LA City Council Decriminalized Street Food Vending in Reaction to Trump

“Once Trump was elected and his anti-immigration, anti-Latino rhetoric was at the forefront of his campaign … the city council decided to move forward” with decriminalizing street food vending in Los Angeles, Councilman Jose Huizar told NPR. Until then, vendors, who are mostly immigrants, had been ticketed or charged with misdemeanors for street vending without a permit. After the presidential inauguration, the council voted unanimously to decriminalize street vending, thereby reducing the likelihood that an infraction would lead to deportation. By March, Los Angeles had started pilot testing a vendor permitting system on Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority property, but had yet to implement a citywide permitting ordinance. More details on which types of vendors can operate, regulation enforcement, and balancing the concerns of brick-and-mortar businesses still need to be addressed.