Santa Ana’s family supports street vendors by buying carts and working shifts after many workers chose to stay home out of fear during a fierce immigration operation.
Marisol Magagna, her partner Andrew Roar and their daughter have been raising money to buy out street vendor carts and hand them over to the homeless in the community. Families also work vendor shifts, allowing them to return home earlier.
“It feels good to help people know that they’re safe for at least a day and get out of the street,” Maganya said.
What began as simple kindness by a family turned into a mission after raising over $10,000.
Helped by Maganya and her family, Guadalu Petrujillo, a Santa Ana street vendor, will either set up and work on a fruit cart alone, or join with his 15-year-old son Kevin Cruz, who is on the summer vacation.
“The fact that my mother was deported and I was separated from her didn’t want that to happen,” Cruz said. “That’s why I volunteered to help her.”
However, in many cases, Trujillo says she’s alone and goes out every day without knowing whether she’ll return home or not.
As the immigrant raids intensify, others have helped Santa Ana’s undocumented families, including a group of volunteers intervening to go on grocery trips and errands for those who are afraid to leave their homes for immigrant raids.
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