Tyler Schipper, associate professor of economics in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas, appeared on “Minnesota Live” to explain how federal immigration enforcement is affecting Minnesota’s local economy, from immigrant-owned businesses and housing stability to delayed labor data and broader economic uncertainty.
From the interview:
Megan Newquist: Let’s talk about the Operation Metro Surge. We had that story this morning about restaurants and businesses that are mostly immigrant-run having to change the way they operate. There’s also talk about the economic ramifications when you have daycares shut down, restaurants closing, or grocery stores and markets limiting hours.
Schipper: This is one of those situations where there are heartbreaking local economy stories that don’t always show up in official data. You just have to drive down Lake Street in Minneapolis or go to some surrounding communities to see it. Stores are shut down, or you see a lot of temporary hours signs posted.
Hopefully some of this will show up eventually, but not in the big macroeconomic data right away. It means less tax revenue coming in. And if you combine that with things like police overtime in the Twin Cities, that also affects local tax revenue and can mean fewer services in the future.
One takeaway for people who want to help is that this is a great opportunity to try something new. Go out for Ethiopian food, visit an Ecuadorian bakery. My kids are really leaning into this idea. We’ve gone to Mexican bakeries and Ecuadorian bakeries to try different things. It’s a great way to support businesses we want to see here long term, but that may be struggling right now.
