A major employer and popular retail center has temporarily closed down amid a wave of large-scale immigration sweeps that have targeted similar markets in recent weeks.
Vendors at Broadacres Marketplace, a decades-old swap meet in North Las Vegas that caters largely to the Latino community, were told to close their shops at 9 a.m. Saturday and that the market would remain closed until further notice.
The market said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution and concern” for its vendors, customers, and staff.
“We don’t want any of our customers, vendors, or employees to be detained at our business or for us to be a beacon of shopping and entertainment while our federal government is raiding businesses and detaining its people,” the Broadacres Marketplace Management team wrote on social media.
The move comes after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted a major raid at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet in California on June 14. The Los Angeles Times reported that dozens of agents in tactical gear with guns searched the site and detained several people as multiple helicopters circled overhead.
Following the immigration raid in Santa Fe Springs, Broadacres assured shoppers that the retail space does not cooperate with ICE or similar federal agencies, but warned that federal agents could legally enter the market “without prior notice, permission, or a warrant.”
“While we cannot control the actions of outside agencies we remain fully committed to creating a space where all people feel welcome, respected, and protected,” the Broadacres Marketplace Management team wrote on social media.
But the Santa Fe Springs raid and ongoing immigration enforcement in Las Vegas appeared to have a chilling effect.
On Friday, the day before Broadacres officially shuttered, vendors and customers noted on social media the typically bustling open-air market was nearly empty. Only a fraction of the usual customers could be seen shopping Friday despite a discounted $1 entry fee. (Broadacres normally charges a $3 entry fee Friday nights.)
The closure leaves hundreds of vendors and employees with a significant loss of income, and no set date for a return.
“Targeting community spaces like Broadacres doesn’t make anyone safer; it only disrupts and threatens the lives of hardworking immigrant families and businesses,” said Marina Hernandez, a Broadacres vendor who runs a portrait studio, in a statement.
For nearly 50 years Broadacres has been a major economic and cultural hub for North Las Vegas. Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, vendors sell everything from piñatas and street food to construction gear and washing machines.
Broadacres Marketplace is the largest open-air market in Nevada, attracting more than 15,000 people every weekend. It’s one of the largest employers in the City of North Las Vegas, according to data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation.
City of North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown on Monday issued a statement saying she was “saddened” by the closure, adding that the market is “a cornerstone of our local economy and culture.”
Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on social media criticized President Donald Trump for “indiscriminately targeting immigrant communities.”
“These are innocent Nevadans working hard to build a better life,” read the post. “This president’s campaign of intimidation is cruel and un-American.”
Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada and a civil rights attorney, said one of his former clients who runs a shop at Broadacres called him Saturday after she was told the market would close indefinitely.
“She’s concerned about the economic impact of Broadacres shutting down. That’s how she supports herself and her family,” Haseebullah said.
About a decade ago, Haseebullah’s own family ran a booth at Broadacres, where they promoted their independent pharmacy during a moment of economic uncertainty. The economic stability of hundreds of employees and vendors at Broadacres is now at risk as large-scale immigration sweeps create a chilling effect in immigrant communities, said Haseebullah.
“It’s not surprising at all to me that people are fearful,” Haseebullah said. “The fear that we’re seeing in Nevada right now is well founded, because people do not feel a sense of support from the federal government, and they don’t feel a sense of support from our governor.”
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo did not respond to a request for comment on the closure of one of the largest private employers in North Las Vegas.
As immigration enforcement operations continue in Las Vegas, the Nevada Immigrant Coalition urged immigrants “to know their rights, develop family preparedness plans, and be aware of ICE officers in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles.”
Trump’s administration, seeking to fulfill its promised mass-deportation campaign, has directed ICE in recent weeks to dramatically broaden the scope of its operations. That has included an order to the agency to meet an arrest quota of at least 3,000 people per day.
Contrary to claims by the Trump administration that its efforts are targeting violent criminals, the share of people taken into ICE custody despite having no criminal record has risen sharply since January, according to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
Reports of U.S. citizens getting detained for ICE have also made the headlines in several states, including Nebraska, Florida, and Arizona.
In Nevada, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department renewed its 287(g) partnership with ICE earlier this month, which deputizes police to carry out immigration duties.
“People are legitimately afraid to leave their homes, and that is evident by Broadacres closing,” said Democratic Assemblymember Cecelia González, who chairs the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus. “The Trump administration’s enforcement tactics are not just targeting our communities. They are actively, in real time, destabilizing entire communities.”
González said the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus tried to provide immigrant communities some sense of security through a number of bills during the legislative session, including Assembly Bill 217 which would have limited the access of immigration officials to school grounds and records without a court order or warrant. Lombardo vetoed the bill.
“We as a caucus tried to be proactive by responding to the community’s real-time fears. That is our job as elected officials, to bring forth the issues and concerns of our constituencies,” González said.
In his veto message, Lombardo said the bill was “well-intentioned but fundamentally overbroad” and risked turning “school grounds into sanctuary zones at all times.”
“We met with his office multiple times, and he never once brought this concern up or made any suggestions,” González said. “The lack of empathy. It’s more than disappointing.”
“Immigrants are our neighbors, our business owners, our taxpayers, our communities, and the backbone of the Las Vegas community. Our caucus will not be silent while families are being targeted and pulled apart and our community being weakened and destabilized,” she continued.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Jeniffer Solis
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.nevadacurrent.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
