Gov. Tim Walz proposed $10 million in forgivable loans for Minnesota businesses affected by the surge in federal immigration activity starting in December.
The incursion of around 3,000 federal immigration agents in Minnesota in what the Trump administration called “Operation Metro Surge” led to revenue losses for businesses, especially those in major immigrant corridors, as employees and customers stayed home out of fear of being detained by federal immigration agents.
The one-time forgivable loan proposal was announced Thursday at a Capitol press briefing, moments after U.S. border czar Tom Homan announced the end of the surge and claimed success in making the Twin Cities and Minnesota “safer.” The unprecedented federal incursion ignited massive resistance and resulted in two killings of American citizens, among other high-profile incidents.
The damage from Operation Metro Surge is still being assessed, Walz said. Minneapolis businesses are estimated to have lost $10 to $20 million a week in sales, the Star Tribune previously reported.
The relief package would apply to businesses that can demonstrate substantial revenue loss tied to the surge with revenues between $200,000 and $4 million annually. The loans would be between $2,500 to $25,000, with an opportunity to apply for 50% forgiveness after a year.
Walz acknowledged that the $10 million relief proposal is “a very small piece of” the recovery. He said that the upcoming legislative session, which starts Feb. 17, “needs to be about recovery of the damage that’s been done to us.” The prospects at the Legislature aren’t great, however: Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is also a frontrunner for the GOP nomination for governor, is likely disinclined to support anything that could even implicitly be viewed as a criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
Henry Garnica, the owner of CentroMex Supermercado in St. Paul’s East Side, a grocery store that caters to the Hispanic community, spoke at the briefing. Federal agents visited CentroMex without a judicial warrant in December, where they faced off with residents who quickly arrived at the scene and formed a chain outside the entrance. The incident ended in the federal agents leaving.
Garnica, who immigrated from Colombia over 20 years ago and is a U.S. citizen, said that his sales have been down 30 to 40% during the federal immigration enforcement surge. He spoke wearing a whistle and showed reporters his passport that he’s been carrying: “Hopefully we don’t have to do this anymore.”
Garnica said he expects that recovering from the loss in sales will take at least three to six months.
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Matt Varilek also said that the state is working with private sector partners to urge them to reduce their fees for small businesses.
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