ICE raids force LA street vendors into hiding, sparking community support

Street vendors across Los Angeles are vanishing from sidewalks and marketplaces following recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, prompting widespread fear and triggering a grassroots wave of community solidarity.

Since the raids began on June 6, many vendors—particularly immigrant women of Latin American descent—have halted operations, fearful of detainment or deportation. Some, like Maritza, a vendor supporting a family of five, said their weekend earnings have dropped to less than a third of what they typically earn. “If I don’t work this weekend we won’t have enough money,” she said. “We don’t have savings to survive this period,” she told LA Public Press, stressing that vendors pay taxes and are deeply rooted in their communities.

L.A. is home to an estimated 50,000 street vendors. According to a 2015 study by the Economic Roundtable, the sector contributes approximately $504 million annually to the city’s economy. The sudden disappearance of vendors has not only hurt livelihoods but also disrupted food access in many neighborhoods.

The restaurant business in California is already struggling with skyrocketing labor, food, rent, and regulatory costs, so these interruptions come at a bad time. The L.A. Times discovered that over 100 well-known eateries in L.A. alone closed last year, before the immigration sweeps that business executives fear could further hurt the sector.

In response, mutual aid networks and neighborhood organizations have launched urgent fundraising and relief efforts. The L.A. Street Vendor Campaign, along with grassroots groups such as Aetna Street Solidarity in Van Nuys, Quien Es Tu Vecindario (Who Is Your Neighborhood) in Pico-Union, and Ktown For All in Koreatown, have collectively raised over $110,000. Community members are organizing “buyouts,” purchasing full batches of food from vendors to help offset their income losses.

There is a long history of street vendors buying one other out, or buying food or goods from vendors when they realize a vendor needs further financial support, according to Carla Orendorff of Aetna Street Solidarity. “Those kinds of mutual aid efforts, even if we didn’t call it that back then, were always something practiced … I think it’s always been a part of the street vending culture.”

Quien Es Tu Vecindario volunteer organizer Jimmy "J.T." Recinos has also made contact with neighborhood street sellers in Silver Lake, Virgil Village, and East Hollywood. “There’s been a resurgence in volunteer interest and in folks who want to get involved,” he said.

Organizers are also coordinating meal distributions and forming neighborhood watch systems to alert vendors of potential ICE activity. Volunteers deliver food, raise funds, and spread safety information in multiple languages.”

Also see: Will your food get more expensive? ICE targets farm workers