Under his rainbow umbrella, which protects him from the harsh summer sun, Luis Sanchez happily serves one of his usual customers a raspado — shaved iced — into a plastic cup with homemade strawberry syrup on top. 

For the past five years, Sanchez has sold snacks from a cart in a North Las Vegas neighborhood as his sole source of income. He said he wakes up at 6 a.m. every day to prepare his cart — wash the coolers, cook the corn, make the syrups and refill the sauces — and be ready to sell in the afternoon. 

“It’s like a normal job. But I am my own boss of my own work, of my own business. If at a job I would get paid $150, I’ll earn that here. But I’m not going to work eight or 10 hours like at a job … It’s six hours that I’m going to be working,” Sanchez told The Nevada Independent in Spanish. “Those who say ‘This looks easy,’ I tell them nothing is easy.”

Sanchez is just one of many Southern Nevadans making a living as a street vendor — an often marginalized profession that typically operates off the books. Research by IBISWorld estimates that more than 1,000 people work in the industry in Nevada. 

Vendors without licensing sometimes see their carts and wares confiscated by local authorities, prompting an effort by lawmakers during the legislative session to bring the unlicensed entrepreneurs out of the legal shadows.

Sanchez added that while the North Las Vegas residents and police officers don’t bother him, even sometimes buying from him, officials have in the past approached him and told him to pack up and move. He recalled one occasion where his merchandise was thrown out. 

“But I’m not stealing, I’m not doing anything bad, I’m just earning a living … There are many, many people who are selling drugs. I am just earning an honest living. They still took my things. They left me with nothing,” Sanchez said of the incident. “I know they are doing their job. I have been here for five years, and I have never had a complaint from a customer that my food was bad or made them sick.”

Street food vending came naturally for Sanchez, he said. As a teen living in Arizona, he learned the industry from his dad, and throughout his adulthood, Sanchez has come to realize other jobs did not satisfy him — nor did they financially sustain his growing family.  

“I’ve had other jobs, but I was neglecting the business a bit. And I said, ‘Well, let’s focus more on just selling since there’s quite a bit of customers,” he said. “I left that job even though they were telling me ‘Don’t go. Look, there’s work!’ Yes, there is work, but I’m also neglecting the business that has always left me [profit].”

Earlier this month, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed SB92 into law, establishing regulations at the state level for sidewalk vendors. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Fabian Donate (D-Las Vegas) and championed by pro-immigration groups including Make the Road Nevada that have sought to improve the working conditions of street vendors, allows county commissioners in Washoe and Clark counties and health agencies to require street food vendors to submit information about their businesses, and allows vendors to hold a permit or license for sidewalk vending along with a state business license. 

Want more? Read the entire article on The Nevada Independent website.

This article was originally published on June 26 and written Jannelle Calderon and shared with Noticiero Móvil thanks to our partnership with NV Indy.