"As the sun burned through an overcast sky midday Thursday, Fruitvale looked festive, but a pall of fear still hung in the air. Street vendors and brick-and-mortar business owners all said customer traffic was already down this year in general and said Thursday was unusually quiet following news that the federal government was planning a Customs and Border Patrol operation in the Bay Area."
"owner Karen, who asked that we only use her first name for fear of attracting the attention of immigration enforcement, said business has been slow since May. "Business is down 50%," she said in Spanish. "It's dead today. Usually there is a line of people at the produce vendor over there and there's no one. And that's with half the market vendors not showing today. Other than the students, there's nobody out.""
"Fruitvale has one of the highest concentrations of immigrants and noncitizens among Oakland neighborhoods, according to census data, and the area is known as the center of Latino community in The Town. Outside the Fruitvale BART Station, where a farmers market is hosted every Thursday, regulars said only about half the typical number of vendors had shown up. Decorations for the Dia de Muertos festival on Nov. 2 were already hung, with colorful paper wrapping streetlights"
Fruitvale presented festive decorations for Dia de Muertos even as visible fear reduced street activity. Customer traffic and vendor participation were already down this year and dropped further after news of a planned Customs and Border Patrol operation in the Bay Area. Fruitvale contains a high concentration of immigrants and noncitizens and serves as a center of Latino community life in Oakland. Many regular market vendors did not show up, and stalls remained largely empty aside from a midday rush of students. Several small-business operators reported steep declines in sales and ongoing slow business since May.
Read at The Oaklandside
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