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Salinas, California: where the taco trucks can't roam. At least, that's how some restaurateurs want it.

“We all love Mexico, but once you jump on a plane you leave Mexico behind,” said Antonio Campos, the owner of a Mexican restaurant here. “Once you are in America, you have rules, regulations and standards.”

Taco trucks “should go to the fields and feed the agriculture guys,” said Mr. Campos, 29, a Salinas native of Mexican descent.

Mr. Campos and others want taco trucks off east Salinas streets. “If they are mobile vendors, keep them mobile. We have way more overhead and the competition is not on a level playing field,” Mr. Campos said.

Tom Tancredo can carp all he wants to about Hispanic immigrants being too slack to adopt Americanism, but this article pretty much writes the obituary for that myth.

This afternoon, I'm going to patronize the eastside California Tacos with double my usual vigor. God bless taco trucks wherever they may be found.

[via Jacob Sullum]