Immigration raids and protests against them are continuing across LA after last summer’s surge in federal enforcement.
In Inglewood, masked men wearing clothing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement markings took two men working on a city drain project on Tuesday, a city employee told The LA Local. In Highland Park, agents took three street vendors on Monday, and community members reported enforcement activity across the Eastside.
The new raids come as outrage is high around the US over the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. In LA last week, protesters marched from Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights to downtown, and other demonstrations have also been planned.
Check back for updates.
3:56 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15
Supervisor Solis denounces federal agents’ alleged racial profiling of Latino LA County employees
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, whose district includes East LA, denounced the recent federal immigration operations, including reports that two Latino Los Angeles County Parks employees were accosted and questioned by agents at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.
“The Trump administration continues to use fear and intimidation to target our communities of color and working families. In fact, there are several reports today of ICE targeting and detaining landscapers, roofers, and construction workers—hardworking people simply trying to earn an honest living,” Solis said in a statement.
“Make no mistake: Los Angeles County will continue to protect all our employees, our residents, and our public spaces. I will continue to act to hold this administration accountable for its complete disregard of our Constitution and our democracy.”
—Jessica Perez
3:12 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14
Worker detained in East LA, leaves car behind
A man working near a sewing factory in East Los Angeles was taken in an apparent immigration enforcement operation on Wednesday, according to the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network.
The worker was detained near the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Simmons Avenue, and he was forced to leave his car behind, the group said after speaking with his wife.
—Jessica Perez
2:38 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14
El Super workers demand immigration enforcement protocols to protect them and shoppers
Maria Silva works at the El Super off Century Boulevard in Inglewood, in the same sprawling parking lot as a Home Depot.
She’s been on the job for 17 years. The work is hard, and her wages are low. But since summer, her role as a supervisor at the grocery store chain has included a new challenge: co-workers and customers are worried about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Her customers come in talking about recent sightings, or asking if federal agents have been in the area. After a regular stopped coming into the store, Silva said she heard through the grapevine that he’d been picked up by federal agents.
“ It’s somebody that I would interact with almost every single day, because he would come and get his coffee and bread,” she said, holding back tears. “It upsets me. It makes me feel like I can’t do anything about it.”
Silva is among the workers at seven unionized El Super locations in Southern California, including the store in Inglewood, who are asking their employer to implement more protocols to protect them and shoppers at their stores from federal agents.
2:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14
Man detained by ICE had worked at East LA car wash for 15 years, his brother says
Alexander de León drove up to Clement’s Car Wash in East LA on Wednesday afternoon looking for his brother, Jose Rodolfo de León, who has worked there for 15 years. Alexander’s daughter had heard about the ICE activity nearby, and they drove to the car wash together to find out what had happened.
“We’ve heard nothing about him,” Alexander said. He hadn’t seen the Instagram video that showed masked federal agents walking with a man. Upon viewing it, Alexander confirmed that the man being detained was his brother.
Jose Rodolfo has lived in the U.S. since 2007 and is a resident of Boyle Heights, his brother said.
—Laura Anaya-Morga
2:01 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14
LA Catholics expected leadership on immigration. They say their archbishop hasn’t delivered
Credit: Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Just days after federal immigration agents raided Los Angeles’ Fashion District in June, LA Archbishop José H. Gomez took the stage with other faith leaders at nearby Grand Park, declaring in front of hundreds that everyone — including immigrants — had fundamental rights.
The archbishop then seemed to take a swipe at President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement as he asserted that all men and women have dignity.
“This beautiful belief is what makes America great,” said Gomez, who leads the LA Archdiocese, the nation’s largest Catholic community.
To Catholics like Angel Mortel, a lead organizer with the multifaith organization LA Voice, this moment was incredibly meaningful amid so much chaos. Protests against the raids had erupted downtown. Demonstrators were being tear-gassed at marches. The National Guard arrived in the city. With so much fear and uncertainty, Mortel was inspired by the simple fact that Gomez showed up, noting that Catholic leadership is often absent from interfaith actions.
“I hadn’t seen that from him previously. I felt very hopeful that this could signal an opening for more Catholic participation in speaking out against the raids and other injustices,” said Mortel, a parishioner at Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights.
Since the raids began in LA County — a region where 83% of all parishes offer Spanish-language Mass — the LA Archdiocese has supported immigrants in various ways. It has provided training to about 180 priests, deacons and religious sisters to accompany immigrants to their court hearings. An archdiocesan funding initiative was established to help immigrants. LA Archdiocese bishops visited detainees at the Adelanto Detention Center in December, celebrating Mass with undocumented immigrants held at the facility.
