JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The humming clippers at D’Cuba Barbershop are quieter than usual these days. For owner Damian Lami, the silence is a direct result of a growing wave of anxiety sweeping through Jacksonville’s Hispanic communities as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts operations across the city.
In early 2026, the presence of federal agents had transformed daily routines into a series of calculated risks. Even for those with legal status, the fear of a simple misunderstanding has changed how they navigate their own neighborhoods.
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Damian Lami opened D’Cuba Barbershop on Beachwood Plaza eight months ago, quickly establishing what he calls the best Latino barbershop in Jacksonville Plaza. Business was thriving until the recent enforcement surge began. Now, he says, the drop in clientele is unmistakable.
“Business was going well until the ICE operations started,” Lami said in Spanish.
The anxiety is so high that Lami has changed his personal habits. Despite being in the country legally, he now carries his residency documents everywhere he goes. Something he said he didn’t have to do a year ago.
The ICE raids have had a ripple through other ethnic enclaves in Jacksonville.
At La Salsa Market, an Asian food market, the aisles are emptier than usual. Ferdie Simangan, an employee at the market, says the fear has reached their clients.
“They’re scared to come out to shop, even if they have no supplies left,” Simangan said. “They are still scared to get out to buy food.”
According to Simangan, the panic isn’t confined to one nationality. He noted that customers from the Filipino community and other Asian countries are staying indoors, fearing that they might be profiled or mistaken for the agency’s primary targets.
“Even the Filipinos, and all the countries... they’re scared to get out to buy food,” he added.
As the operations continue with no clear end date, the “new normal” for many Jacksonville residents involves a pocketful of paperwork. The consensus among those interviewed is a preference for the inconvenience of carrying legal proof of status over the potential risk of a confrontation with federal agents.
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