Atsuko Fujimoto, the owner of Norimoto Bakery in Portland, has been carrying her green card with her since last week.
And she’s created a contingency plan for staff to keep the doors open in the event that she’s detained.
“At this moment, as an employer, immigrant and mother, I feel a strong need to stay strong and calm for them,” Fujimoto said.
But things are uncertain, and she’s afraid.
So are her customers. Business has been two-thirds of what’s normal for this time of the year. And the free food that the bakery typically leaves out for school children from Deering High, Longfellow Elementary and Lincoln Middle schools has gone untouched. Students just haven’t been out on Stevens Avenue, she said.
Immigrant-owned and operated businesses in southern Maine have been bracing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence ramps up in the area. More than 100 people were arrested in the first few days of what federal officials have dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day.”
Worried about the safety of their employees and customers, many business owners have made the tough decision to temporarily close their doors. Many said they are afraid to attract attention to their establishments, especially when restaurants operated by and primarily serving immigrants have been targets of immigration enforcement.
Black Owned Maine, a nonprofit connecting over 450 minority-owned businesses across the state, announced on Sunday that it took down its website to protect the safety of the listed companies.
“We are working to develop a more secure point of entry so our community is not put on blast anymore than it currently is,” the Facebook post stated. The organizers said they were unsure when the website would go live again.
Six restaurant workers were arrested by federal agents on Thursday from Kobe Japanese Restaurant’s locations in South Portland and Biddeford, according to a restaurant manager. Two kitchen staff and a hibachi chef were among those taken, leaving the business short-staffed, said the manager on duty Friday, who requested anonymity because she was concerned for her safety.
The South Portland location was closed on Friday and some of its staff moved to Biddeford to keep that location open.
While making the arrests, agents requested proof of citizenship from everyone present and did not offer a specific explanation, she said. Among those taken were immigrants from China and Latin America, the manager said.
ICE spokespeople did not return emailed questions about who was arrested, why they were taken or why the agency targeted the restaurants.
“All we know is that they are legal to work,” she said. “It’s hard to open a business right now. You’re basically targeted.”
Some businesses, like Tres Leches Cake’s Flor, a Mexican restaurant in South Portland, have decided to close indefinitely.
“It’s not just for us,” said Rachel Gavilan, the daughter of the owner. “It’s for our community. We don’t want to put anyone at risk.”
A lot of their customers are Latino, she said.
When a reporter stopped by on Friday, Gavilan and her uncle Jose Franco froze when they saw a black van pulled into an adjacent driveway until they realized it was a delivery driver.
The day before, someone reported seeing a black Dodge with New York license plates parked outside around 8:15 a.m. Onlookers honked and made noise, and the vehicle took off when the crowd grew.
Franco said he has lived in South Portland for decades, but has started carrying his passport in his pocket, just in case. He said people of color are being stopped and taken regardless of status, and that’s terrifying.
“They’re looking for any excuse to take you,” he said. The color of your skin. An accent.
“We want to wait and see how it’s going to be,” Franco said.
A part-time cashier and shelf-stocker at an Asian supermarket in Portland said that she’s been thinking about quitting.
“I don’t want to see them come in here and try to get anybody,” she said.
She thought she saw federal immigration agents the other day on her drive to work. She drove carefully, she said, her hands tightly gripping the wheel, not wanting to draw attention to herself.
Other business owners are taking precautions.
Locos Coco’s Tacos in Kittery received a tip on Friday that federal immigration agents would be in the area and at their restaurant, according to Jesse Scardina, the bar manager. About an hour later, the business closed.
“We had to protect the safety of the staff,” Scardina said. Between part-time and full-time workers, the restaurant employs about 50 people.
The restaurant was closed at least through last weekend, something the business owners were already contemplating in response to the forecasted winter storm, Scardina said. They will revisit their hours early this week.
