Los Angeles County reports that ICE raids result in $3.7 million in business losses
Approximately $3.7 million in business losses occurred between July to September 2025 due to federal immigration raids in Los Angeles County, according to a report released today.
County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn commissioned the report, and the action was approved by the full Board of Supervisors in June 2025, following the start of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the Southland.
The county Department of Economic Opportunity in partnership with the LA County Economic Development Corporation analyzed the economic impact of the crackdown on small businesses, workers and communities across the region.
Some 311 individual respondents participated in a survey to share how federal immigration enforcement impacted their businesses, with the following results:
— 90% of business interview respondents perceived growing distrust across federal and local governments;
— 82% of businesses surveyed reported negative impacts from immigration enforcement, with 44% losing over half of their revenue;
— 52% experienced reduced daily sales/revenue, and 51% reported decreased customer traffic; and
— Businessowners who were surveyed, whose operations were located in curfew and protest-affected areas, reported more than $200,000 in property damage.
Of the survey respondents, 59% of employers expressed concern about maintaining their current workforce, 70% of businesses experienced staffing shortages following enforcement action, and 33% of employers said workers were afraid to report to work.
Findings also showed that bus ridership on high-vulnerability lines declined by approximately 17,000 monthly riders compared to baseline levels. In downtown Los Angeles, a curfew was enacted between June 10-16 due to anti-ICE protests, which resulted in $840 million in output losses, the report said.
The report said immigrants here without legal permission or with various legal status contribute an estimated $253.9 billion in total economic output, equivalent to 17% of the county’s gross domestic product.
“This report confirms what so many small businesses, workers, and families have experienced firsthand,” said Kelly LoBianco, director of the Department of Economic Opportunity, in a statement.
“Immigration enforcement has caused widespread disruption, but LA County is responding with urgency, investing in sharing critical information and technical assistance to workers and employers, disbursing cash relief to small businesses, and offering paid work for youth and impacted families to help stabilize our communities and rebuild economic security,” LoBianco added.
Trump administration officials have defended the surge in ICE activity, saying aggressive enforcement was needed after former President Joe Biden presided over a period of lax security at the U.S.-Mexico border that saw tens of thousands of people enter the country with no screening.
Administration officials have also touted the arrest by ICE agents of many immigrants in the country without legal permission with long criminal rap sheets.
In response to the report, the Republican Party of Los Angeles County issued a statement, saying “LA County Board of Supervisors wants to justify further tax increases on the law-abiding citizens of Los Angeles.”
“Where are the reports on the effects of their disastrous COVID policies or their war on landlords and private property or the economic impacts of the deadly fires and crime they enable? While most of the nation is peacefully abiding by federal law and enjoying lower gas and grocery prices, LA’s elected Democrats are doing everything they can to blur the lines between legal and illegal immigrants in order to squeeze hard-working people, and it’s shameful,” LAGOP’s statement continued.