What's at stake:
Amid nationwide immigration enforcement, small businesses in Fresno have both informed the community about available resources and experienced the impact firsthand.
As immigration enforcement activity ripples through Fresno, Jackelyn Madrigal has found herself fielding more just than haircut requests.
From behind the styling chair at Color Me Chula, the bilingual salon owner listens as clients share fears about detentions, policy shifts and what might happen to their families. Some are undocumented. Some are citizens who worry that status no longer guarantees safety.
“There’s been a lot of grief and all I can do is just hold space,” Madrigal said. “I don’t want to plant false hope, but I want to plant seeds to just reinforce that strength and that resilience.”
Madrigal, the owner of the Tower District salon answers in both English and Spanish. She reposts verified updates online. She shares hotline numbers. She listens.
Color Me Chula has been around since 2016, opening its brick-and-mortar location in 2020. The salon was always meant to be unapologetically Latine and queer-affirming — a place where clients could see themselves reflected in the art on the walls and feel safe in their own skin.
But as immigration enforcement became more visible in the Central Valley, the shop took on another role: an informal information hub.
In Fresno, numerous businesses have publicly engaged with social justice issues, using their platforms to inform the community and connect people with resources. During the coordinated national shutdown on Jan. 30, some closed in solidarity, while others remained open, citing financial constraints, a commitment to serving as community gathering spaces, or plans to donate that day’s proceeds to immigrant organizations.
This took place as cities like Los Angeles have seen President Donald Trump’s immigration sweeps disrupt local economies, with a county report finding most businesses reported losses, many exceeding half their usual revenue, and some reducing hours or temporarily closing.
Statewide, a December UC Merced report found that intensified federal immigration enforcement is contributing to sharp declines in private sector employment across California and Washington, D.C.
Bad for business?
Using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey data, researchers at the UC Merced Community and Labor Center found that heightened federal immigration enforcement coincided with steep declines in private-sector employment across California during several months of 2025.
The steepest decline occurred during late spring and early summer, when immigration enforcement activity escalated in Los Angeles and other parts of the state. The employment losses were even seen in data for U.S. citizens.
Edward Flores, director of the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, said the effects are hitting Fresno and the broader Central Valley hard.
The region’s economy relies on industries like agriculture, food processing, transportation, construction, and service work — all of which depend on daily, in-person labor. Flores said that when enforcement activity escalates, even temporarily, it can disrupt entire supply chains.
“If workers don’t show up to a farm, that’s less produce harvested,” Flores said. “That means less to transport, less to stock, and less to sell. And when business slows down, employers may tell workers they don’t need them as much that week, which creates ripple effects throughout the local economy.”
Flores said the decline was on par with the first year of the Great Recession and the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic. While employment among U.S. citizens bounced back more quickly, noncitizens’ jobs lagged, deepening economic instability in immigrant-heavy areas like Fresno.
“When a family in Fresno loses a breadwinner, or when a whole community experiences a slowdown in work, the impacts compound quickly,” Flores said. “That affects rent, food security, small businesses, and the broader local economy.”
Flores said policymakers should consider expanding economic safety net programs to include workers currently excluded because of immigration status. Providing financial support during periods of work disruption, he said, can stabilize families while also sustaining local economic activity.
“We already know enough to be concerned,” Flores said. “The Department of Homeland Security has received a record budget increase, and that suggests enforcement escalations will continue. The real question is whether we’re going to put policies in place to prevent further economic harm in places like the Central Valley.”
‘You think you’re safe … that could change’
Madrigal is first-generation, raised in Firebaugh — a predominantly migrant town. The fear her clients describe isn’t abstract to her. When her mother recently parked beside what turned out to be an immigration enforcement vehicle back home, Madrigal said she felt something shift.
“You think you’re safe,” Madrigal said. “And then you realize how quickly that could change.”
For Madrigal, engaging with the community around immigration issues feels inseparable from who she is. She describes her upbringing as rooted in collectivism, the belief that what happens to one person affects the whole.
“There is no me,” she said. “There’s an us. Let’s learn how to compost this. Let’s learn how to transmute all these ugly feelings into something beautiful and something powerful.”
Madrigal does this by resharing updates about enforcement activity and community resources.
On one recent day, she received five separate messages alerting her to possible immigration agents moving through town. She forwarded everything to a local hotline run by trained organizers, then realized many of the original tips had come only to her.
“That’s when I had to tell people, ‘Thank you for trusting me, but you also need to report this to the hotline,’” Madrigal said. “I’m also a hairdresser. I can’t verify this myself.”
The trust felt affirming and intimidating.
The people who sit in her salon chair — regardless of their immigration status — feel grief and anxiety, she said, especially as immigration enforcement becomes violent and rumors spread quickly online.
Color Me Chula doesn’t advertise itself as a sanctuary. Madrigal is mindful of risk. But the door is open. She plans to keep the salon a drop-off site for safety whistles through local organizing networks, so anyone can walk in to pick one up or leave resources behind.
Madrigal tries to temper urgency with compassion. She understands that not everyone knows how to verify information or distinguish between agencies. She said elders may see a uniform and assume the worst. Younger community members sometimes respond harshly to misinformation, she said, without recognizing language or technology barriers.
“It’s a scary time,” Madrigal said. “We can’t fearmonger, but we also can’t dismiss people’s fear.”
In Fresno, the New Business Community Law Clinic, provides free legal services to entrepreneurs, and works extensively with undocumented business owners who are trying to support their families while living under the constant threat of immigration enforcement.
