Yes. The simple fact that we can see the economic effects of declining spending around border towns in a confined area, in a defined time only adds credence to the obvious. With fewer people going to the border because of fear for their current status in the U.S., they are spending less money. This directly impacts Latino spending, Latino commerce and Latinos at and around the border towns.

I don’t know. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of our current president, but I have some issues all the way around with this thesis.

The biggest issue: It always bugs me when “Hispanics” are discussed as a homogeneous group. They’re not. I had a rather passionate argument with the CEO of Nielsen over this topic a few years ago. Living in Miami, it’s very easy to see that they are not the same. It’s sort of like grouping all Semites into one cluster. You can’t do it.

Sure, I would not be surprised to see Mexicans avoiding the U.S. Heck, I would avoid it if I were them with all the noise out there. But what does that have to do with Venezuelans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, etc.? Nothing.

So I think I have to say the data is based on an erroneous assumption, and therefore isn’t telling me much of anything. And I’ll say it again. I am no fan of 45 so there is zero prejudice here.

Xenophobia and protectionism have proven in the past to be the enemies of long-term economic development. The impact of current policies may be clouded today by high stock prices and low unemployment, but it’s a matter of time before history repeats itself.

Something not addressed that is very applicable to the U.S. retail stores along the Mexican border is the declining value of peso. In 2013 the peso was worth about $.075 and has been declining ever since. Today a peso is worth $.056/$.057. This is about a 25 percent decline. This represents a very small increase over its low point early in 2017.

When people fear for the welfare of their families, they’re less concerned with buying shoes. People spend less in times of political discord and this presidential term has been so polarizing that USA Today reports one in five Americans are spending less since Trump’s win.

My sense is that there is tremendous fear in the Hispanic community in general. This is a community which has tremendous history with unwarranted action against them by authority — dating back over a hundred years. It’s so bad in the current climate that my brother, in his role as DA for Boulder, CO, has participated in a great number of public meetings with minorities to assure them that crimes against immigrants are crimes and will be prosecuted as such. (There are some in society who are taking advantage of anti-immigrant ideas to prey criminally on anyone they feel looks like an immigrant.) Perhaps the way I’d put it isn’t cocooning. Rather many in the Hispanic community have returned to “keeping their heads down.” Historically they’ve had to do this often. It’s also sad that we, as a society, underestimate how important their full participation in the economy has become. That said, I don’t “blame Trump” for this — he is merely the symbol for an unrest that has led to both legal changes and… Read more »

I agree with many of the comments here — the assumptions are a bit dubious, and the idea of lumping all Hispanics into one demographic for this purpose is challenging at best. Shopping habits within the Hispanic community vary greatly, and certainly vary by region around the country. More data would be useful here, but let’s focus on what Cornell is not only saying, but implying. His words would lead you to expect more challenging sales numbers as the year progresses and he’s certainly attempting to lay blame on White House policy and rhetoric. One would expect he’s speaking based on reading into the sales figures he has in front of him, so it will be interesting to see where this goes for Target as well as other discount retailers. It might be most interesting to see what’s happening with dollar stores in similar regions as well as fast fashion and off-price apparel brands to see if they experience a similar effect. Even so, all of that discussion is based on generalities which are still… Read more »

I do believe this is happening and I asked this question of my brother, who lives in Miami, and my sister-in-law, who is Venezuelan and has been a US citizen for about 8 years now. Their response was that illegals are staying home, so it is logical that those cities with high percentages of illegal immigrants would be experiencing a slow-down. They also note that they are having friends do their shopping for them and that they are buying online. But they aren’t necessarily eating less. With the stock market at an all time high, e-tail sales growing rapidly and unemployment at its lowest rate in 16 years, people are shopping and spending is up. As for Target, they should look to themselves to understand what they are doing wrong. Target has done some very unpopular things recently that cost them significantly. Specifically the transgender bathroom policy, cost Target significant revenue loses and resulted in a boycott that cost Target an estimated 6% in sales. In addition, with the general migration from brick and mortar… Read more »