. . .
But on a Monday at noon in a Minneapolis on edge, Linares asked if his new customers noticed that something was different.

“Do you see any Latinos sitting in the room?” he asked.

Heads shook “no.”

Since the first federal immigration raids in Minneapolis, Linares said, the longtime customers who once supported the Mercado’s daily business — from its food and shops on the ground floor to legal and financial services and a salon on the second — have been staying home. Many are afraid that leaving the house, even with documents, could put them at risk,

The Mercado’s doors are now kept locked, with customers let in one by one. Several storefronts are dark, with candy displays and jewelry mannequins visible behind accordion doors. ... customers only trickle in for bakery pastries or fresh juices by the door.

Fewer than half the market’s food vendors are open, and most of them don’t have enough staff to run them. Individual owners and their children are keeping the meat on the grills sizzling and the tortillas warm,

But Linares knows even that won’t be enough. The regulars need to come back.