Lori Andre’s family shoe business has been pummeled by tariffs put in place this year by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Her import costs have doubled since April. If any hikes are added to those tariffs or any additional costs are imposed, she may be forced to choose between cutting some of the 40 employees at Lori’s Shoes or closing one of her four stores, she said.

“We can’t raise prices high enough to keep up,” Andre told five state attorneys general at a community meeting hosted by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Tuesday at the Plumbers’ Local 130 Hall in the West Loop.

“And we can’t absorb these increases without cutting jobs or even closing one of our stores,” Andre said. “We’re not a multinational corporation. We’re not a tech giant. We are a small team doing everything we can to stay afloat. And right now, this seems impossible.”

Attorneys general Keith Ellison of Minnesota; Letitia James of New York; Peter Neronha of Rhode Island; and Nick Brown of Washington State also attended Thursday’s meeting.

It was the latest in a series of similar town halls hosted by Democratic state attorneys general to hear from constituents about the impacts they’ve felt from the Trump administration’s policies. Brown labeled the current environment a “constitutional crisis.”

“We have a president who, with his administration and those who have turned a blind eye in Congress, has violated our Constitution and laws in a manner that is a harm to the people,” Raoul said.

Raoul, along with attorneys general across the country, have filed more than 30 lawsuits against the Trump administration this year to halt executive orders and policies on issues including health, immigration, education, labor and civil rights.

Andre is worried about her family business that has been around for more than 40 years, but she said she’s been hurt more personally by the federal administration as her husband battles a diagnosis of ALS.

She pointed to the Trump administration rescinding $1.7 billion in grants — and proposing further cuts of up to $18 billion — to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH is among the major funders for health research, including for ALS.

Andre said that in recent years, her family has gained hope as research for a cure to ALS has gained momentum, clinical trials were advancing and new drug developments have moved forward — until this year.

Every day, she has been by his side as her husband fights through his ability to live a productive life, she said.

“To keep speaking, to keep eating, and to keep breathing. Eventually, my husband won’t be able to hug our grandchildren, or give me a warm embrace,” Andre said.

“And now I have to ask, ‘Will the research that could help my husband be funded in time? Will the scientists working on ALS still have labs to go to next year? Has our country decided that his life and the lives of tens of thousands like him simply aren’t worth the investment?’”

Elizabeth Cervantes, vice president of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Board, said she was “heartbroken” for the numerous immigrant families — undocumented as well as documented — who are living in fear and are being split up through detainment and deportation by federal authorities.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency couldn’t be reached for comment.

Cervantes called for an end to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s violent tactics in enforcing immigration policies and spoke about a recent case in which a man accompanied his wife to traffic court. He was stopped while on his way to the restroom by masked men — presumably ICE agents — who, without a warrant, detained him, she said.

“The fear in my community is so tangible,” said Cervantes, an immigrant and also the founder and director of the Southwest Suburban Immigrant Project. “What this looks like at the very core of our community is people not going to appointments for services and more, people not going to work, which impacts their health, their well-being.”