KENNER, La. – The once-bustling taco restaurant owned by Carmela Diaz now stands silent, its doors shut tight, its tables vacant, and its kitchen empty of activity. This scene reflects a broader trend affecting numerous Hispanic establishments, from Nicaraguan cafes to Honduran diners, which have seen their patrons vanish from the neighborhood’s streets, despite the vibrant Spanish signage that still adorns the area.

In Kenner, home to Louisiana’s largest Hispanic community, a sweeping federal immigration crackdown targeting 5,000 arrests has dealt a severe blow to the local economy, which was already under pressure from increased enforcement measures earlier this year. Business owners and locals, both immigrants and U.S. citizens, are feeling the wide-ranging effects of these actions.

“The crowds just dwindled,” lamented Diaz, tears in her eyes, explaining why her restaurant, Taqueria La Conquistadora, has been shuttered for several weeks. With both patrons and employees too fearful to venture out, she faced days without a single sale. “I had to close because we simply had no business,” she said.

On Wednesday, federal vehicles were a constant presence along Kenner’s main commercial areas as the Department of Homeland Security ramped up another wave of immigration operations. These efforts, which have also touched cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina, were captured in videos showing federal agents making arrests at local businesses and construction sites.

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino was also in town, flanked by agents in tactical gear, to promote the new operation, named Catahoula Crunch, after the state dog of Louisiana, the Catahoula hound.

A community on edge

The state’s Hispanic population has boomed in the last two decades, with many of them arriving in the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild. In Kenner, just west of New Orleans between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, Hispanics make up about 30% of residents.

Diaz, who is from El Salvador, arrived in 2006 after years of doing farm work in Texas. She opened food trucks, earning enough to buy a home in Kenner, and her business has since expanded to a fleet of trucks and two brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Nearly all that is shuttered at the moment due to the crackdown, and Diaz is scraping by through making home deliveries to people fearful of being swept up by agents.

“They don’t respect anyone,” Diaz said. “They don’t ask for documents. They don’t investigate. They slap the handcuffs on them and take them away.”

DHS says operations target violent offenders

Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday that federal agents have already made dozens of arrests, though the agency has not released a full list of people detained.

“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens harming them, their families, or their neighbors,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “In just 24 hours on the ground, our law enforcement officers have arrested violent criminals with rap sheets that include homicide, kidnapping, child abuse, robbery, theft, and assault.”

The office of Mayor Michael Glaser, a former police chief, declined to comment on his stance on the operation. But it said the crackdown “falls under federal jurisdiction” and the mayor expects all agencies operating in the city to conduct themselves “professionally, lawfully and with respect for our community.” It also said the city is “not participating in or advising” on the operation.

However, the city’s police are among the hundreds of local and state law enforcement agencies nationwide that have signed agreements to be part of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program that authorizes them to hold detainees for potential deportation.

Fearing for vulnerable relatives

Sergio Perez, a Guatemalan immigrant and U.S. citizen who has lived in Kenner since 2010, said he has loved ones there who lack legal permission to be in the country risk and being detained or deported. He also worries that anyone who is Hispanic is at risk of abuse by federal agents, regardless of their immigration status.

While Perez considers Kenner home — a place where it’s easy to find favorite dishes like “caldo de res,” a hearty beef and vegetable stew — he’s prepared to leave the country if family members are deported.

“They don’t want us here,” Perez said. “It’s like you are in someone’s house and you don’t feel welcome. They’re just killing our spirit.”

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Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writer Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.