For Candy Gama and her family, Christmas Eve is what they look forward to all year. It's the day when their Minneapolis home is flooded with people, food and festivities. 

This year, their house will be far quieter. Gama said that ICE's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities area is to blame.

"No more presents, not a lot of food. Not a lot of cooking. We are not going to have a big family or friends gathering," Gama said. 

Gama, originally from Mexico, has been operating the Pastaleria Gama bakery on Lake Street in Minneapolis for 10 years now. She said her business has not been immune to a loss in sales in a climate where customers are not willing to leave their homes, concerned about getting swept up in ICE's Operation Metro Surge. 

Her store was empty for long stretches of time on Christmas Eve, which she said has never been the case in the past. 

For many Hispanic people, Christmas Eve — or Nochebuena — is the main event during the holiday season. Gama said a favorite tradition of hers is opening presents at midnight. This year, anticipating economic woes on Lake Street to continue, she said that they are doing a secret Santa exchange as a family to ensure each individual is saving money. 

Instead of 30-40 guests, she anticipates just a handful of her relatives to be in attendance for dinner. Gama said it's part of a new, painful reality that has her American children, including a 14-year-old high schooler, carrying their U.S. passports around with them at all times. 

"She's been carrying her own passport to school because we never know. It's scary for everybody," Gama said. 

ICE officials have maintained that they are detaining the "worst of the worst" and helping to get dangerous criminals off the streets of Minnesota. While DHS has released details on about 22 people, with convictions ranging from driving infractions to rape, the agency has not released any specific criminal information for the more than 400 people detained so far during Operation Metro Surge.

On Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz joined local leaders criticizing ICE's recent operations. Walz said that he believes ICE will continue its crackdown during and after the holidays. 

"I would not put it past this administration to target midnight mass services," Walz said. 

St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda released a statement on Tuesday evening appearing to push back on that assertion, though the statement does not specifically refer to Walz. 

"Local Department of Homeland Security officials have recently reiterated to Archdiocesan representatives that they do not intend to conduct enforcement actions at churches and K-12 schools, unless there is an imminent public safety threat. We are unaware of any enforcement actions in our parishes and schools in these past weeks and months and have no reason to believe that will change," the statement reads in part.