Soccer-In Newark’s Brazilian hub, bar owners prepare for World Cup crowds and, maybe, ICE

By Nicholas P. Brown

NEWARK, NJ, June 12 (Reuters) – It has been a slow few months for Boi Na Brasa, a Brazilian restaurant in the heart of Newark’s heavily Latino Ironbound district.

Sales have lagged since U.S. Immigration and Customs officials began high-profile raids in the area last year.

Manager Kalani Mubarak, whose family own the business, recalls watching ICE agents arrest one of his regulars as he came in to eat.

Mubarak has not seen the man since. “We went through a long stretch of lots of red sales numbers,” he said.

After a round of layoffs and shift reductions, Mubarak is banking on the World Cup to bring the influx of business the restaurant desperately needs.

It is hosting a ticketed watch party for Brazil’s opening match against Morocco on Saturday, featuring live music and an outdoor bar.

But there are lingering fears that ICE could return – or that the fear alone could dampen attendance. “It’s been a concern but I try to tell people, ‘You’re safe here, as long as you don’t do anything wrong’,” Mubarak said.

Five-times champions Brazil are among the favourites to win the Cup, and their fervent fan base historically come out in droves. Parts of Ferry Street – the Ironbound’s main drag – will be closed for games, as well as for the city’s annual Portugal Day Celebration, a three-day event that coincides with Brazil’s first match.

“THE FEAR IS STILL HERE”

But as bars up and down the block expand capacity and boost security, some business owners quietly harbor fears that attendance will not live up to the hype.

Memories of recent ICE raids – which scared people into staying inside and rendered businesses like Mubarak’s empty for days – remain front-of-mind for many residents.

“The World Cup is revealing that the fear is still here because I’m hearing my friends talk about it – wondering whether they should come out,” said Michel De Souza, 39, a Brazilian soccer fan living in the U.S. under a temporary visa. 

Cozy Sports Bar and Grill, on Ferry Street, saw its sales fall about 75% last year, said manager Andrea Muniz.

Down the road, at Portuguese seafood restaurant Sol-Mar, bartender Maria Perez recalled several layoffs and cuts in hours last year. 

This weekend’s turnout is hard to predict, Perez said, because many locals rely on social media users who send alerts when ICE is spotted nearby. Usually, she says, business will slow down for a few days after such an alert. 

Last year’s ICE raids were a “collective trauma”, said Hazel Applewhite, executive director of the community advocacy group the Ironbound Community Corporation.

“They fundamentally changed how the community functions,” Applewhite said. At large gatherings like World Cup watch parties, “people now scan the room for unfamiliar faces, they park further away and plan escape routes.”

The World Cup comes at a moment of renewed immigration tensions in Newark, where some detainees at nearby Delaney Hall Detention Facility have staged hunger strikes over allegations of poor medical treatment and conditions. Anti-ICE protesters have descended on the facility in recent weeks, at times clashing with law enforcement. 

For businesses that have invested heavily in World Cup watch parties, the stakes are high. 

During 2022 World Cup match days, Mubarak said, Boi Na Brasa raked in about five times its typical daily sales figures. This year, he has stocked enough beer to go through 800-1,000 cases during Saturday’s game, four times a normal day’s amount. 

Beyond the specter of ICE, security is a concern for the event, the business owners said. On Friday, police were stationed outside most of the establishments planning watch parties, though the Newark Police Department did not respond to requests for details about its security plans. 

Mubarak has hired his own security firm, planning to have 10 bouncers stationed at various restaurant entrances. 

(Reporting by Nicholas P. Brown; editing by Clare Fallon)