But to some Catholic leaders and organizers, there’s room for more. They’re yearning for Gomez, an immigrant from Mexico, to be more available at protests, vigils and press conferences — just as he was last summer. They want to see him publicly denounce what they see as an ongoing assault on human dignity, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids indiscriminately targeting Latinos and at times turning deadly.
1:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14
At least 1 man detained in East LA, community organizers say
ICE activity was reported on Wednesday by various rapid response groups across the Eastside.
Centro CSO said it appears one person was detained near South Eastern Avenue and East 3rd Street near Clement’s Car Wash around 12:16 p.m. In the video, three masked federal agents are seen walking with a man while another agent walks inside the car wash lot. As of 1:33 p.m., the car wash appeared closed, no workers were inside, and cones blocked the entrances.
On Wednesday morning, in a video posted by Unión del Barrio on Instagram, masked federal agents were captured asking vendors questions about their immigration status. No one was detained in that incident, Unión del Barrio said.
Around 10:40 a.m., a rapid responder drove down Olympic Boulevard near South Atlantic Boulevard, alerting the community through a megaphone that ICE had been spotted in the area.
—Laura Anaya-Morga
6:35 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13
‘ICE free’ zones: Leaders to ban ICE from operating on county land
The LA County Board of Supervisors took a step toward banning ICE from unlawfully operating on county-owned property and to post signage designating those spaces as “ICE Free Zones.”
The board unanimously approved the motion at Tuesday’s meeting, directing staff to draft the policy.
The draft could include requirements for county employees to report to their supervisor if they see unauthorized immigration activity on county property.
5:53 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13
2 workers detained in apparent ICE raid outside Inglewood grocery store
Two crew members working on an Inglewood city drain system project were detained by apparent federal agents on Tuesday, according to a city inspector who was at the work site monitoring the project.
William Payne, an inspector with Inglewood Public Works, said he was on site when a group of dark-colored SUVs pulled up to the city project in front of the Superior Grocer at the corner of La Brea and Beach avenues.
Masked men, some wearing clothes with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement markings, jumped out of the group of vehicles and arrested the two workers, Payne said.
10:53 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13
In a time of fire and ICE, these 4 botánicas have become a refuge for immigrant communities
Amid ICE raids and neighborhoods still scarred by past fires, immigrants and survivors are finding sanctuary in unexpected places: botánicas. They are more than just shops for purchasing candles, incense, cleansing bundles, and religious statues. These shops offer spaces to grieve, heal and reclaim a sense of control.
Botánicas function as vital community space holders and casual counseling centers, offering a sense of control and justice during turbulent times, Ellie Valdivia tells The LA Local.
“People were and still are, living with the impact of fear and terror throughout our communities”, says Valdivia who founded Earthy Corazon, a botánica in City Terrace.
Tuesday, Jan. 13
‘Huge influx’ in immigration raids over the weekend: L.A. Taco
8:42 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12
Eastside communities, officials condemn ICE detentions on first day back to school
Elected officials, school leaders and community advocates condemned federal immigration enforcement across Eastside neighborhoods on Monday, as families returned to school following the Los Angeles Unified School District’s winter recess.
Community members reported immigration activity in El Sereno, Eagle Rock and Highland Park. According to the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network, three street vendors were detained before 10 a.m. at York Boulevard and Figueroa Street in Highland Park, including a father of three LAUSD students who is the head of his household. The network also confirmed that another person was detained at Division Street and Cypress Avenue in Cypress Park.
Two additional people were detained near a commercial strip mall in El Sereno, according to Council District 14 spokesperson Alejandra Alarcon.
7:57 a.m. Monday, Jan. 12
Watching ICE can turn deadly. These volunteers aren’t backing down.
At 5:45 a.m. on a recent Thursday, 20 people stood in a close circle in the parking lot of a Historic South Central donut shop, puffs of breath hanging in the chill air and phones glowing with the latest updates about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
A Unión del Barrio leader assigned patrol areas across South LA to the volunteers, reminding everyone to move slowly, check in regularly by radio and take photos of key intersections and locations for social media — even if ICE wasn’t present — so the community would know no agents were seen.
“There’s more ICE activity this week than there has been in the last couple of weeks — you should know that,” announced one of the group’s leaders, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons. “This morning, we heard they were at La Cienega and Jefferson near the Metro line, about five vehicles. That’s all we have so far. So let’s go out — hopefully we see nothing.”
1:21 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9
‘An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us’: Organizers march after fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis
Large crowds gathered at Mariachi Plaza Thursday evening to denounce the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an immigration agent in Minneapolis.
Chants of “Up with liberation, down with deportation!” “No justice, no peace!” and “Say her name!” echoed in the streets as protesters marched across the 1st Street bridge to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center.
