'We're in survival mode': A year after ICE raids, a couple fight to save their dress shops - BERITAJA

On a caller Saturday morning, Joel Galvez cracked unfastened a spiral notebook and scribbled successful the day and a prayer: “Dios bendiga este día. Amen.” God bless this day.

The dream appears connected each page, on pinch the regular log of dresses he’d sold astatine 1 of the clothing stores he owns successful the Los Angeles Fashion District. In years past, Joel would statement dozens sold.

But a twelvemonth ago, the Trump management targeted the shopping district, a unit hub driven mostly by migrant business owners and Latino shoppers, arsenic portion of its mass migration crackdown.

Federal migration agents targeted astatine slightest 1 business here, arresting much than 40 migrant workers and triggering civilian unrest arsenic they carried retired sweeps crossed Southern California.

Joel Galvez reviews income numbers successful a spiral notebook astatine the apical of which he wrote“Dios bendiga este dia Doming 22 de Marzo. Amen!!!” (God bless this day, Sunday March 22, 2026. Amen!!!)

The effect connected Joel’s store, and others owned by members of the Galvez family, was immediate. The stores waste dresses for proms, typical occasions and quinceañeras, a Latin American rite of transition celebrating a young girl’s 15th day and her modulation to adulthood.

Joel, 41, owns 2 stores that cater to women. His wife, Leonor Torres, 56, has a shop that specializes successful quinceañera dresses and, pinch Joel, she co-owns a 2nd quinceañera shop.

After the raids, the quinceañera shops, usually packed pinch girls and doting mothers connected weekends, often sat empty. Customers called to cancel shot gown orders.

Saturdays were erstwhile the busiest days, and Joel’s 2 shops would each waste 50 dresses aliases more. Now they mightiness waste 10 each. Leonor went from trading 20 dresses a week to about three, possibly much connected bully days.

The raids besides affected mini businesses orbiting about quinceañeras: makers of embossed invitations, sellers of tiaras and crowns, choreographers, caterers, florists and more.

Leonor said her sister and brother, who co-own a banquet hallway successful the metropolis of Commerce, soon mislaid a year’s worthy of bookings. Along pinch his men’s store, her relative besides owns a limousine business. That saw cancellations too.

It didn’t thief that a period earlier the June raids, Joel and Leonor had opened the 2nd quinceañera shop. The monthly rent hovers about $11,000.

‘It’s been a existent struggle’

The Fashion District, frequented by about 2 cardinal group a year, has heavy ties to L.A.’s migrant communities. It is simply a sprawling web of independent unit and wholesale businesses, including a cluster of 150 shops that dress up its main attraction, Santee Alley.

Latinos relationship for much than 60% of the shoppers, according to the L.A. Fashion District Business Improvement District’s yearly report. In all, the raids caused a about 13% diminution successful yearly visits, the study found.

Fewer shoppers intends the Galvezes now person a surplus of quinceañera shot gowns. Their debt, they say, has jumped from $20,000 to about $150,000.

“It’s been a existent struggle,” Joel said.

So connected the past week of prom 1 caller Saturday morning, the brace were praying for a bully day.

“Hopefully, we’ll make immoderate income today.”

Leanor Torres, right, expresses her vexation and fearfulness to her husband, Joel Galvez, left, successful the midst of a very slow time arsenic the mates effort to support their business afloat. Rent is soon owed and they could spend to make only a partial payment. “I don’t want to accent excessively much,” Leonor said. “Six months without sales. It drains you.”

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1. Joel Galvez, right, heads to his storage pinch an adjunct to cod dresses for delivery. 2. Leonor Torres hoists a dress arsenic she closes shop aft different slow time of sales.

Leonor hoped for the same. A fewer days before, thieves had surgery into her shop astatine night, stealing about $8,000 successful rate that included the store’s monthly $5,500 rent.

“We’re successful endurance mode,” she said. “If we could waste capable to salary rent, I’ll beryllium happy.”

The uncertainty unleashed by the migration raids threatened much than play sales. It was trying to unravel years of sacrifice that the mates had made since immigrating to the United States from El Salvador.

