Dozens of immigration agents, some on horseback, others carrying rifles in armored vehicles, and swept MacArthur Park Monday at an extraordinary power show at the heart of Los Angeles’ immigration community.
Heavyly armored Border Patrol officers with a fleet of white minibuses have partially blocked the streets surrounding the park, which has been the source of crime and drugs in the area over the past few years. According to police sources, activists with megaphones were able to warn locals at the park before conditions arrived.
The move comes days after President Trump signed a budget that would provide a massive infusion of funds to the Department of Homeland Security, increasing immigration enforcement to a level that is invisible in the United States. Los Angeles became the poster child for Trump’s U.S. deportation plan after more than 1,600 people were arrested between June 6th and 22nd.
The agents appeared to arrive around 10:30am after gathering at a nearby location. After they were in the park, they met a crowd of people screaming “Get F!” And “I’m off!” Mayor Karen Bass also appeared in a park just west of downtown Los Angeles. After weeks of vigilance, activists appeared ready to deploy their lawyers to the scene.
At one point, assistant chief patrol agent David Kim handed his phone to Base. She replied, “Are you ready to leave? Can you leave as soon as possible?”
The protesters began singing and had her conversation owned. When asked for comment, Bass said that federal immigration agents “have to leave and need to leave now, so this is not acceptable so they need to leave.”
When asked who she was talking to on the other side of the line, she said it was “the head of habit.”
Bass returned the phone to an agent in the US Border Patrol. Shortly afterwards, she got into a black SUV and left the area.
It is unknown if anyone was arrested during the sweep.
“It was one big, perverse propaganda stunt,” said Ron Gochez, a member of Unión Del Barrio, an independent political organisation defending immigration rights and social justice. “It was just to show strength, to take photos.”
The chaos on Wilshire Boulevard around MacArthur Park had largely settled by 11:30am, but several protesters and members of the news media were left afterwards.
Mikema Namir, 28, said she went for a morning walk at 11am when she saw two women running down the street, screaming “Ramigra” was in MacArthur Park.
Nahmir joined a group of protesters who cried out after military-style trucks. At one point, he said someone in the truck had shot stimulants at him and another protester.
“LA belongs to us, this is our city,” Nahamir said. “This is what changed my morning walks. They’re terrifying our neighborhood.”
Live video from the scene aired Monday morning on social media showed a line of white vans used to transport arrests and several agents on horseback. The agent cleared the scene by 11:20am, but the number of people detained was not immediately known.
Greg Bovino, the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, who leads operations on the ground in Los Angeles, was present during the operation.
Bovino, who is based near the US-Mexican border along with others in the Trump administration, was sued last week by immigrant rights groups that seek to block what they call “continuous patterns and practices of flouting constitutional and federal law” during immigration raids. They say that the attacks target individuals based on race, lacking legitimate procedures, and some practices resemble temptations rather than legal enforcement. A hearing will be set up in federal court later this week.
Asked for comment on whether the arrests were made, a senior DHS official said he had not commented on the ongoing execution business.
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