When Patricia Lopez and Antonio Camacho (their names have been changed for their privacy) left Veracruz for the United States twenty years ago, they hoped to find a better life for their children.
In Mexico, Lopez was a secretary and Camacho was a veterinarian. Now, they run a successful street vending business in Los Angeles where they’ve catered for various groups for two decades, including the local police department. For 20 years, it has been not only their full-time job, but their passion project.
But everything began to crash down when Donald Trump began his second presidential term, introducing harsh immigration policies that are forcing Camacho and Lopez to consider the possibility of self-deporting back to Mexico.
Trump’s crackdown on immigration could be disrupting Los Angeles’ thriving street vending industry. In some cases, it already has. Some vendors have reduced their presence on the street, like Camacho and Lopez, who have gone from working five days a week to only vending on the weekends.
This is where Change in Our Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation (ICON), a local nonprofit, comes in. Elizabeth Padilla is the organization's vending manager and shared that the street vending industry is intertwined with Los Angeles culture. Having it wiped away would drastically affect L.A.’s economy.
“We’ve noticed a shift in people interested in starting a street vending business earlier in the year,” said Padilla. She recalled that when ICON was doing outreach work, they noticed that some of their clients weren’t out in the streets selling.