CHICAGO (WLS) — Some street vendors say they are barely making enough to survive, due to the widespread immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.
Community members are stepping in and finding creative ways to help them.
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“We try to get out at 6-7 a.m., get into the neighborhoods, buy all the products they have so that they can leave and go home and be safe with their family for the rest of the day,” said Rick Rosales, a community organizer with CyclingxSolidarity.
They are being called “buyouts.”
Groups of cyclists are riding through neighborhoods across Chicago, and purchasing everything street vendors have, from tamales to elotes.
The movement is meant to support street vendors, as many fear being detained, during “Operation Midway Blitz.”
“I think we have 10-12 vendors that have been detained. There might be more,” said Maria Orozco, development manager and outreach coordinator for the Street Vendors Association of Chicago. “It’s like 85 percent vendors aren’t going out anymore.”
The initiative is a collaboration between CyclingxSolidarity and the Street Vendors Association of Chicago.
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They also organize bike tours, where up to 100 cyclists have joined them, and chipped in to help street vendors sell out.
Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino said Thursday on Fox News he is no longer in Chicago, but West Virginia for training.
The future of “Operation Midway Blitz” is unclear, but street vendors said they are still scared, including one who did not want to be identified.
In Spanish, he said he came face-to-face with Bovino in Little Village three weeks ago, but was not detained.
He says he now makes $50 a day, compared to the $100 he used to make because there is not a lot of foot traffic.
“I just hope they stay cautious, and they don’t go out right away. It could still be scary. And I know we’re still under an administration that’s very threatening to us,” Orozco said.
The Street Vendors Association of Chicago has raised over $300,000 to help vendors through their relief fund.
The next bike tour will be this Sunday in Back of the Yards.
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