Immigrants and the Revitalization of Los Angeles: Development and ...

Chapter 1

Introduction

—T. S. Eliot, “Little Gidding (No. 4 of Four Quartets)

1.1. setting the Stage

You can see los miqueros¹ of MacArthur Park standing at any given corner throughout the day, selling MICAs² or other forms of identification documents to the newly arrived immigrants from Mesoamerica. Just walk down Alvarado Street and you will notice the hustle and urban ambiance of the place. If you walk two blocks south on 6th Street, passing Wilshire toward 7th Street on Alvarado, you will most likely be solicited about a dozen times by men working in the informal sector,