US immigration customs enforcement agents conducted a series of immigrant sweeps in Southern California on Friday morning, sparking fear and anxiety among the immigrant communities.
At least one video posted on X shows federal agents chasing people in the parking lot at Home Depot in Westlake, not far from downtown Los Angeles. The man recording the video can be heard as immigration officers warn the Spanish people that they are there and away.
Los Angeles Councillor Eunisses Hernandez said in writing that Hernandez, including Westlake in the district, received reports of immigration enforcement projects that her office is taking place in her district and elsewhere in Los Angeles.
“These actions are escalating. Agents arrive without warning, leave immediately and realize that our community will be mobilized quickly,” she said. “I urge Angelenos to stay vigilant.”
The attack is the latest in a string of well-known immigration enforcement measures over the past week, and is part of President Trump’s promised deportation crackdown. A few days ago, immigration agents stormed and arrested a popular San Diego restaurant, causing confrontations with enraged residents. Agents also arrested Chinese and Taiwanese citizens at underground nightclubs in the Los Angeles area.
Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesman for the Ice branch of Homeland Security Investigation, said federal agents in downtown Los Angeles are running search warrants related to illegally people’s ports around the country. No other details were provided and we were not sure how many operations were being performed.
Another video posted to Instagram shows six federal agents walking near the intersection of Town Avenue and 10th Avenue in the fashion district.
Ron Gosches, a member of Union del Barrio, an independent political organisation defending immigrant rights and social justice, said his group was “inundated” in Los Angeles and Orange counties on immigrant sweep.
“We had an ice agent at Cypress’s Home Depot. We have ice agents at Wilshire Boulevard and Union Avenue on construction sites in North Hollywood and South Los Angeles,” he said in a phone interview. “They’re everywhere.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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