Chicagoans buy out street vendors amid immigration crackdown

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — The cyclists arrive at sunrise, rolling through Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods and stopping at tamale carts, elote stands and candy stalls. They buy out every last item — every tamale, every corn cob, every bundle of sweets. Then they load up the food and deliver it to shelters and families in need.

Since the start of a federal immigration crackdown that has led to more than 3,200 arrests in the Chicago metropolitan area, streets and storefronts in the city’s Latino neighborhoods have emptied out . Street vendors, fearing arrest, have been afraid to leave their homes to work. Local restaurants have struggled as customers stay home.

But as fear spread , so did something else — neighbors stepping up for one another and f