The Criminalization of Undocumented Street Vendors

Abstract

This study looks at the unique set of challenges that undocumented street vendors experience. There has been a substantial amount of research done on immigration and the lives of undocumented immigrants and how they are criminalized through immigration policy. But there is not a lot of research being done on how undocumented immigrants participate in the informal job sector. I am focusing on how undocumented immigrants participate in street vending, specifically, because street vending has the most risks and effects on those who participate in it. This paradox of feeling the need to hide and stay away from authorities due to fear of deportation yet depending on such visibility to earn a living in the streets causes many of these vendors to work with fear and anxiety. Through in-depth interviews I examine how undocumented street vendors have their one way of survival limited and the economic and emotional effects that it has on them. At the end of my study, I found that the main motivator for participating in street vending is the poverty that many of my interviewees found themselves in when first arriving to the United States and the low resources and social and human capital that their social networks in this country had. Even though their social networks when first arriving to this country were unresourceful, their new networks within street vendors, were very resourceful and structured. It provided economic support, emotional support and served as a way to avoid authorities. I found that the criminalizing street vending policies contributed to the cycle of poverty that vendors find themselves in. This poverty and constant need to survive affect them emotionally as many experience negative emotions such as depression or low-self-esteem. Nevertheless, I also found that some vendors persevere through these challenges by gaining a level of empathy understanding towards the local authorities.