Street vendors receive financial assistance

Mexican singer Juan Gabriel’s “Querida” was playing loudly through the speakers of a store selling Mexican flags and Hispanic heritage knickknacks next to the Little Village Arch on Sunday morning.

Underneath the arch, the Street Vendors Association of Chicago held a news conference to announce it was giving three checks to immigrant vendors and their families after raising around $278,000 since launching a GoFundMe in late September. Many street vendors have been staying home and not working, for fear of being detained by immigration authorities. The goal is to distribute 600 checks for $500 each to vendors and their families.

“We are united as a city to fight and refuse the militarization and the attacks of the federal government in the immigrant community and the Mexican community, be