Business owners say students helped mitigate financial impacts of recent immigration enforcement

Regardless of how long they’ve been in business, restaurant owners Alejandro Soto Bonilla and Alison Kerwin say there’s nothing quite like these past two months.

While businesses citywide faced financial struggles as a result of Operation Metro Surge, restaurants on and around the University of Minnesota say students and community members helped to support local businesses during their time of need.

On Feb. 13, the City of Minneapolis released a report outlining the preliminary impact that the operation had on local businesses, detailing a loss of over $203 million to citywide revenue. On and near the University of Minnesota, business owners say they see these effects but not as drastically as in other parts of the metro. 

“We’ve actually seen a lot of big tips and stuff for the staff, more than I anticipated for an area where people’s income isn’t super high,” said Alejandro Soto Bonilla, co-owner of Sip of Silk, a Stadium Village coffee shop which opened in the fall. 

Those tips helped cover the dip in revenue Soto Bonilla saw during the surge — a shortfall he predicted happening on his books even though the restaurant is relatively new to the University’s food scene.  

“Maybe a dollar doesn’t mean much, but if we get 300 orders and everyone tips a dollar, that makes a big difference for a lot of the staff,” Soto Bonilla said.

Opened as a melting pot of Palestinian and El Salvadorian cultures, the shop has decided to face much of the recent debates surrounding immigration head-on. During the surge, the cafe started a food drive for those unable to buy groceries and saw 2,000 pounds of food donations in under a month, mostly from students, Soto Bonilla said.

Soto Bonilla said he and his co-owners chose a university-adjacent location because of the compassion of a student community. During the surge, he said, he saw many students step up to help.

“We came here because we wanted to be part of a community like this,” Soto Bonilla said.

On the opposite side of the campus, at one of the oldest businesses in the area, Operation Metro Surge played out in a similar way. 

Al’s Breakfast’s co-owner Alison Kirwin said the month-long period at the start of the spring semester created one of the slowest periods they had seen in a long time, with students avoiding campus and the looming threat of immigration agents. But their loyal customers saved them.

The cramped, 14-seat diner opened in 1950 and has been serving generations of students during its 75 years in business. The legacy helped to keep the business afloat. 

“I think we’re lucky compared to a lot of people who are newer in the neighborhood and still trying to develop a regular clientele,” Kirwin said. “We do have people that, I think, go out of their way to support us because we are a part of their lives and have been for a really long time.”

Yet in February, around the time the surge was declared over, Kirwin estimated that Al’s was down roughly a quarter of what it normally made around that time of year. 

One of the main reasons for this, Kerwin said, is the presence of ICE. Over the past two months, Kirwin said she has been aware that nervousness surrounding immigration enforcement has kept some customers away from public restaurants. 

A few weeks ago, Kirwin talked to a patron who was stopped briefly by ICE agents on their walk to the diner. Hearing stories like this, Kirwin said, drove ownership of the diner to act. 

Participating in local strikes and being vocal as a restaurant led them to be included in a Jan. 23 New York Times article, which led to the ultra-small, locally-owned shop receiving support from across the country. With that support also came opposition, Kirwin said.

Even still, the owners stand strong in their beliefs. For Kirwin, the moment is too big for her to watch from the sidelines. 

“Sometimes, when the situation’s important enough, it just becomes absolutely the right thing to do,” Kirwin said.