William Kell, director and supervising attorney at the clinic, said that clients have shared fear that has only intensified through every passing month as immigration policies and enforcement tactics have shifted.
Through the clinic’s free, one-hour consultations, Kell said fear is only growing — worries about family stability, education, and the future they once believed was possible.
“We hear people say, ‘I have a family to support,’ or ‘I’m a student who would have qualified for DACA,’” Kell said. “But that program is effectively gone for new applicants, and many people now feel that what was supposed to be a dream turned into a nightmare.”
Kell said many undocumented immigrants feel betrayed by policies that once encouraged them to come forward and comply with the law. One example is the threat of registering for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, which allows undocumented immigrants to pay taxes and operate legitimate businesses.
A federal judge ruled on Feb. 5 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, can no longer use taxpayer information provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for immigration enforcement purposes
That came after a federal court blocked DHS and ICE last November from receiving taxpayer’s data after multiple attempts by the two federal agencies to use the IRS’s taxpayer information throughout last year.
Kell said there’s an anxiety for immigrants who fear their information will be accessed by immigration authorities via the IRS. Many immigrants feel exposed, forcing what Kell described as a “terrible bargain” between safety and basic services for immigrants.
Despite the fear, Kell said most undocumented entrepreneurs refuse to let immigration enforcement define their lives.
“They say, ‘I’m not going to let this ruin my life,’” Kell said. “They open donut shops. They become landscapers, web designers, licensed practitioners. In California, you can be licensed even if you’re undocumented.”
The clinic helps these entrepreneurs form limited liability companies or sole proprietorships, obtain permits, secure insurance, and draft contracts. These protections, Kell says, are especially critical for undocumented business owners who are more vulnerable to financial exploitation.
Kell said one of the most damaging consequences of current enforcement practices is the erosion of trust in the legal system itself. Undocumented contractors who are not paid for their work may technically have legal recourse, such as small claims court, but many are too afraid to pursue it.
“They take it on the chin and say, ‘This is a cost of doing business in America,’” Kell said. “That’s heartbreaking.”
On fear to participate in entrepreneurship programs
Marco Arturo Espindola is an entrepreneurship instructor with the Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVICC), where he works with aspiring and established immigrant business owners through the organization’s Immigrant Entrepreneurship Program.
The program is designed specifically for Spanish-speaking Hispanic entrepreneurs, regardless of immigration status, with the goal of lowering the barriers that often prevent immigrants from formalizing or growing their businesses.
“It doesn’t matter if they have legal status in the country or not, we can help them,” Espindola said.
In the classroom, beginners learn about legal structure, licensing and compliance, while more established business owners focus on marketing, increasing sales and building an online presence. The program covers financial administration, licensing and permits, and other business fundamentals, and CVICC also provides hands-on technical assistance with paperwork, registration and compliance.
Espindola said broader federal immigration policies have had a direct impact on participation. During the spring and summer of last year, when immigration enforcement intensified nationally, attendance dropped sharply.
At the time, CVICC was partnering with the City of Fresno to provide tours of City Hall, allowing entrepreneurs to learn firsthand how to obtain permits, register businesses and pay taxes. But many participants were afraid to attend classes or visit government buildings, fearing deportation.
Attendance began to recover in the fall, stabilizing between September through December as fears eased.
Espindola emphasized the importance of obtaining proper licenses and permits, particularly in a climate where undocumented entrepreneurs may be more vulnerable to enforcement actions at the local level.
One of the most significant challenges Espindola sees is a lack of access to technology and digital literacy. Many participants have limited formal education and little experience using computers, email or online platforms. To address this, CVICC also offers digital literacy courses that cover basic skills such as navigating the internet, opening email accounts and using computers for business purposes.
Other gaps — such as access to health insurance or safety net programs — remain harder to solve, Espindola said, particularly for undocumented entrepreneurs who must pay medical costs out of pocket.
Despite these challenges, Espindola said interest in entrepreneurship remains strong, particularly among street vendors and food sellers, even though some are left fearful, have had to adjust their daily routines, and face greater difficulty supporting their families.
The city has also made it more difficult.
In November, an amendment to the sidewalk vending ordinance initially proposed banning vending on weekend nights in the Tower District, citing public safety and health concerns. The Fresno City Council instead revised the definition of “sidewalk vendor” and took a stricter approach to enforcement, including issuing larger fines, rather than implementing an outright ban.
“Many of our people have a lot of business on the streets, especially for food vendors,” Espindola said. “The current policies in our city doesn’t allow us to do too much of that kind of business. The city has to be more able to provide that kind of aid for our people.”
At Fresno State’s Central Valley Women’s Entrepreneur Center, Ana Alfaro, the center’s director, said her organization has seen participation decrease particularly among Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of exploring or formalizing a business. Engagement among English-speaking entrepreneurs has remained stable or grown.
While she has not observed widespread instability among existing businesses, Alfaro said some food truck operators and small restaurants have reported reduced revenue, which they attribute to decreased foot traffic over the past six months.
She added that two former clients chose to voluntarily return to their home countries due to visa expirations and concerns about immigration enforcement.
She said policies that expand access to flexible capital, multilingual technical assistance, and long-term business education would have the greatest impact on strengthening small businesses across the region.
“If current immigration restrictions continue, the long-term implications for women-owned businesses in the Central Valley may include slower small business formation and reduced participation among immigrant entrepreneurs,” Alfaro said.
