During a typical lunch rush, Perla Mexican Cuisine in downtown Santa Ana would seat around 50 diners. But on Tuesday, more tables sat empty than filled, with just a handful of patrons stopping in for a bite.
And on Saturday, manager Daniel Morquecho said, the restaurant opened for brunch at 11 a.m. and shut its doors by 12:30.
Daniel Morquecho, general manager of Perla Mexican Cuisine in Santa Ana on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 says the restaurant, which is located across from the Ronald Regan Federal Building and Courthouse, as been adversely affected by the protests and by the California National Guard being parked outside their business. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Perla Mexican Cuisine in Santa Ana on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 is located across from the Ronald Regan Federal Building and Courthouse has been adversely affected by the protests and the California National Guard parked outside their restaurant says Daniel Morquecho, general manager. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Daniel Morquecho, general manager of Perla Mexican Cuisine in Santa Ana on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 says the restaurant, which is located across from the Ronald Regan Federal Building and Courthouse, as been adversely affected by the protests and by the California National Guard being parked outside their business. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Daniel Morquecho, general manager of Perla Mexican Cuisine in Santa Ana on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 says the restaurant, which is located across from the Ronald Regan Federal Building and Courthouse, as been adversely affected by the protests and by the California National Guard being parked outside their business. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Daniel Morquecho, general manager of Perla Mexican Cuisine in Santa Ana on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 says the restaurant, which is located across from the Ronald Regan Federal Building and Courthouse, as been adversely affected by the protests and by the California National Guard being parked outside their business. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 5Daniel Morquecho, general manager of Perla Mexican Cuisine in Santa Ana on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 says the restaurant, which is located across from the Ronald Regan Federal Building and Courthouse, as been adversely affected by the protests and by the California National Guard being parked outside their business. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Expand“It was dead,” he said.
Ever since federal immigration agents stepped up enforcement operations across Orange County last week, followed by protests and the deployment of the National Guard, business owners in downtown Santa Ana say they’ve watched foot traffic plummet and sales go down.
“We want to support our community by being here and being open,” Morquecho said. “But unfortunately, with the National Guard being here and the ICE raids going on, no one wants to be outside.”
Perla sits just across the street from the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse, where two National Guard vehicles remain stationed outside on Tuesday.
The restaurant’s sales have dropped by 65% to 70%, Morquecho said. The restaurant has reduced staff to a skeleton crew — just one person serving and bartending and one in the kitchen. Private events have also taken a hit. Morquecho said several weekend bookings were canceled.
“Whether you’re documented or not, people just don’t want to look for parking, wonder if their car is going to be safe, if there will be fireworks, shooting,” Morquecho said.
The economic ripple effect extends well beyond Perla. Reuben Franco, president and CEO of the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said businesses across the region are reporting fewer customers, earlier closures and growing fear.
“Small businesses are being impacted,” Franco said. “They consider this another pandemic.”
Franco said the slowdown isn’t isolated to Santa Ana, though the city appears among the hardest hit. Retailers and restaurants in nearby Garden Grove, Anaheim and Tustin have reported empty streets and canceled events.
“The city of Tustin was telling me that it’s a ghost town. That was last Thursday,” Franco said. “Some retailers are near Home Depot, and people are more cautious in those areas as well.”
“This isn’t very humane,” Franco said. “Even if you’re not concerned about the humanitarian aspect of this, this isn’t very practical. There’s no practical way of moving millions of people out of the country. But unfortunately, it seems like this has become a numbers game.”
The atmosphere downtown — already hit hard by the pandemic and years of construction on the OC Streetcar — has turned bleak again, longtime business owner Marcela Prado said. She owns a small travel agency inside a quinceañera shop in Santa Ana’s historic business district and has worked there for three decades.
“We’ve been through so much in this area. First the COVID pandemic, then the train and now this,” Prado said. “It’s really killing businesses here.”
Prado is also closing up shop early. Her usual 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. has moved up to 5 p.m., she said. On Sundays, workers left at 4.
“When I see the troops there, it’s like another country,” she said. “It’s driving customers away.”
But Prado said she supports the people taking to the streets.
“That’s the only way the government is going to know that we’re against what is going on,” Prado said. “Our president doesn’t seem to care about the people who have been here so long and just working and doing nothing bad. It’s really affecting the community.”
Morquecho, the general manager at Perla, said even getting to city-organized meetings has become a challenge.
“There’s been a couple meetings with businesses and the city that we haven’t been able to attend just because we don’t have the staff,” he said.
The economic toll isn’t just about the lost revenue, Franco said, but also the uncertainty it’s creating.
“Some people have more of an event space, and people have completely canceled that or postponed it until August, when they think maybe this will settle down,” he said.
“So you’re seeing a huge impact, especially in the restaurant space and retail space just from a worker standpoint,” he added, “and then from a customer standpoint.”
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