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Street Vending

Self-Deport or Stand Firm: The Heartbreak of L.A.’s Undocumented Street Vendors

Trump’s crackdown on immigration could disrupt Los Angeles’ thriving street vending industry, and in some cases, already has. Some street vendors have reduced their presence on the street. Vendors Camacho and Lopez have gone from five days a week to just vending on the weekends.

2:05 PM PDT on May 21, 2025

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.