Immigration enforcement has led to $1.26 billion going unspent in Cook County, report says
A new report from the University of Illinois Chicago said federal immigration enforcement led to $1.26 billion in unspent money at retail establishments and restaurants in Cook County.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, now of Chicago CRED, or Create Real Economic Destiny, discussed the report on Tuesday.
"Federal immigration enforcement did more than inflict fear and trauma on our immigrant neighbors; it created significant disruption to our local economy and hurt businesses and workers across Cook County," Preckwinkle said in a news release. "This report puts a dollar figure to a cost on the real consequences of policies that drive families into their homes and away from their communities. Cook County will continue to stand with our immigrant neighbors, protect their rights and work to build a county where every resident can live, work and participate in our economy without fear."
The report, "Hunkering Down: The Hidden Cost of Federal Immigration Enforcement in Cook County, IL," examined how patterns of in-person commercial activity were affected by federal law enforcement after intensified federal immigration enforcement began in January 2025.
Researchers at UIC said the study found that people living in neighborhoods with large Latin American populations traveled much less to shops and restaurants in neighborhoods with low Latin American populations after January 2025, while their visits to businesses in high Latin American neighborhoods remained largely unchanged.
Visits by people living in high Latin America–born neighborhoods to retail businesses in low Latin America–born neighborhoods fell about 9%, while restaurant trips dropped by about 10%.
Researchers described that as a pattern of "hunkering down," meaning rather than shopping and dining more often closer to home, people living in high Latin American population neighborhoods simply made fewer trips to shop or dine out.
Business activity in neighborhoods with large Latin American populations did not increase enough to offset the drop in business in neighborhoods with low Latin American populations.
The consequence was that Cook County missed out on $107 million in sales tax revenue, the report said.
The effect was especially pronounced in suburban Cook County, with cross-community retail trips down 12.8% compared with 6.2% in Chicago, according to the report.
Researchers said that drop has persisted even after Operation Midway Blitz ended, with no return to the shopping and dining patterns seen before the federal immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.
