Editor’s Note: Some quotes were originally in Spanish and have been translated into English.
Eat Out in East, a new initiative led by Somerville Ward 1 City Councilor Matthew McLaughlin, intends to get residents to support local businesses — many of which are immigrant-owned — in East Somerville. The program comes amid increased activity from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Massachusetts, particularly in Somerville.
Weekly meet-ups are hosted on Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m., highlighting immigrant-run restaurants in the neighborhood.
The initiative comes in response to a new immigration crackdown in Massachusetts launched by ICE in September. Since then, Somerville residents have reported a rise in arrests and ICE activity, notably the arrest of Magdaleno Pineda Avelar.
“I know there’s been a big community response,” McLaughlin said. “If it weren’t for the fact that residents were there watching this, we wouldn’t know this guy’s name. They ended up finding out the person’s name because his friends saw it on Facebook and reached out to the city.”
According to McLaughlin, 70% of East Somerville businesses are immigrant-owned. Three businesses have closed in East Somerville since President Donald Trump took office.
In response, McLaughlin worked with local nonprofit East Somerville Main Streets and Connexion United Methodist Church to get the initiative started.
“East Somerville Main Streets, which is a nonprofit in the community with the Connexion church, came to me with the idea of doing Eat Out in East, which is not only encouraging people to come down and eat, but also coming by the church and volunteering and finding out what they can do to get involved,” McLaughlin said.
Every Wednesday, residents are encouraged to visit the Connexion church before any business of their choosing on the dining guide. The church also runs an almost weekly event called “Come to the Table Community Meal,” where it caters food from some local businesses and distributes the food to residents who come.
While community dinners had previously only been once a month, Connexion started providing dinner during the pandemic every two weeks due to growing need. Connexion and Project Soup, a program within East Somerville Main Streets, additionally increased volunteer roles, involved local restaurants in catering and began hosting events weekly except at the beginning of the month.
“We have a rotation of about four East Somerville restaurants in our catering for the meal, but we want everybody to get business,” the Rev. Christy Wright, a provisional deacon and a food justice advocate with Connexion, said. “This is our vision for Eat Out in East: [to] make it a street festival, make it a big celebration of who we are as a community and really enjoy local food, local culture, get to know folks.”
McLaughlin expressed optimism about the collaboration between businesses, Connexion Church and East Somerville Main Streets.
“It’s great to have community groups assisting in making sure the businesses are being taken care of, and we’re looking out for people in the community,” McLaughlin said.
Wright’s work with the weekly meals at Connexion has become intertwined with the Eat Out initiative. She said that it has become a way to combat ICE presence and demonstrate support for immigrant-owned businesses.
“I know that local businesses have been impacted by ICE presence, and so this is another way for us to combat that … to encourage people to be out in East Somerville,” Wright said. “We’re not really seeing ICE in West [Somerville], as far as I’m aware. So bringing folks to East [Somerville], I think is really important.”
One employee at a small business said that rumors of ICE being present in Somerville have caused people to eat out less and cook at home instead for their own safety and out of fear of being arrested.
“Most people choose to consume and cook at home as much as they can because oftentimes there are rumors that ICE is present in certain streets,” she said. “I say this, myself included, people are afraid and decide to stay home instead.”
As immigration enforcement fears ripple through local communities, small businesses are feeling the effects as they have reported seeing less activity and patronage.
“[Our client base is] 50% American and 50% Hispanic. Recently, we’ve only been working with our American customers because there are already few Hispanics who want to come,” the employee said. “There are times when … of the 50% with whom we worked, perhaps 25% [of customers] are coming, which is half of what we had.”
The employee added that businesses and residents have an added degree of caution as they go about their work and daily lives.
“We all have to be careful and cautious, but we have to continue with our lives despite the fear we have,” she said. “Life goes on.”
McLaughlin said that he wants residents to show up on Wednesdays to support immigrant-owned businesses and the neighborhood as a whole.
“I would just encourage people to come down 4–8 p.m. in East Somerville, stop by the Connexion church, because it’s not just about eating out,” McLaughlin said. “It’s about getting involved in the community.”
