This Los Angeles cafe and catering company has been in business for close to 16 years. They cater events, tailoring menus to each client's budget and dietary needs, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free, without cutting quality. The owner runs it with her husband, and credits her team, including immigrant workers, with treating the business as if it were their own.

Their business is an active part of the local economy. They’ve paid local and federal taxes, never missing a payment in 16 years. They see the same pattern across the many immigrant-owned businesses they know, and find it hard to square that record of contribution with the pressure these businesses are now under.

"We've been in business for 16 years, and we've never missed a tax payment, not once. We contribute so much to this country's economy. It's hard to understand why businesses like ours are treated the way we are right now."

That pressure shows up in an unusual place: the contracts they cannot bring themselves to sign. In the first weeks after local raids, catering requests and parties dried up and revenue dropped, and the effect has not fully lifted. Beyond the lost sales, the uncertainty makes large or long-term commitments feel risky. Signing a large contract means guaranteeing they can staff and deliver months from now, and they can no longer be sure of that. So the business holds back from the growth it would otherwise pursue.

"I can't commit to a big contract the way I used to. Signing one means promising I'll have the staff to deliver months from now, and with everything happening, I can't promise that. So we have to hold back, even when the work is there."

Day to day, the cafe keeps its doors locked during operating hours and walks staff through their rights, though the owner knows those rights are not always respected. What they say would help most is straightforward: staffing support, such as a subsidized labor placement program, to ease the payroll costs that weigh heaviest on a small operation.