SB 635 would make it illegal for local government agencies in California to collect vendors’ fingerprints and citizenship status.
This article was first published by the nonprofit newsroom LA Public Press on August 28, 2025 and is republished here with permission.
Long a part of the food ecosystem and culture of Southern California, street vendors waged a long fight to become part of the formal economy. In 2018, the City of Los Angeles dropped criminal penalties for street vending from its municipal code, and in 2019, the state followed, essentially decriminalizing the business of street vending. Since then, cities across California have developed permitting, health codes, and registration processes for street vendors that are meant to protect the small business owners and consumers.
But vendors say the system they worked so hard to create is now putting some of them at risk as the Trump administration escalates immigration enforcement operations that have broadened over the past couple of months to include people with no criminal backgrounds. Federal immigration enforcement in LA has pushed an unknown number of street vendors into hiding or caused them to stop working. The arrests have also sparked solidarity from community members that have collected donations for street vendors who are unable to work…