Food vendors and facilities: enforcement activities.

Senator Durazo's Street Vendor Business Protection Act establishes new safeguards for sidewalk vendors and mobile food operators by prohibiting local authorities from participating in immigration enforcement activities. The legislation modifies both the Government Code and Health and Safety Code to create strict limitations on data collection and information sharing between local agencies and federal immigration authorities.

The bill bars local authorities from inquiring about immigration status, collecting criminal history information, or requiring fingerprinting during permit applications for sidewalk vendors and compact mobile food operations. Local agencies must accept California driver's licenses, individual taxpayer identification numbers, or municipal identification numbers in lieu of social security numbers. Any immigration status or criminal history records collected before January 1, 2026 must be destroyed by March 1, 2026.

Under the new provisions, local authorities cannot voluntarily share vendor records containing personally identifiable information with immigration enforcement agents without a judicial warrant. The bill defines protected information to include names, addresses, identification numbers, and business details. Local agencies are also prohibited from using their resources to assist federal immigration enforcement, including providing office space, acting as interpreters, or participating in immigration-related arrests.

The legislation maintains local authorities' ability to regulate vending for health and safety purposes but converts violations from criminal offenses to administrative infractions with graduated fines. First violations incur a $100 fine, increasing to $500 for subsequent infractions within one year. Agencies must consider vendors' ability to pay when assessing penalties and accept reduced payments from qualifying low-income individuals.