After being sworn into office, President Trump signed a whole host of executive actions and orders that affirm his campaign promise to crack down on immigration.Trump's border czar has said Chicago is at the top of the list of places to be targeted. The city is expecting immigration raids, detentions and deportations. In the Little Village neighborhood, where the majority of residents are Mexican or of Mexican descent, people are on edge as they await what's next.Beyond the many people personally affected, past research suggests everyone could feel the impacts of mass deportation.On this episode of Planet Money we visit Little Village to see how the new administration is already having an impact. And then, we hear from an economist who looks to a recent chapter in mass deportation for insight into what the future could hold.Today's episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Willa Rubin with an assist from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Kenny Malone, engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What is the 'chilling effect' of deportations?
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I wanted to stop here because I just wanted to stand in front of these beautiful dresses.
Yes, they're gorgeous. Back when I was 15, the dresses were not as pretty as they are now.
Jennifer Aguilar and I are standing in front of a shop that sells quinceañera dresses. Those sparkly ornate gowns girls wear for their coming-of-age parties. We're in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago.
More than 75% of people here are Mexican or Mexican-American, including Jennifer. She was born here, raised here, got her quinceañera dress here. What did your dress look like?
I was very emo. So it was black and white. And pink chucks. Oh, that is cool. Yes.
Okay. Yes. You were styling. Jennifer is now executive director of Little Village's Chamber of Commerce. And to be clear, Little Village is not little. The neighborhood's main corridor is about two miles with more than a thousand shops and businesses. After the magnificent mile in downtown Chicago, Little Village generates the most money in the city.
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Chapter 2: How is Little Village affected by immigration policies?
And it is a significant tourist destination. People from all over the country come to eat and shop and, yes, buy a dress at one of the dozens of quinceañera shops. But today, it is very, very quiet. Yes, it is. And that is because about a month before President Trump was sworn into office,
His incoming border czar announced that Chicago would be one of the first targets for raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sometimes called ICE. People assumed Little Village would be particularly high on the target list.
And now I'm standing here with Jennifer just a few days after Trump has been sworn in and after his first flurry of executive orders. There haven't been raids in Little Village yet. But Jennifer says the moment Trump was sworn in, the neighborhood changed.
I think the rumors that are going on are they're going to come to the businesses. They're going to come to the restaurants. They're going to come here. And even if they're not looking for you, if you're there, then they can snatch you. And I think that those are the types of messages and rumors that are generating this fear.
People are afraid of going out to buy something at the grocery store and never coming back to their families.
Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Erika Barris. And I'm Amanda Aronchik. President Trump has promised the largest deportation in history. Today on the show, what that looks like on the ground in a community that fears being targeted.
We'll also look to a recent mass deportation effort and how it gave economists an unusual chance to study what really happens when hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers disappear from the labor market. Little Village is not totally a ghost town. We see a fair number of reporters like us coming and going.
There are also non-reporters, just a handful of people who seem to be going about their business, going to the dentist or to the grocery store.
Right now it's around the time that kids are coming out from school. Usually you would see the kids hanging out, even with the snow, with their parents, with their friends. And right now it seems like it's very kind of the less time they can spend on the street, the better.
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