A Campaign to Buy Latino

During National Small Business Week (May 3–9), the team at Aquí: The Accountability Movement launched “Buy Latino. Build Community. Build America,” a national campaign to support Latino-owned businesses facing economic pressure from the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

Sindy Benavides, Aquí’s Founding Executive Director, spoke with The Latino Newsletter about the campaign and what is driving the urgency.

The Latino Newsletter: How are communities and small business owners feeling during these times?

Sindy Benavides: Community members and small business owners are feeling uncertain and unstable. ICE enforcement is causing economic destabilization, affecting businesses, families, and entire communities, with many employers reporting they’re losing customers and revenue. Slower foot traffic impacts them, yes, but it also impacts workers. Carlos, who owns Todos Supermarket in Northern Virginia, said that recent immigration efforts are hurting not only his bottom line, but also the heart of his business — the workers and customers. He called it “a paralyzing fear,” and it’s impacting daily life, such as families risking leaving their homes to go to the store, send their children to school, and just going to church. Those businesses are hurting, but he also noted how collective community support can help.

TLN: As framed, the "Buy Latino" campaign is trying to change how the country views the Latino community and its role in the U.S. economy. Why do you think such views need to change in the first place?

SB: Latinos contribute over $4.4 trillion to the U.S. GDP, with more than five million Latino-owned businesses embedded in our neighborhoods. The Latino community is America, but that is not always recognized. “Somos América” is our narrative-changing campaign.

Our goal is to raise awareness of Latinos’ consumer power while supporting businesses impacted by ICE raids. The #BuyLatino campaign calls on individuals, families, and communities to direct their spending toward Latino-owned businesses, treating each purchase as an investment in their local economies. Our direct ask is the “10% Challenge.” The idea is simple: if 1 in 10 American households spent $30 at a Latino-owned business during National Small Business Week, that would generate $400 million in revenue for businesses already facing reduced foot traffic and sales.

That urgency is compounded by the legal landscape. While the Supreme Court has not issued a final ruling allowing ICE to target people based solely on race or ethnicity, a 2025 emergency order in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo drew intense criticism for lifting an injunction that had prohibited agents from stopping individuals based on perceived ethnicity, speaking Spanish, or working in low-wage jobs.

TLN: How do you go beyond a national campaign effort and begin to see the economic benefits that the campaign is promoting? Can you share specific examples of how the campaign has positively impacted small business owners?

SB: We have seen an increase in support for Latino-owned businesses on social media, and businesses are even tagging themselves. We’re getting messages from people doing the “10% Challenge.” This is a first step as we’re heading into Hispanic Heritage Month, when we’ll activate this campaign for an entire month.

TLN: Why is it important for the campaign to promote “a direct investment in resilience, local jobs, and shared prosperity?” What does that mean specifically?

SB: This is about consumers standing up for businesses that are pillars in our local communities. We have a surplus of cruelty and a deficit of support, as this administration targets Latino and immigrant-owned businesses. For example, the Small Business Administration recently updated its loan guidance to say that it will only back requests from U.S. citizens or U.S. “nationals.” This is a major departure from previous policy, which recognized the important contributions that immigrant entrepreneurs can make to our country, even if they are still green card holders.

TLN: What would success mean to you?

SB: We are doing this because we want to see Latino-owned businesses thrive with support from the local community, despite the political cruelty and realities they face every day. Our beloved Latino community understands that they can make an impact with their economic power and use it to drive change.

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The Latino GDP: On Tuesday, UCLA and California Lutheran University researchers shared the latest 2026 Latino GDP report, noting that “the economic contribution of U.S. Latinos in 2024 surpassed Japan’s, generating the equivalent of the world’s fourth largest GDP.”  

Julio Ricardo Varela edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.

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