Latino Pike Place Market employees carry on working despite immigration concerns

By Satvika Ramanathan and Fernando Leiva, JCamp 2025 — Seattle

For Juan Ramirez, showing up to work is about keeping his kids fed. For Jessica, it’s about upholding the hard-working immigrant values of her parents. For Kimberli Mendez, it’s the pride of continuing her great-great-grandparents’ legacy.

Over the past month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in Washington state have doubled as the Trump administration detains and deports increasing numbers of immigrants around the country. These three Latino Pike Place Market workers are still serving aguas frescas, selling South American goods and cooking authentic Mexican dishes despite threats to their immigrant Seattleites.

“It affects us as Latinos because it’s our community,” Mendez said in Spanish.

ICE agents arrested about one person a day in the state in January, when the president took office. But by June, arrests were up to 10 people a day.

At this pace, the Trump administration is on track to deport the most immigrants nationally since the Obama administration, CBS News reported. Between January and June, ICE has deported an average of more than 800 people a day across the country, putting the agency on pace to deport the most people per year since 2014.

This is leading some customers to stay home and no longer frequent the market, according to Ramirez. All three of the workers said they’ve noticed fewer Latino visitors this year compared to the last.

“Last summer, there were always long lines but now there aren’t as many clients as there used to be,” said Jessica, an El Mercado Latino employee, who declined to share her last name.

Although none of the workers have directly seen an arrest in the market, the fear of separation from the local community is enough to potentially scare away customers who are vital to the businesses’ survival.

Oaxaca Charm

Overlooking the historic Pier 62, Ramirez serves up refreshing drinks for customers seeking relief from the heat at his stand, El Mixteco Aguas Frescas.

The colorful Mexican beverages are typically light, sweet and fruity. Ramirez, originally from Oaxaca, brings this piece of his culture to his life in Seattle.

Ramirez said he’s worried about fewer Latinos visiting Pike Place Market this year.

“Esperemos que solo estén trabajando y no sea algo más porque no los hemos visto caminar,” Ramirez said. “Let’s hope they’re just working and it’s not something else, because we haven’t seen them walking around.”

He believes the national policies aimed at deporting immigrants are sad.

“Latinos come here to work, to find a way to get ahead and look for a better future for us and our children,” Ramirez said in Spanish.

He said that he is constantly working to provide for his family.

“We are a little fearful, but we also have to eat and go to work,” Ramirez said. “I would tell our community to keep their heads up and that we’re going to move forward and hopefully things will get better.”

A few stalls away sits the Latin supermarket El Mercado Latino, where Jessica has been a worker for a month and a half.

The store is Filipino-owned, but Jessica’s parents immigrated from Ecuador around 1995. She has noticed many immigrants working around Pike Place Market.

“The truth is that we all do arduous work, so I feel the immigrant labor force is very important so that many businesses can operate, especially in this tourist area,” she said.

She said that she’s experienced racism in small ways while she’s on public transportation, but she hasn’t felt discrimination at work.

Regardless, Jessica does her best to think positively.

“Sadly, you can be born here but your skin color does not help,” she said. “I think we have to stay positive and have faith in God and respect the laws.”

Around the corner is Los Agaves, a Mexican restaurant where Kimberli Mendez rapidly assembles tacos for hungry customers against the sizzling sounds of her family cooking in the back.

Mendez’s family has been in the restaurant business since her great-great-grandparents’ generation. When her parents immigrated to the U.S., they established several restaurants to keep the family legacy going and bring the flavor of Mexico to Seattle.

When her dad opened Los Agaves 20 years ago, Mendez said it was difficult because there weren’t many Latinos. Diversity in the market has increased in recent years, though.

Mendez said that she and her family still have to come to work, despite the fears they have about being immigrants in the current political climate.

“There is fear not only for us but for the staff and our neighbors at the market,” Mendez said in Spanish. “We have to keep working, we have to keep feeding people, so we can’t let it affect us as much.”

Mendez said it’s important to look for the bonds between people across cultures.

“At the end of the day, we all came here for an opportunity, so we can connect through that same idea,” she said.