Nancy Sanchez does a lot of extra praying these days.

The owner of Los Cuates Taqueria in Virginia Beach prays for her customers, her business and her country. In late January, she heard federal agents picked up a few people within 5 minutes of her restaurant.

“It scares me,” Sanchez said. “And it saddens me that it’s hurting my Latino population that comes into Los Cuates.”

Some businesses are reporting fear among workers and a drop in customers related to an increase of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in U.S. cities, including recent sightings in Hampton Roads. More than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies, including Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth, signed a Jan. 25 letter calling for de-escalation, the Associated Press reported, after two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota amid a massive immigration enforcement operation there that has spurred protests.

Virginia businesses, including restaurants and shops, are reporting a decline in patrons as customers maintain a lower profile, said Julian Baena, vice president of the Hispanic Chamber of Coastal Virginia.

“Because it appears to be pretty much indiscriminate rounding up of folks within the Hispanic community,” Baena said.

ICE’s impact is being felt by Latino restaurants, grocery stores and the hospitality and service industries as they experience the lack of manpower due to increased fear, said Patricia Bracknell, founder and CEO of The Chamber for Hispanic Progress.

“It’s a pandemic,” Bracknell said. “I don’t think we’ve felt the worst of it yet.”

Looking ahead to the tourism season, Bracknell said she feels the “entire wrath of ICE” will be felt as the economic growth of Hampton Roads — and other cities — are negatively affected.

Los Cuates Taqueria bartender Nasly Escorcia chats with their only two customers at lunchtime on Jan. 27. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Akhil Jain, president of Landmark Hotel Group in Virginia Beach, said while there hasn’t been any direct impact on his company owned and operated hotels, there is a pervasive, underlying fear among some hotel guests.

“There is a Hispanic group that has a meeting at one of our locations and they are kind of fearful because there’s all these rumors out there about raids and that Hampton Roads is potentially on the target list,” Jain said. “We’ve seen some cancellations as a result of that.”

MD Alam, owner of Anand Bazaar, an international food market in Newport News, said his business has not been affected by ICE. He said the majority of his customers hail from the Middle East, India and Afghanistan.

Due to the economy and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Alam said business has slowed a bit on the cash flow side, but is still doing OK.

“I have been living in Newport News for the last eight years,” said Alam, who came from Bangladesh. “I have had no issues and only good experiences.”

Equally, Ahamed Amin, manager of Chesapeake supermarket Al-Amin, said he thanks God that ICE hasn’t had any impact on the business. While he has heard from customers about the situation, he said it hasn’t come to his doors.

But for Yailyn Miranda, manager of El Nayar, a small family-owned ice cream shop in Virginia Beach that specializes in fresh, homemade and authentic Mexican sweets, the impact of ICE is apparent.

Miranda’s parents, Juana and Lazaro, started the business in October 2024. They have lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years and are naturalized citizens.

Business was good at first with the shop getting busier each week as it eased into its first summer, she said. But it has since slowed.

“A lot of our customers have actually mentioned they haven’t been coming out as often — because of course we do get a lot of Latino customers — and they don’t want to risk driving with ICE present,” Miranda said.

Still, customers are showing up — just with caution, she said.

Nancy Sanchez, owner of Los Cuates Taqueria in Virginia Beach, checks on the kitchen while waiting for lunch customers on Jan. 27. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Born and raised in Texas to Mexican immigrants, Sanchez emphasized she understands the importance of coming into the country legally: “I know that people who come here should do the right thing and go through the right process.”

She opened Los Cuates Taqueria 13 years ago and is now seeing the downside of ICE’s actions. In the past two months, she said there has been a decline in her regular customers, including those who work in the nearby construction industry.

When Sanchez sees some of her customers afraid to come out, she said she offers to deliver their meals as she knows them by name and considers them to be more like family.

“Hopefully it’ll get better so I can get back on my feet. … Los Cuates was always full,” she said. “We had people waiting for a table before and, now, it’s different.”

Filled with faith, Sanchez said she will do all she can to make sure her family-owned business and livelihood survives. But reports of ICE keep coming.

“I don’t know when it’s going to stop,” Sanchez said. “I wish it would stop now.”

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com

https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/02/09/ice-fear-hampton-roads-business/