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At least two people were detained in East LA on Wednesday during another day of immigration enforcement activity across the Eastside.
One person was detained outside Clement’s Car Wash near South Eastern Avenue and East 3rd Street around 12:16 p.m., according to his family and rapid response groups.
Video shared on social media shows three masked federal agents walking with a man while another agent walks inside the car wash lot.
Shortly after the detention, Alexander de León drove up to the car wash looking for his brother, Jose Rodolfo de León, who had worked there for 15 years. Alexander’s daughter heard about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity nearby and they drove to the car wash together to look for him.
“We’ve heard nothing about him,” Alexander said. He hadn’t seen the Instagram video but upon viewing it, he 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, de Leon said.
By the early afternoon, the car wash appeared closed, no workers were inside, and cones blocked the entrances.
In a separate operation, a man working near a sewing factory in East Los Angeles was taken by federal immigration agents on Wednesday, according to the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network.
The worker was detained near the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Simmons Avenue and was forced to leave his car behind, the group said after speaking with his wife.
The detentions come as at least six people were taken in immigration operations in Eastside neighborhoods on Monday, the first day back to school following the Los Angeles Unified School District’s winter recess.
On Wednesday morning, in a video posted by Unión del Barrio on Instagram, masked federal agents were shown asking vendors questions about their immigration status on East Olympic Boulevard near Atlantic Boulevard. No one was detained in that incident, Unión del Barrio said.
A rapid responder drove down Olympic, alerting the community through a megaphone that ICE had been spotted in the area. ICE activity was also reported on Cesar Chavez and Rowan avenues.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, whose district includes East LA, denounced the recent operations on Wednesday, including reports that two Latino Los Angeles County Parks employees were accosted and questioned by immigration agents at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area. She issued the following statement:
“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.
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.”
Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately return a request for comment.