Los Angeles: City of Angels...and Also Undocumented Folks (but mostly Angels, really)
Ah, Los Angeles. The land of dreams, sunshine, and...uncertain immigration statistics. Yeah, getting a headcount on undocumented immigrants in LA is about as easy as counting grains of sand on Venice Beach. They're there, but try pinning down an exact number? Fuggedaboutit.
Why is counting undocumented folks tricky? Well, for starters, the whole undocumented thing kind of implies they don't want a whole lot of attention drawn to themselves. They're not exactly lining up for a census, you know?
So, how many undocumented immigrants are we talking about here? Insert mystery music here. Honestly, nobody knows for sure. But if I were to tap into my inner detective (emphasis on inner, because let's be real, I'm cracking a case about tacos, not bank robberies), I'd say this:
- There's a lot of whispers on the wind (and let's face it, the wind in LA mostly whispers about celebrity gossip).
- Pigeons carry rumors better than you'd think (especially those pigeons over by Dodger Stadium, those guys have seen some things).
- And there's that one taco truck vendor who disappears faster than David Copperfield when the ice cream truck jingle plays (nothing against that guy's tacos, but his disappearing act is impressive).
Taking all that into account, my highly scientific (read: totally spitballed) guess is somewhere between 300,000 and 1 million undocumented immigrants in LA. But hey, that's just a hunch. Don't quote me on this, and definitely don't use it to win a bar trivia night (unless you want some very confused looks).
Here's the real takeaway: Los Angeles is a city full of people from all over the world, with all kinds of backgrounds. Some folks are here with all the legal paperwork, and some aren't. And that's okay! The tacos are still delicious, the beaches are still beautiful, and the dream of making it big is still very much alive.
Disclaimer: I am not a government official, and this is not a scientific study. Please don't use this information to chase people with butterfly nets. There are better ways to make friends (like, maybe offering to share your tacos).
