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Many Oklahoma businesses that cater to or are owned by Hispanics have been bleeding profits in recent months. Business leaders in those communities attribute the losses to passage of HB 1804, the state's new immigration law.

Grider Food Stores, a major distributor of Hispanic foods, reported sales declines of more than $500,000 in the last three months.

Carniceria El Torito in the 2300 block of S Western has been a purveyor of meat for more than nine years. In that time, the owners say they have never seen such sudden sales declines. The owners are trying to sell the meat market.

"It's been real low for three months now, and it's getting worse,” said Javier Ramierez, one of El Torito's owners. "Everybody says business is low everywhere. It's because there's not too much work right now and people are leaving the state.”

Ramierez says business has been off about 30 percent since Nov. 1, the date most portions of HB 1804 went into effect.

A few blocks away, in the 200 block of SW 25, is El Mana Panaderia, a Hispanic-owned bakery. Owner Florentino Cornejo says sales have dropped 50 percent in the last two months. He has fired three employees, keeping only two, and picked up the slack by working longer hours.

Cornejo is not considering selling out, but says immigration enforcement has forced him to work a lot harder for less money.

The immigration statute was adopted by the Legislature last spring and signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry. It received bipartisan support from state lawmakers who expressed frustration with Congress' inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The law prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving public services and driver's licenses. It also criminalizes transporting, harboring or sheltering illegal immigrants from detection. Beginning July 1, the statute will require employers to verify employment prior to hiring new workers.

It is considered the most stringent immigration enforcement statute in the nation.

Last month, its validity was challenged in court by the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Religious Leaders. That lawsuit, however, was dismissed. Subsequently, the Oklahoma law has spurred the penning of numerous likeminded measures around the nation.

Felix Perretti is a board member of the Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and owner of Muebleria La Popular Furniture, also on the city's south side.

In October, Perretti's sales declined by 10 percent. In November, sales declined by an additional 10 percent. This month, even with Christmas, Perretti says he has been struggling to reach pre-HB 1804 numbers.

"We are definitely being affected by this law,” Perretti said. "We are struggling.”

Maxine Grider, the owner of Grider Foods, has operated her grocery store in the 2700 block of SW 29 for 45 years. If this trend continues, she says, the store's future is uncertain.

"It's hit us pretty bad. I'm sure not satisfied with sales,” Grider said.

"It affects your bottom line tremendously.”

Oklahoma homebuilders lost about 10 percent of their workforce after the law went into effect, said Mike Means, executive vice president of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association.

For Fernando Espinoza, a Farmer's Insurance agent who works largely within the Hispanic community, HB 1804 has not been entirely negative.

"It's been good and bad. There are fewer people here. But the people who stay here have something holding them down like a car, a house, a business or family,” Espinoza said.

"So they say if I am going to be here, I am going to do it legally.”

In mid-November, El Mariachi Supermercado opened at 415 SW 59 as a full-size grocery store and pharmacy specializing in Hispanic foods. Employers there said they had not noticed a significant decline in traffic.

Budget Foods on SW 25, a discount grocer that also specialized in Hispanic foods, has failed to reopen since the ice storm. Signs on the front door blame the closure on storm damage.

Contributing: The Associated Press