Immigrant Informal Work as Stepping Stone? The Case of Los Angeles Fruit Vendors.

The number of fruit vendors working on street corners in Los Angeles has risen dramatically in the last few decades. This is due in part to the increased international and internal migration of undocumented labor migrants facilitated by kinship and paisano ties and to saturated occupational sectors where undocumented laborers might find work. In a city where street vending is prohibited, the rising number of vendors has increased visibility and risks. How do vendors maneuver through these risks? Based on over four years of ethnographic research, in-depth interviews, and participant observation with groups of fruit vendors, this paper examines the use and reliance on kinship and paisano networks. Social networks allow everyday problems and more serious risks to be mollified and function as financial safety nets after countywide crackdowns occur. However, because risk cannot be completely eliminated, the crackdowns that do occur are not only financially debilitating for the fruit vendor who experiences them but also for the network of which he or she is a part. This contributes to a cycle of low income, high debt, and minimal to no upward mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]