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The interview featured on this bonus episode of Tacos of Texas originally aired on the Texas Standard in March, 2026.
The interview featured on this bonus episode of Tacos of Texas originally aired on the Texas Standard in March, 2026.
“They are doing it by selling what they know. They know their food. They know their culture.”
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The full transcript of this episode of Tacos of Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Mando Rayo: Hey, this is Mando Rayo from the Tacos of Texas. We’re busy cooking up season seis, but in the meantime, here’s a segment from my interview on the Texas Standard and Austin Signal. You can hear me every month talking about tacos and taco culture and get ready for El Seis, premiering on August, 2026. The Tacos Of Texas is produced by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT and KUTX Studios. Listen on KUT.org. Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Laura Rice: And you’re listening to the Texas Standard. Almost 10 years ago, the founder of the group, Latinos for Trump, warned of the possibility of taco trucks on every corner if something weren’t done about immigration. Of course, the history of taco tracks and stands of all sorts is nothing new in Texas and the U.S., but now under the current term of the Trump administration, the folks who run these mobile Mexican eateries are feeling an extra layer of anxiety. Mando Rayo is the host of the Tacos of Texas podcast. Mando, always good to have you with us.
Mando Rayo: Great to be back, excited to be talking about this subject.
Laura Rice: Well, you talked with street vendors in Austin. Can you tell us a little bit about who you heard from?
Mando Rayo: Yeah, definitely as you go through any street to be honest in austin off of east riverside In the north side or even in like in houston at the tia pancha Uh flea market right outside there or in el paso in the outskirts like in socorro you see street vendors You know, they’re selling elotes. They’re selling their tacos They’re, selling raspas And I was and you know, I wanted to find out and check in with them to see kind of how they’re holding up because You know, you’re seeing less and less of them because of the immigration crackdowns. I kind of wanted to find out firsthand what they’re going through and you know what motivates them to kind of keep going considering their safety. So what did you hear? So I talked to this woman on the East Riverside. You have um they’re basically set up in their cars. They open up the back of their hatchbacks or put a little tiendita out and they sell their their product right and so I talked with this woman and her I’m out, Eric. And the reason why they’re there is because her husband got deported and now she has to make rent and so they’re out there from five in the morning till 11 in the morning but they also have to be weary and move in a moment’s notice but they’re there because they have to persevere you know she was very just frank with me and she was just like you know i i have kids i have to feed them they have to go to school but also she was there with her daughter and her daughter is is also there And so, you know, thinking about some of the street vendors, some of them can still kind of go out there, in a sense, be fearless and do this, but some of the kids are taking over some of those duties too. And so yeah, that’s kind of like what we’ve seen out there.
Laura Rice: She said something like, no se rahan, which I had to look up because I was like, let me get that translation right. It was like we don’t give up or we don’t crack. Is that kind of the right answer? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, like, we don’t give up. We’re not scared. That’s part of the mantra, I think, of immigrants, of like, hey, we’re gonna make it, we are gonna survive, no matter the odds. And they’re doing it. And we’re doing it by, you know, selling what they know, they know their food, they know their culture, and they’re there to provide, you know, food for workers, for people that are building our cities.
Laura Rice: Well, I was going to ask, there have been pictures and videos, particularly from California, showing when the ice crackdown was really severe there, showing taco carts, other flower stands empty after witnesses say ice picked people up, but it’s not a far away thing. I mean, in this example of this woman and her daughter, they were affected personally by the immigration crackdown.
Mando Rayo: Yes, yes. You know, I think we’re all affected personally. Doesn’t matter if it happens to you, you know, with a family member or you know somebody. I think, you know, the the idea around street vendors, paleteros, taqueros and taqueras, that that provides kind of this place of a neighborhood, right? That you’re able to like go out and get yourself, you know, an ice cream, get yourself a paleta or some food and support a local family. And I think when you see those photos of those stands that are basically, they just leave them there. And it’s pretty inhumane, I would say, because it’s their livelihood. It’s a product they pay with their own money to build their small stand and it’s just heartbreaking.
Laura Rice: Taco journalist Mando Rayo is the host of the Tacos of Texas podcast. We’ll have more, including a link to one of Mando’s conversations with street vendors at TexasStandard.org. Mando, thank you again.
Mando Rayo: Thank you, Laura.
Mando Rayo: You can find Tacos of Texas on KUT.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
