fear of the raids,We add to that the fact that everything has gone up in price; and many are asking, should I go to the swap meet with the family or should I buy a kilo of meat?”

The entertainment director admits his concern, but reiterates that they are not alone in this.

“Now they are carrying out raids in Chicago. The bad thing is that when they attacked us on June 14, no one knew what was happening or how to react, what rights we have; weeks later we started to react.”

On weekends from 12 to 5 pm, they are inviting bands that pay tribute to celebrities, but attendance is still low.

“Today we have Damage Inc. paying tribute to Metallica. Yesterday we offered country music, and last week was dedicated to Selena, and next weekend, there will be a tribute to Los Enanitos Verdes.”

How are they protecting people?

“We’ve joined with different pro-immigrant organizations, and we’re handing out cards with immigrant rights. We have signs all over the swap meet telling people how to protect themselves; and we’ve created a text alert system to let us know if anything happens, and we’ve also put security at all the entrances.”

She says they’re aware that it’s impossible to avoid a raid, but one advantage they have now is that they’ve created an alert system.

“They’re not going to surprise us anymore. We already know what to do.”

The damage of social media

Shopkeeper Marcos Vivres says they’ve tried to survive the crisis that followed the June 14 raid by cutting expenses as much as they can.

“We’re adapting to the low income.”

He says that something that has hurt him a lot was that the number of arrests during the raid was exaggerated on social media.

“Many people took advantage of the situation to expand their accounts and make money, saying they arrested 50 people, when they only took two. That hurt us a lot, because people panicked.”

The small merchant asked the migrant community not to believe everything they see on social media.

Customers’ reaction

Not many customers want to talk about the impact of the raid.

Lizbeth Garcia, a young mother, says that the June 14 raid was disrespectful to the community.

“All these merchants are trying to survive. They’re not doing anything wrong. It’s very sad.”

She called on Latinos in Los Angeles to support each other.

“We have to resist this hate that this administration is throwing at us. It will pass, and we will always move forward.”

Elizabeth Troncoso left a little disappointed to find many stalls closed at midday.

“Nothing is open. Everything looks very lonely. Everything we came looking for is closed. It’s a huge difference from how it was before. It’s depressing,” she says.

Don’t leave them alone

Merchant Enrique asks Latinos to come to the swap meet to support them but also to support other businesses in the community.

“We can’t live locked up. We have to go out with caution and alert because this government wants us to live in fear because it makes it easier to govern,” he says.

In a statement, the management of the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet said that the June 14 incident was disturbing and painful, but one thing is clear: our vendors are the ones who bear the greatest burden.

“These are small business owners, parents, and neighbors whose livelihoods depend on this market. We support our vendors, and our role is to provide them with the safest and most supportive market possible.”

Following the raid, some pro-immigrant activists accused the swap meet of doing nothing to prevent federal agents from entering and alerting the vendors. They even called for a boycott of the swap meet, which has resulted in the loss of 66 of its 306 vendors and a reduction in staff from 111 to 67.

The Administration clarified that it is false that they cooperated with immigration authorities in the June 14 operation.

The Santa Fe Spring Swap Meet is located at 13963 Alondra Blvd, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670.