Last week, Lawrence Herrera began carrying a foldable copy of his birth certificate in his wallet. He also saved his passport photos in his mobile phone’s camera roll.
For a 67-year-old Atwater Village resident born and raised here, the precautions felt ridiculous. But he hasn’t taken a chance.
“He’s taken everyone and everyone,” Herara said. “I was like, ‘What do you know? It could be me.’
Herrera was one of hundreds of protesters who spent July 4th in downtown Los Angeles, and rallied against the immigrant raids and the surge in federal funds that have shaken the area, continuing to approve them this week. Many on the street said they are skipping barbecues and fireworks this year. Instead, they appear at city hall, some dressed up and wrapped in flags. President Trump’s A15-foot balloon in Russian military uniform was sitting in the Grand Park.
Erica Ortiz, 49, dressed up to Lady Liberty in bondage. Herrera wore an innovative war outfit covered in anti-Trump pins, which he said was suitable for this occasion.
“What do you think? We’re not independent right now,” he said. “That’s why we’re here.”
1. Elizabeth Nativid Dodd is wearing a dress representing women’s justice on the stairs of city hall. 2. Nancy Gonzalez is posing in an outfit that marks the city hall stairs on her Mexican heritage. 3. A protester in a dress representing Mrs. Liberty will hold her fist in the air on the city hall stairs at a rally against an ongoing ice attack in the city in Los Angeles, California on Friday, July 4, 2025.
They marched out of the federal buildings, housed the immigration court and waving signs through Orvera Street. Several police officers were monitoring the protests, but kept their distance during the rally and lasted several hours.
“There is no better occupation! There is no more deportation!” the protesters chanted.
In federal buildings, military members lined up shoulder to shoulder, guarding the property with shields and guns.
Jacob Moreno, an English teacher from Rialto, had a sign that called the day “Funeral for Freedom We Pretend.” He said the mood felt more sturdy than the “No Kings” demonstration last month. The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” will implement massive deportations and add about $150 billion to fund border enforcement.
“This situation will only make this occupation worse,” Moreno said. The 50-year-old said some of his high school students and their families were not documented. He and his daughter, a 16-year-old student, help set up a program that provides school supplies and hygiene products to students whose parents may be so afraid they can’t go to work.
“I’m here to support my students, my community and ultimately stand on the right side of history,” he said.
North Hollywood’s Christina Munoz Brown shared similar sentiments.
“I’m desperate for my people. I want to show up,” she said. Since the attack began, she said the fashion district where she has worked in the costume industry is a “ghost town.”
The American flag will pass through the Marines’ standing guard on Friday, July 4, 2025 in Los Angeles, California during a rally against an ongoing ice attack in the city at a federal building.
A US Customs and Border Guard officer will be the guard during a rally against an ongoing ice attack in the city on Friday, July 4, 2025.
Councilman Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) told the crowd outside city hall, calling the budget bill “a big beautiful scam.”
“Currently, immigration spending in this country exceeds military spending in 165 countries around the world. ICE has more than 10 more money than the city of Los Angeles,” he booed the crowd. “That’s not what we’re looking for taxes.”
The city is still upset as it responds to subsequent protests from weeks and thousands of National Guard deployments of US immigration and customs enforcement raids across Southland.
There was a sweeping targeted at a day’s workers in the local car wash and a parking lot at Home Depot.
“There’s too much to protest right now,” said Hunter Dan of the 50501 Movement, who held the July 4th rally. Many immigrants are “fearing to go to work, fearing to go to school,” he said.
Federal agents, who protect their identity with face masks and often drive unmarked cars, have been making aggressive raids since early June, sparking widespread protests.
Trump sent over 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines to the LA area to protect federal buildings and workers in times of unrest. Earlier this week, around 150 security guards were released from protest missions.
Immigration enforcement measures in LA have heightened tensions between city and state leaders and the Trump administration. Public sparring is unfolding on social media and on courtrooms.
Angelenos will march on the streets in Los Angeles, California on Friday, July 4, 2025 against an ongoing ice attack in the city near LA City Hall.
Mayor Karen Bass updated her call this week to help Trump end the ice attack, saying in a post on X that his administration is “provoking the fear and fear that many people in Los Angeles feel.”
“They came for an unmarked van for our neighbors. The workplace was attacked. They tore families apart. Even US citizens. This is not law enforcement. It’s a political theatre with human costs,” she wrote in another post.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is fighting the Trump administration in court over the deployment of security forces without his consent. And this week, the Trump administration sued members of LA, Bass and City Council, saying the city’s sanctuary laws are illegal. The law generally prohibits the use of city employees or city property to investigate or detain anyone for immigration enforcement.
On Wednesday, immigration rights groups and public advisers, including the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California, sued the Trump administration in federal court during the immigration attacks in the LA area, attempting to block what the lawsuit describes as “the continuing patterns and practices of underestimating constitutional and federal law.”
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