It was besides threatening to divided them apart.

‘I don’t want to hide you’

Joel had nary desire to travel to the United States.

He was calved into a middle-class family successful El Salvador and attended a schoolhouse that emphasized discipline. He planned to be the University of El Salvador and study electrical engineering.

But successful the 1990s, nether the Clinton administration, the U.S. began deporting a grounds number of Salvadorans backmost to the country, which had not recovered from its bloody civilian warfare that claimed an estimated 75,000 lives, if not more.

An untold number of those deportees were convicted criminals and members of Mara Salvatrucha, aliases MS-13. Salvadoran refugees had formed the pack successful consequence to the unit they faced from thoroughfare gangs successful Los Angeles.

But the deportations backfired connected the U.S. The thoroughfare pack flourished and expanded passim Central America, contributing to decades of violence, extortion and insecurity that triggered waves of migration to the U.S.

Joel said pack members usage decease threats to unit young group to join. It wasn’t agelong earlier they came for him too.

“If you don’t subordinate us, past you’re a rival, and we’ll person to termination you,” they told him.

Joel refused, putting his life astatine risk.

Joel Galvez scrambles to load a heap of mannequins into his motortruck he purchased from different business that precocious closed. Despite the caller slowdown, he is looking to grow his businesses.

His mother, fearful for her youngest son, pleaded pinch him to fly the country.

“I don’t want to hide you,” he recalled her saying.

His sister already lived successful the United States and, astatine her behest, he joined her successful November 2005, entering the U.S. illegally and settling successful Los Angeles. He sewage a occupation arsenic a dishwasher astatine an Indian edifice successful Beverly Hills.

Almost immediately, he wanted to go a cook. He bought an Indian cuisine book successful MacArthur Park and studied it. He’d unit himself into the kitchen, cooking orders earlier he was shooed away. But he was undeterred.

“Little by little, they fto maine enactment successful the room longer and longer,” Joel said. “It sewage to the constituent that they were calling maine successful to thief navigator connected engaged days.”

In March 2016, erstwhile the owners closed the restaurant, Joel decided to move a setback into an opportunity.

Working successful Beverly Hills had shaped the early he envisioned for himself, and he dreamed of becoming arsenic successful arsenic the homeowners connected Hillcrest Road. He resolved to unfastened a business, to beryllium his ain boss.

Joel Galvez pays a impermanent worker aft tallying the week’s receipts astatine the store.

One time he wandered into the Fashion District and bumped into a puerility friend who told him location was money to beryllium made trading dresses. Using $25,000 he had saved arsenic a cook, he opened Galvez Fashion.

Joel said he was mostly breaking moreover and hardly had capable money for food. At lunch, he could spend only maize connected a stick. He chuckled astatine the thought.

“I would devour them,” he said.

From crossed the street, Leonor watched pinch amusement.

“He was eating it like, ‘Wow, this is the champion maize I ever had,’” she said, laughing. “Little did I cognize that this dude was hungry.”

Leonor learned from others that the man she ever saw eating maize was besides from El Salvador. One day, he crossed the thoroughfare and they began talking. She and her unit offered to thief him. If personification bought a quinceañera dress astatine her store, they would show the mothers to shop for their gowns astatine his store.

Leonor had not seen herself owning a quinceañera business but was thrust into it. She was serving arsenic a lawsuit head for abnormal students for the Montebello Unified School District erstwhile she was fto spell owed to fund cuts. She was 25 astatine the time.

Leonor Torres, right, assists Kailey Gutierrez of Riverside pinch a prom dress successful her store.

Her relative opened a quinceañera shop successful East Los Angeles and told her it was hers to operate. She moved the shop to downtown Los Angeles, past the Fashion District, wherever she’s been for 11 years.

It would years earlier Leonor and Joel would marry, but arsenic their narration grew, truthful did their businesses. Then came COVID-19.

Thanks to rent forgiveness and authorities help, their businesses survived, and erstwhile the pandemic abated, business began to prime up. Then came President Trump.

‘I can’t springiness up’

The Galvezes were unfazed by Trump’s committedness to transportation retired wide deportations. They figured he would target only immigrants pinch criminal convictions.

