At restaurants, landscaping businesses, farms and stores across Connecticut, undocumented workers are increasingly not showing up, afraid of being seized by federal agents looking to rid the state of immigrants. At the same time, some workers legally in the U.S. have lost protected status and with it their jobs.

The number of people impacted is hard to quantify, immigrant advocates say.

Maria Matos, president and chief programming officer for Latinos for Educational Advocacy and Diversity, said hundreds of immigrants lost their jobs in Southeastern Connecticut including many at Mohegan Sun after the Department of Homeland Security in June revoked protected status granted under the Biden administration to immigrants from a number of countries.

Matos said immigrants at Walmart and other businesses in the area were also affected.

State immigration advocates say they are concerned about the direct impact on the economy.

Immigrants in Connecticut own 26% of the state’s businesses and comprise 30% of all startups in the state, according to Art Feltman, executive director of International Hartford, a nonprofit focused on the creation of jobs in Hartford for immigrants and refugees.

DataHaven reported that those businesses contribute an estimated $1.6 billion to the state’s economy.

Jeff Hamilton, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun, said in an email statement Friday that “as a result of some immigration law changes from the new administration, there are some Mohegan Sun team members who have been subject to their Employment Authorization Card expiring earlier than previously expected.”

Hamilton said that Mohegan Sun has been “working with affected team members and brought on an immigration attorney providing support throughout the process.

“These team members have been a valuable part of our organization and our continued goal on these matters is to provide support, answer questions and be as helpful as possible,” he said.

Walmart did not return an email for comment.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in an interview Friday that he is hearing from teachers, clergy, doctors, and business owners about the spreading fear and anxiety that is preventing people from moving freely and going to work. He added that he has also learned of immigrants losing their jobs.

“A single arrest or seizure by masked, unmarked ICE agents can have ramifications far beyond that one incident in creating apprehension and anxiety because people have no certainty about where those agents may appear next,” Blumenthal said. “What I sense in the business community is a growing frustration and even anger about these unannounced raids that disrupt lawful retailers or car washes or all kinds of factories and other places of businesses. They interfere with the normal operations of their establishments. It isn’t only when the raids occur. It is also the absence of workers who fear the raids and the lower productivity of people even when they are on the job. It is discouraging and disruptive.”

Blumenthal said that the Trump administration policies are “constantly changing, sometimes inconsistently and there is no real notice or information available.”

Court rulings have also been difficult to follow. Some of the revocations of temporary protected status have been blocked by federal courts while others have not. A U.S. district judge in San Francisco on Thursday blocked the removal of people from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, saying it would result in a $1.4 billion loss to the economy and that the administration’s move to end TPS was motivated by racial animus, according to the Associated Press.

Blumenthal this month joined several other senators, including Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, Patty Murray, D-Washington, and Alex Padilla, D-California, to require immigration enforcement officers to “display clear visible identification during public facing enforcement actions,” according to information from Blumenthal’s office.

He also filed legislation along with Rep. Adriano Espaillat D-New York, earlier this winter to prevent “immigration enforcement officers from taking enforcement actions at sensitive locations,” according to a release from Blumenthal’s office.

Blumenthal said the legislation is an uphill battle, acknowledging that it is mostly supported by Democrats but that he would continue to fight for it.

He said he is trying to mobilize the business community to connect with the administration to convey that the immigration crackdown “leads to a self-inflicted wound to our economy as well as struggling businesses seeking to fill jobs.”

This week, Connecticut immigration activists and elected officials called for the return of an 18-year-old student who was taken by ICE agents July 21 during a raid of a Southington car wash.

Esdras, a student at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, was reportedly seized by ICE while at work and nearly deported. His deportation from a Louisiana prison was canceled Thursday, the New Haven Independent reported. He is expected to be returned to New England while court proceedings continue.

Dana Bucin, an immigration attorney and partner with Harris Beach Murtha in Hartford, said that there are new policies to hold “immigrants in indefinite detention pending the outcome of their removal case” and that she is seeing it play out.

“I would not be surprised if there are more arrests in Connecticut and more detentions for longer times and maybe indefinitely,” she said.

She had a message for immigrants.

“It is not a time to hunker down in fear in your home but time to seek the advice of an immigration lawyer, especially if you have never done that before,” she said.

Bucin has said in her 20 years as an attorney she has never seen such a large scale attempt to revoke legal status, including that of Ukrainians, whose protected status Trump said he was considering revoking.

Several business owners in the state describe a climate of fear with many immigrants looking over their shoulders.

A business owner who spoke on anonymity for fear of retaliation, said many of his employees are immigrants and there is a lot of anxiety about what may happen next. He said he was surprised when one of his workers was deported back to his country. He said he was following all the protocols to become an American citizen.

Another business owner also speaking anonymously said that the climate is affecting his business.

“People do not want to go out to eat,” he said. “They don’t want to go out at all and don’t want to risk getting deported.”

He said many are self deporting.

“Many of them are getting their affairs together and trying to get out of this country,” he said.

He said the climate toward immigrants is not welcoming and he feels it acutely as a Hispanic business owner.

Fernando Cerdena, executive director of Latinos United For Progress CT, said that he often receives calls from numerous businesses in the Waterbury region that immigrants are not showing up for work in construction sites, supermarkets and farms.

“They are losing their houses,” he said. “They are losing their jobs because they don’t want to go out and work. In Torrington, one farmer is desperate to have people and can’t manage his business.”

Matos said “there is a lot of fear because there is no security.”

She said American citizens are even detained, as people are advised to carry their passports with them at all times.

“Everybody is a target right now,” she said. “If you are not white or maybe Black or you look Hispanic, Latino whatever, you are going to get asked by someone. You are going to get stopped on the street. A lot of people are going to the stores to get the basics. They are not going to be going out for fun.”

Maggie Mitchell Salem, executive director of the Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, said she is hearing confusion from employers that they are getting notices from the U.S. government indicating that their employee no longer has work authorization but the Department of Homeland Security site may say something else entirely.

“Employers need simplicity,” she said. “We desperately need humane immigration reform so we have a system that works that supplies the labor we need that makes sense for immigrants, the community and employers.”

Patricia Tynan, manager of employment services at IRIS, said people who are here legally “with work authorization are being collected and really not given a fair shake.”

She said she is hearing from employers asking for them to confirm the employees’ status and paperwork.

“With the changes and the seemingly punitive nature and going back and forth about status change, it is terrifying for the community,” she said.

Many immigration advocates said there is despair and hopelessness about how ICE will eventually touch individuals’ lives.

The senator concurred.

“It is going from hopelessness to desperation,” Blumenthal said. “A feeling there is no daylight and no prospect of a more rational and sensible policy.”

Matos said many also share with her that feeling of despair.

“They sacrifice a lot to come to America and pursue a dream,” she said. “Hold on.”

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