Migration raids in Miami are not only leaving people detained but also empty jobs and employees who fear returning to work. This was shared by a 27-year-old Cuban-American who went to vote this Tuesday in Miami-Dade, during an electoral day characterized by the debate over President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
Stephanie Hernández, who works as a store manager, reported that she has directly experienced the consequences of immigration raids at her workplace, where some employees were detained and others stopped showing up out of fear.
"We have lost many good and hardworking people because of all this," the young woman stated to The Wall Street Journal, which reported her testimony this Tuesday, November 3rd.
"Who else is going to do that job?" he questioned.
Hernández, identified as a Democratic voter, made the statements after visiting a polling center in North Bay Village, in Miami-Dade County, where she claimed to have voted for Democratic candidates across the ballot.
According to the explanation, among the affected workers are cleaning staff, whose absence has created difficulties in maintaining the usual operations of the establishment.
Immigration raids are also impacting businesses in Miami
In October, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of South Florida warned that sales for some businesses had fallen by between 40% and 45% in areas such as Doral, Miami, and Homestead.
The organization attributed part of those losses to immigrants' fear of leaving their homes, going to businesses, or showing up to work. The figures correspond to estimates from the business sector, not to official statistics for the entire county economy.
The situation had also been described by small business owners in Miami-Dade, who reported a significant decrease in customers and difficulties in retaining their staff.
Some merchants claimed that they had lost workers who had pending asylum applications, but they preferred to temporarily leave their jobs out of fear of being detained.
The Trump administration, for its part, defends the operations as part of its strategy to enforce immigration laws and deport individuals without legal authorization to remain in the United States.
Immigration marks the electoral battle between María Elvira Salazar and Eliott Rodríguez
Hernández's testimony occurs during a decisive day for Florida's Congressional District 27, where Republican representative María Elvira Salazar is seeking re-election against Democratic journalist Eliott Rodríguez.
Both candidates are of Cuban origin and are competing in a district with a large Hispanic population, where immigration policies have become one of the main campaign issues.
In September, Salazar publicly criticized the deportations driven by Trump, stating that some measures had gone too far.
The congresswoman then warned that many Hispanics who contributed to the Republican's return to the White House felt betrayed by the tightening of immigration policy.
However, Rodríguez has challenged that position and pointed out that Salazar supported legislation in Congress that allocated more resources to the agencies responsible for immigration control.
The controversy even extended to the phone campaign directed at the district's voters. At the end of October, a PolitiFact fact-check looked into the accusations against Salazar related to her support for additional funding for ICE and other immigration measures.
The Cuban American Vote on Deportations
Miami-Dade has one of the highest concentrations of immigrant population in the United States. According to data cited by The Wall Street Journal, about 55% of its residents were born outside the country.
Although the county largely supported Trump in the 2024 presidential elections, immigration operations have become a topic of debate among segments of the Hispanic community, including Cuban Americans.
The rejection of certain deportations, however, does not necessarily imply a change in political affiliation.
The FIU Cuba Poll 2026 found that 76% of Cuban Americans surveyed in Miami-Dade disapproved of the increase in deportations of Cubans without legal status and without criminal records, while 68% expressed their intention to vote for Republican candidates.
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