At Cuernavaca's Grill, a Mexican restaurant in the Fashion District of downtown Los Angeles, owner Nayomie Mendoza is used to seeing customers line up for lunch.

But the vibrant neighborhood filled with boutiques and shops has become a ghost town amid raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carrying out President Donald Trump's hard-line policy of sweeping up and deporting undocumented immigrants.

Even in the early summer season when tourists flock to the southern California city, Mendoza is left staring at empty tables.

"A lot of our neighbors are afraid to go out" because of the ICE presence in Los Angeles, Mendoza said, with the city boasting a significant Latino workforce.

"Our sales... they've been down by 80 percent," Mendoza told AFP.

"It's hurting more than ever."

The "saving grace" for the restaurant in this time has been delivery orders, she said.

As a so-called "sanctuary city" with hundreds of thousands of undocumented people, Los Angeles has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration since the Republican returned to power in January.

After ICE raids spurred unrest and protests last month, Trump dispatched the National Guard and US Marines to quell the disruption.

Washington does not seem to be backing down anytime soon.

"Better get used to us now, because this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles," US Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino told broadcaster Fox News on Monday.

"The federal government is not leaving LA," he added.

Local businesses dependent on foot traffic are the collateral damage of the raids, Mendoza said.

"This is probably worse than COVID," she said, referring to mandatory lockdowns during the pandemic.

Manuel Suarez, a street vendor near Cuernavaca's Grill, agreed.

"Now is worse because during the pandemic, even though it was a pandemic, there were sales," said the toy vendor, who has worked in the Fashion District for 35 years.

"Now it's completely in crisis," he told AFP.

Suarez said many merchants have closed their stores as a precaution as raids intensify in the city, or have otherwise cut the number of employees due to drops in sales.

"Here in downtown and in LA, there's been a lot of raids because of ICE, so it has brought fear into our Latin community," said Jose Yern, manager of Anita's Bridal Boutique, a Fashion District shop specializing in dresses for Latin American "quinceanera" coming-of-age ceremonies.

"They are scared to come in (to the district). But if they're coming in, they're coming specifically to a specific store, doing what they need to do, and then heading back home," he added.

Shopkeepers communicate with one another via walkie-talkies, reporting any noise, helicopter or law enforcement presence to warn those who are undocumented.

"It's unfortunate that the government does not understand that when it attacks us, we all lose," said a vendor who did not want to disclose his name for privacy reasons.

"But we are not leaving. What's going to happen here is that we are going to be playing cat and mouse. Let's see who tires out first."

Source: AFP