As migrant raids in the city increased, undocumented immigrant children intervened to work on changing parents as street vendors.
Adult children are covering parents’ shifts at taco stands in southeastern Los Angeles after their work, floating and making sure they have a paycheck.
The owner of the stand says he works for his father and mother. He is at home and is afraid of ice.
Jonathan Rios is a legitimate citizen and the proud owner of the small taco business he built with his parents over the past seven years. But over the past few weeks, everything has changed for the Rios family.
“We realized that when something started happening in East LA, it was real,” Rios said.
The uncertainty from street vendors comes after President Donald Trump directed federal immigrants to prioritize deportation of Los Angeles and other democratically operated cities.
The owner of the taco stand says it was picked up by an undocumented employee whose business was not picked up on the ice. Both of his parents have been documented and despite them helping him build this business, Rios tells them they need to stay home to stay safe.
For Rios and his siblings, they emigrated to the United States 36 years ago and are worried about their parents who illegally crossed them during the search. He says American dreams that the past few weeks have been nightmares for fear of being picked up anywhere.
“That’s a big concern for me. It could be around the corner,” Rios said.
Rios’ parents are currently at home, and he says he’s not the only one. Four of his employees are undocumented and they are at home too.
“The kids were happy to step up and say, ‘What do you know, mom, we’re trying to help,'” Rios said. “We have to make things happen, we can’t quit, you’re just going on.”
Street vendors have set up GoFundMe to help all employees become affected.
Source link