Then came the June 6 raids. One unfolded a fewer blocks from the couple’s stores. Customers stopped coming.

“It was dormant here,” Joel recalled. “That’s erstwhile our struggle began.”

For months, national migration agents had carried retired rolling patrols, targeting mostly Latinos, sloppy of their migration status. Immigrants and U.S.-born Latinos were detained connected the street, astatine activity sites, switch meets and parking tons of Home Depot.

Shoppers stroll past Mimi’s Fashion, a dress shop precocious unfastened for business successful the Fashion District connected a Sunday successful March. A shop that Joel and Leonor opened together has a monthly rent of about $11,000.

Joel feared he would beryllium detained and deported moreover though he had a pending migration lawsuit arsenic he sought to get a greenish card.

“I didn’t want to spell out,” he said. “The fearfulness was that if they extremity me, they’ll inquire if I’m a U.S. national and my reply is going to beryllium nary and they’re going to return me, alternatively than perceive to maine about my pending case.”

The Galvezes said they stopped eating retired and ended their monthly trips to the Morongo Casino. If Joel needed to tally to Home Depot aliases capable his car up pinch gas, he’d spell astatine night, erstwhile it seemed raids weren’t going on.

Leonor debated whether to transportation documentation, moreover though she is simply a U.S. citizen.

As income slumped, the mates fell down connected rent and had to trim unit by half, from 4 to 2 successful immoderate cases.

The financial accent created further unit connected their relationship. They sewage into mini arguments about really to amended sales. Sometimes, Leonor said, she went to her mother’s location to debar arguing pinch her husband, particularly erstwhile he sat successful silence, thinking.

“Sometimes erstwhile I’m alone, I cry,” Joel said. “But you person to support faith.”

He tries to punctual himself that the raids will someday end.

“Everything is going to beryllium OK, these moments don’t past forever,” he said.

Leonor agreed.

“We’ve been done a lot, but we survived,” she said. “I can’t springiness up.”

Mimi’s Fashion is engaged pinch customers seeking prom dresses aft galore slow months.

‘I cognize I’m going to make it’

The mates said the raids eased aft national migration agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti successful Minnesota. Their deaths group disconnected nationwide protests and led to the removal of Kristi Noem arsenic caput of Homeland Security, arsenic good arsenic Greg Bovino, then-commander astatine ample of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Facing an uncertain future, Joel Galvez drives on Maple Avenue successful Los Angeles’ Fashion District, wherever his once-thriving businesses are fighting economical and societal headwinds.

But not agelong after, national migration agents returned to the Fashion District. No 1 appeared to person been taken, but the beingness of national agents drove disconnected customers again.

The mates said they were recovering from that scare when, a fewer weeks ago, Trump’’s separator advisor, Tom Homan, announced that location would beryllium different activity of wide deportations. They were besides dismayed and confused by the news that green paper applicants would perchance person to time off the country.

His announcement came arsenic prom play was underway. Business hasn’t bounced to pre-raid levels, but connected that caller Saturday, Joel hoped for the best.

And the customers came, pinch Joel ringing up purchases arsenic cumbia euphony played successful the background. Next door, his woman besides took down orders, immoderate for quinceañeras for adjacent year, aliases arsenic Leonor saw it, hope.

Leonor Torres rolls the beforehand shop gross unopen aft a slow day. Weeks aft the ICE raids successful Minneapolis resulting successful the shooting decease of Renee Good, group stopped coming to the Fashion District. “There’s a glimpse of hope,” said Leonor. “Then that happens. Now group are frightened again.”

By 2 p.m. she had sold 5 quinceañera dresses and her hubby had 10 dress orders. One bid was for six dresses for a quinceañera and the remainder for prom and a wedding. By the extremity of the day, he would waste 10 much orders and about 15 astatine his 2nd store.

Standing wrong her store, surrounded by pastel ballgowns dressed up pinch lace and rhinestones, Leonor felt optimistic.

“I cognize I’m going to make it,” she said. “I cognize I’m going to past and astatine the extremity of the month, I’ll person money for bread.” Dios bendiga este día.