The risky life of an L.A. 'Tamalero'
Selling tamales on the streets of Los Angeles is a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. Tamale vendors, or "Tamaleros," have to avoid obstacles like gangs, traffic, police and health inspectors to make only about $30 a day. Devin Browne talks to one Tamalero who's found ways to stay in business.
Westlake tamale salesman Antonio Bautista. (Anna Bosch)
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From MacArthur Park Media
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are about 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. And a recent study from Pew shows that many of them have chosen to stay here during the recession, even with a rising unemployment rate. Here in Los Angeles, undocumented workers make up almost 12 percent of the city's labor force. So they do what they can to get by. Devin Browne has more.
DEVIN BROWNE: Antonio sells tamales in MacArthur Park. That's a neighborhood in downtown L.A. He's been selling tamales here for 14 years to support himself. It's his only job.
ANTONIO: Tamales! Champurrado!
He doesn't have permits to sell tamales on the street. He also doesn't have papers to live legally in the United States. Most of the other tamaleros use shopping carts, or strollers with their hot tamales hidden under blankets. But Antonio has figured out an even faster way to get his job done, and not get caught.
He sells his tamales on a tricycle with a big, wooden box wedged between the two back wheels.
ANTONIO: I get on my bicycle and off I go. It's exercise, and it keeps me and my work from being noticed.
The police constantly watch all the goods and services that are sold illegally here: drugs, sex, fake IDs, even street food. Health inspectors have to dispose of all food that isn't to code and that might be unsafe. Sometimes they dump full carts of tamales into the gutter. And the gangs in the area, they charge rent to any vendors who sell goods on the streets that they've marked as their territory. Here's Antonio.
ANTONIO: It's dangerous. It's very, very dangerous. You have to be careful with the gangs, you have to be careful with the police, you have to be careful with the cars. There are a lot of dangers in the street.
The tamaleros play a game, sort-of like a high-stakes version of hide-and-go seek. And there are rules that all the street vendors have to follow.
ANTONIO: Don't throw trash in the street. Second of all, if you see the police, don't make eye contact. And the gangs have asked me to pay rent, but no I have refused to do that.
Selling tamales is competitive in the neighborhood. At any moment, there are dozens of tamaleros in the park. But the vendors do look out for each other.
ANTONIO: Everyone's warning each other, 'Spread the word! They're coming to take your things! The Health Department is coming! The police are coming!' Or 'Immigration is here! Let's go, everyone, let's go!'
Antonio makes about $30 a day. That's after he buys all the ingredients he needs to make his chicken and pork tamales. It took him more than a year to save enough money to buy his bicycle.
ANTONIO: Oh yeah, there are a lot of people that want a bicycle like mine. And I would sell it to them, but they haven't offered me the right price.
Which for Antonio, is $400 or $500. And as fast it is, it's still not fast enough.
ANTONIO: If I see immigration around here, I would run. I'd leave the bicycle, and run.
In Los Angeles, I'm Devin Browne for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Los Angeles, CA, 08/15/2009
One of the reasons why I love Los Angeles is: in spite of the extremely conservative heritage and history of the Southern California region, a place like MacArthur Park can exist. It's a free market experiment, probably made worse by necessarily uneven enforcement. It's easier for a health department to dump Antonio's food in a gutter than it is for LAPD to crack the gangs that charge rent, the prostitution, and all of the other awful stuff that goes on there.
But it's kind of hopeful too--because in spite of the City's arcane and unrealistic laws requiring that LA fit into the mold of a suburban paradise with futuristic freeways and green front lawns, the city's natural, gritty vitality continues to shine through, unstoppable. LA continues to be what it is despite the wishes and actions of our power structure. That's a good thing.
And here he is, the product of our city: Antonio doesn't throw trash in the street, he rides a bike, he's innovative, and he'll sell you home made food. Thanks Antonio.
From CA, 08/11/2009
Some of the best tamales I've had came from vendors like this. Amazing. In the garment district I bought from two young women with their product in a bucket covered with newspaper. They fill a need.
From Los Angeles, CA, 08/10/2009
I'm proud of hit tricycle innovation. We just need to get him a twitter feed ala Kogi Truck so we know where to find his tamale goodness. It's pretty ridiculous to me that our police and health departments are wasting resources harassing guys like this
From HI, 08/08/2009
I spent an afternoon in MacArthur Park, a world completely different from the one I inhabit, wondering about the lives of the locals. This story provided a view into that world, somehow managing to portray it both realistically and with hope. There's more to the tamalero man than a bike and some tamales, a message apparently lost on those commenting on Antonio's use of Spanish. Are these the kind of people who listen to Marketplace?
From Atlanta, GA, 08/06/2009
Hmm. Well, welcome to the Balkans.
From Los Angeles, CA, 08/06/2009
Antonio is living the american dream. Mine is just documented. I wish there were more stories like this out there. Hearing his gives me hope. New voice, fresh tone... :)
From Los Angeles, CA, 08/06/2009
what's incredible about the comments so far is the total denial that the both the Spanish language and the people who are born and raised speaking it are already a massive part of our day to day lives in America, and that it has and will only continue to grow... I can remember more than 20 years ago standing in line at Disneyland's Matterhorn, one of the most American institutions of all, and hearing "permanecer sentados por favor" (please remain seated) on the loud speaker... this is NOT a new thing, people, and I am thrilled there are reporters out there like Ms. Browne who are willing to explore the secret economies that support our larger national and global economy... best news of all is, hearing this story and getting riled about the comments has made me hungry and I'm craving, as many a Californian does, a TAMALE!... donde esta Antonio?! woo-hoo!
From Atlanta, GA, 08/05/2009
Given that after 14 years the guy's most valuable possession is a $400 tricycle, maybe (a) he's not living a "perfectly normal life," and (b) maybe command of English might enlarge his profits.
I mean, what's "normal," you normative fascist?
And even if we can't have "normal," balkanizing yourself into a ghetto may well be a guaranteed path to eternal poverty. Look at the evidence.
But hey, you enlightened types can make that call about normality, etc. I'm just looking at a non English-speaking illegal immigrant in an English-speaking country who's still struggling to get by after 14 years. What do I know?
As for the rest, well, better a productive, law-abiding citizen than anything else.
From HI, 08/05/2009
Better a hard working undocumented worker than a banker, politician, or union boss!
08/05/2009
Maybe because there is no official language in the US and that you can live a perfectly normal life in california speaking only spanish?
From Atlanta, GA, 08/05/2009
You were good enough to translate Antonio's remarks, which were in Spanish.
Am I the only one out there wondering how a man can live in the US for 14 years and still be unable to express himself in English?
Oh, and BTW, he's not an "undocumented immigrant." He's an "illegal immigrant." Words do have meaning.
From CA, 08/04/2009
Antonio, even in these times is living the American Dreaam. Next time I'm down there, I'll look for him...
From Los Angeles, CA, 08/04/2009
It breaks my heart to hear about the struggles people like Antonio must endure but his courage teach many a lesson in perseverance. I was once an illegal immigrant and I am proud to say that, like Antonio, I always manage to find employment and make a decent living. I will make sure to look him up in McArthur park and buy some tamales from him. God bless him!!!
From ann arbor, MI, 08/04/2009
the contraction for "who has" is "who's" not "whose."
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