One person was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Friday morning on St. Andrews Place between 5th and 6th streets in Koreatown, according to a video shared by Union del Barrio on Instagram.
In the video, a masked agent wearing a green tactical vest runs to a parked car and still images show the agent detaining an unidentified person.
The morning’s incident is the latest example of federal immigration activity in Koreatown since the start of a surge in federal immigration operations across the region, including a recent ICE sighting near W 7th St & Irolo St in the neighborhood.
The recent ICE surge across the country, known internally as Operation Safe California, includes detaining “non criminal illegal immigrants” and began in early October, according to reporting from the Washington Examiner.
Hours after the incident, a person was seen walking around with a megaphone announcing that ICE had taken someone in the area. That person declined to offer a comment to The LA Local and stapled informational posters on trees and checked-in with neighbors.
Most neighbors in the area said they heard about the incident but did not see it as it was happening.
One person who works in the area and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation , said they saw a possible vehicle used by ICE parked on the same street on Saturday morning.
“I don’t even have the motivation to go out anymore and I’ve thought about leaving my job because I work nearby and now with all this do you think I want to come work here,” said the source.
St. Andrews Pl. is a street filled mostly with apartments except on the other side of 6th street where St. James Episcopal School is located.
One of the standout landmarks is St. Andrews Manor which has a brick facade and is the address where some of the posters lining the trees say a person was detained.
