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A chorus of street vendors' pitches ring out on a hot spring day in downtown Los Angeles. «Avocados, avocados from Michoacan,» one man shouts with his foot on top of a box filled with the fruit. «Agua fresca!» «Tacos!» cLA street vending legalisation offers migrants hope, but also challenges
A chorus of street vendors' pitches ring out on a hot spring day in downtown Los Angeles. «Avocados, avocados from Michoacan,» one man shouts with his foot on top of a box filled with the fruit. «Agua fresca!» «Tacos!» call out others. Shaded from the burning Californian sun by awnings and rainbow-colored umbrellas, customers advance slowly along a sidewalk crammed with stalls that burst into life every morning before being packed up and stashed away at night. Some 50,000 street vendors, the majority of whom are women, are estimated to work in Los Angeles. The sector, which has roots that stretch back more than a century, is estimated to be worth some $500 million a year and is today a vital lifeline for the undocumented workers who have made the city their home. But despite being found across this vast metropolis, it is a form of work that long remained illegal. Vendors were at the mercy of police who had the power to seize their goods, fine and even arrest them. That changed on January 1 when the Safe Vending Act went into effect in California, decriminalising the activity and leaving to municipalities the power to establish permits, sanitation and security issues. The move... Read more