Chicago’s Cinco de Mayo parade once drew large crowds to Little Village, but this year’s celebration was even more muted than last year according to business owners.
The annual holiday gathering in the heart of the city’s Mexican community was canceled for the second year in a row due to immigration enforcement concerns, organizers said last month.
Small business owners said the parade has always been vital to their sales, but along 26th Street there was hardly any foot traffic early Tuesday afternoon, after fewer customers than usual were seen in the days leading up to the holiday.
For Francisca Alfaro Rodriguez, owner of Fran Arte y Estilo de Mexico, the parade used to draw customers into her store looking for traditional Mexican clothing. Instead, she said she barely sold anything during the holiday weekend.
“There used to be so much joy here,” Alfaro Rodriguez said. “There was pride in wearing Mexican attire.”
The parade, which commemorates Mexico’s unexpected victory over Napoleon III’s French army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, has historically drawn hundreds to the neighborhood. But organizers told the Sun-Times that Chicago’s Mexican community is still on edge in the wake of Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s deportation campaign in the Chicago area last fall.
Alfaro Rodriguez said sales have dropped nearly 90% since last year, and she was hoping the parade might help make up for it. Instead, the streets were largely empty on Tuesday.
“They say the raids have slowed down, but people are still not coming out,” she said.
The parade could have drawn in much-needed business for Maria Ortiz’s gift shop, Regalos Lucy.
Ortiz said she believes people still would have turned out for the parade, much like they did over the weekend in nearby Cicero, which held its own Cinco de Mayo festival.
“People celebrated out there; they would have here, too,” she said.
Ortiz, who has owned her store for 10 years, said this Cinco de Mayo was the slowest she’s ever seen. But she doesn’t believe fear of deportation is the only reason people aren’t shopping, saying that rising costs are also to blame.
“If you go out to a party, you have to spend money, and people don’t have money to spend,” Ortiz said.
Just a few blocks away at Dulcelandia, a candy store, employee Stacy Ruiz said Cinco de Mayo was typically a busy day for them, but the store was empty early Tuesday afternoon.
“The street used to be packed with people, but this year it was really slow,” she said.
Ortiz said she understands why people would be afraid to come out, recalling how she saw people running to safety during immigration raids last fall. She added that the neighborhood became an easy target during the deportation campaign because residents openly celebrate their Mexican heritage.
The resulting drop in foot traffic has taken a toll on businesses across the neighborhood. Ortiz said that before the raids, her store had four employees working during business hours, but now it’s down to two.
“What happened last year was sad, but I hope that people come back,” Ortiz said.