During Operation Metro Surge earlier this year, Jeanneth stopped going to work over fears she would be detained by federal immigration officers.
She lost her job cleaning houses. Her husband was detained. With three children to provide for, she turned to selling Ecuadorian soups on the streets near Powderhorn Park in south Minneapolis.
“My only option for feeding my children, buying medicine and doing what I need to do is to work as I am working now,” she said in Spanish through an interpreter.
Sahan Journal is not identifying Jeanneth by her full name due to her immigration status.
But now Jeanneth is trying to pay off a citation for more than $200 she received from the city for not having a license.
“I’m trying to figure out what I can do everyday since I’m just really not able to pay that money,” she said.
Minneapolis has seen an increase in unlicensed street vendors since 2023, with some selling items near parks, highways and on road medians. Many vendors are Ecuadorian and do not have work authorization, and have turned to selling food to get by.
Last year, the City Council made changes aimed at reducing barriers for street vendors, including expanding where they can legally sell items, lowering the fees to obtain a license and providing classes on food safety.
But more than a year later, vendors and advocates say barriers remain. Many vendors are still selling food without a license and receiving citations.
Some leaders say information on how to get a license is not being clearly communicated to vendors.
“I don’t think things have changed much structurally, or in terms of the number of vendors, or where they’re going,” said Kedar Deshpande, a Minneapolis Park Board commissioner whose district includes Powderhorn Park. “I think the situation is basically the same.”
Changes to vendor rules
Last year, the City Council amended its sidewalk cart ordinance with the aim of helping vendors.
Now each license allows a vendor to sell at three locations. Previously, the limit was one. The city also expanded where vendors can operate across the city, and reduced the distance vendors must maintain from a Minneapolis Park Board property from 500 feet to 200 feet. Vendors are still not allowed to sell in Minneapolis neighborhood parks.
City’s annual license fees for street carts were also decreased from $719 to $63, and vending hours were extended from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., to 6 a.m. to midnight, except within 300 feet of a residence. The city will also establish a “Late-Night Operation Zone” to operate later in a designated area. That location is still being decided.
The changes also included free classes on food safety. Classes were held in 2025, but none were offered this year. City spokesperson Jess Olstad said the city is hoping to get a contract in place by the end of the year to host classes next year.
City Council members had also discussed last year the possibility of working with an organization to provide a commissary kitchen for vendors. Olstad said the city is currently not working to set up a space.
“I think that we still need to do a lot more to help them succeed,” Council Member Jason Chavez said.
Vendors still getting cited
According to the city, 50 citations have been given out so far this year to vendors for not having a license as of Nov. 6. Fines begin at around $200 and increase if the vendor is cited again. Some vendors have been fined as much as $2,000. Minneapolis police can issue misdemeanor citations if a vendor has continued violations.
Jeanneth said city inspectors have come to the area near Powderhorn Park where she and other vendors sell food. She said inspectors have been rude to her and thrown away food.
City inspectors are allowed to throw away food for health and sanitation reasons if vendors are unlicensed, according to the city.
“They just tell us that we can’t be there, and they tell us they don’t want to see us there,” Jeanneth said.
Chavez said he would prefer that street vendors not be cited. He fears the federal government could use those citations to deport vendors who are not citizens.
“I think that criminalizing street vendors is only going to empower the federal government and Donald Trump to criminalize our immigrant community,” he said. “It’s an excuse … to go after ‘the worst of the worst,’ which is literally moms and dads trying to feed people.”
Selena Salfen lives near Powderhorn Park and tries to support street vendors in the area. She said many street vendors, including Jeanneth, didn’t leave their homes for months during Operation Metro Surge and have no other option to make money.
“[The inspectors] don’t seem to understand how desperate people are to survive, especially after months of being trapped inside,” she said.
Barriers still exist
A major barrier that vendors say they are still facing is access to food carts to legally sell their food. Carts can cost several hundred dollars. Jeanneth said she’d like to get a cart but she can’t afford it.
“I would really like to do things correctly and the way it’s supposed to be done,” she said.
The city says it cannot provide funding to vendors for street carts because this would break the public purpose rule, which requires that tax dollars be spent on resources that benefit the entire community rather than a private individual or company.
Chavez said his office is looking into other avenues to provide funding to vendors.
“We need support in food cart accessibility because that is a big thing that they are asking for,” he said.
Salfen has also noticed a language barrier between licensing staff and vendors.
“Their tactic is to come out, put papers in people’s faces, many of whom don’t read English or Spanish, and then tell them to call the city,” she said.
Deshpande said many vendors he’s spoken with don’t know that they need to obtain liability insurance in order to get a license, and to register their business with the government to get a tax ID.
He said the changes the city made last year are moot if vendors don’t know about or can’t meet these key requirements.
“When I hear people talking about fees and health classes and the food cart costs, like, none of that matters,” he said. “You need a business ID and you need insurance. And if you can’t do those two things, you’re never going to be able to sell anywhere.”
Salfen and other community advocates have been meeting with the vendors to try and support them. As winter nears, fewer vendors are out and about. Salfen says she hopes there are more solutions by spring, when more vendors start selling again.
“I hoped more would have happened by now, but this is a long process,” she said. “It’s a little discouraging. But I’m not giving up on it, we’re not giving up, so we’ll see what happens.”
