NEW YORK, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration's promise of mass deportations and immigration raids is already having chilling effects on spending by immigrants -- the effects are wide-ranging, from sluggish tamale sales on a Los Angeles sidewalk to canceled home purchases in the Virginia suburbs, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has issued a spate of directives to expedite the removal of immigrants who are living in the United States without authorization. The administration has also launched a splashy public-relations campaign to draw attention to deportation efforts and raids. "The flurry of activity has fanned fears in Latino communities, and a sharp drop in consumer spending," noted the report.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an average of 822 migrants a day since Trump's inauguration, said the report. ICE arrested roughly 310 people a day in the 2024 fiscal year.

"A sustained pullback in economic activity in Latino communities would have repercussions for local businesses and the broader economy," said the report. "U.S. Latinos of any race accounted for roughly 13 percent of consumer spending in 2023, according to Labor Department data."

Latinos have been a driver of new-business formation, starting businesses at more than twice the rate of the U.S. population as a whole, according to Census Bureau data. Immigrants accounted for 36 percent of launches in 2023, compared with 25 percent in 2019. Enditem

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