Teenager steps in to run family's tamale cart in Pasadena amid immigration raids

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- Some have stopped working over fears that they'll be arrested during an immigration raid. One Southern California family abandoned their tamale cart - until their teenage son and their community stepped in to help.

The tamale vendor in Pasadena, who is not being named due to her immigration status, told Eyewitness News she fears for her life after some of her clients were taken by ICE agents one afternoon.

"My clients ran and I was paralyzed. I didn't jump in my car or anything. I didn't know what to do. I started to cry and called my kids and said I might be arrested, too," she said in Spanish.

Now the family's only option is for their 14-year-old son, Chris, to pitch in.

"I don't think the kids should be working Monday through Sunday, and getting up at 5:30 in the morning, and having to come out here and sell because of what's going on in the city," said Pasadena resident Alex Murillo.

Murillo, known to the community as "Tio Joker," says he saw Chris selling tamales one day and knew he had to help. He posted on Instagram and the rest is history.

Rosie Lopez, who works in Pasadena, is one of the people who have supported him.

Supporters say they can appreciate the teen's hustle and willingness to help his family but say, at some point, they hope he can focus on being a kid again.

"It's summertime, they should be going to amusement parks. They should be playing sports, they should be doing some kind of activity on the weekends," Murillo said. "Not working."

Murillo says he plans to sell side-by-side with Chris on Friday, the Fourth of July.

Chris' proceeds will go to his family, and Murillo's proceeds will go toward sending the teen on a late birthday trip to Disneyland.