US-ECONOMY-LABOUR-RETAIL-VENDORS-IMMIGRATION

Elizabeth Bojortes prepares hot dogs at her street vending stand on a sidewalk off N Main St near Olvera St in Downtown Los Angeles on March 10, 2019. - Vendors in this area were notified to move one block away by March 16. A few weeks later they were no longer there. Bojortes arrived to the United States 20 years ago from Santa Ana, El Salvador, since then she has worked as a food street vendor. She sees legalization of street vending as something positive, but she doesn't agree with moving from the spot she is: "If we don't leave by next Saturday, we're gonna get tickets. And if we leave, the sales will going down. I've been here all my life". On January 1, 2019, the Safe Vending Act (SB946) went into effect in the state of California prohibiting the arrest or finning of street vendors and leaving to municipalities the power to establish permits, sanitation and security issues. The Los Angeles County has set a year to negotiate with vendors the terms on which the law is going to be applied. Some 50,000 street vendors are estimated to work in Los Angeles, a $504 million industry according to a 2015 study by the Economic Roundtable. The LA County issued a municipal ordinance that designates specific areas where the vendors must operate. The ordinance does not include areas such as Memorial Coliseum, the Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, Rose Bowl Stadium and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Street vendors have mixed feelings about the legalization of their work. At the same time they feel freed of being against the law and harassed by police giving them tickets and seizing their goods; they are concerned about having to abide to health regulations, permits and limited areas. (Photo by Agustin PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo credit should read AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)