Dramatic L.A. ICE raids spark protests, questions, anger

A series of surprise U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in downtown Los Angeles on Friday prompted fierce pushback from elected officials and protesters, who decried the enforcement actions as “cruel and unnecessary” and said they stoked fear in the immigrant community.

Chaos erupted in the heart of the Fashion District after federal immigration authorities detained employees inside a clothing wholesaler, and used flash-bang grenades and pepper spray on a crowd protesting the raid around 1:30 p.m.

Hundreds of people then rallied outside the Los Angeles Federal Building at 4 p.m., condemning the crackdown and demanding the release of Service Employees International Union President David Huerta, who was injured and detained while documenting a raid, according to a statement from the labor union.

“Our community is under attack and has been terrorized,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, told the crowd of protesters. “These are workers, these are fathers, these are mothers.”

Forty-four people were administratively arrested and one person was arrested for obstruction during Friday’s immigration action,
said Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of ICE. Federal agents executed four search warrants related to the suspected harboring of people illegally in the country at three locations in central Los Angeles, she said.

Over 300 immigrant rights activists rallied and protested multiple immigration sweeps across Los Angeles Friday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

CHIRLA received more than 50 calls on its hotline, with reports of ICE sightings and men in military garb in parking lots and in locations near schools, Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop, according to Salas.

Connie Chung Joe, the chief executive of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, said she received a report of immigration enforcement going to a school in Koreatown.

Huerta, 58, was treated at a hospital and then transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A., where he remained in custody as of 5:30 p.m., according to an SEIU spokesperson.

“What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger,” he said in a statement from the hospital. “This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice.”

In a statement on X, U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli alleged that Huerta had deliberately obstructed federal agents’ access to a worksite where they were executing a warrant by blocking their vehicle Friday morning. Huerta was arrested on suspicion of interfering with federal officers and will be arraigned Monday, Essayli said.

Elected officials representing Los Angeles at the city, county, state and federal levels released a flurry of statements condemning Huerta’s arrest, criticizing the raids and decrying the Trump administration’s escalation of deportations.

“SEIU California President David Huerta was injured by federal agents and wrongfully detained,” said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “I am calling for his immediate release. This is a democracy. People have a right to peacefully protest, to observe law enforcement activity, and to speak out against injustice.”

She called the raids “chilling,” saying that instead of targeting criminals they were sweeping up hardworking community members trying to provide for their families.

For several hours on Friday, advocates gathered outside Ambiance Apparel shouting legal advice to those being detained inside. They stood on a long bed truck parked in the middle of the street, jamming traffic on the busy road.

People gather in front of Ambiance Apparel after several employees were taken into custody by federal agents on Friday. At one point, federal agents had to shove protesters out of the path of a van that was being driven into the building’s parking lot.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

“You are not alone,” one said into a megaphone drowning out the sounds of the crowd. “Do not sign anything. Do not tell them where you are from.”

Katina Garcia, 18, pressed her face to the glass, looking for her undocumented father who had gone to work there that morning, like any other.

“We never thought it would happen to us,” she said, “I’m in disbelief.”

After a couple of hours a legion of federal agents dressed in riot gear descended on Ambiance Apparel to confront more than 100 people who had gathered outside.

They announced their arrival by blaring their truck sirens as their line of armored personnel carriers.

“Pigs,” one man shouted during the raucous scene. “Fascists,” another said.

The agents who had been inside the store walked out at least a dozen individuals and boarded them in the vans. As the agents in riot gear began to move back into the line of tactical vehicles and trucks, the crowd followed.

“How do you sleep at night, tearing apart families,” one woman screamed as a stoic agent. “What if they took your family?”

The vans filled with migrants left first, followed by the line of tactical vehicles and trucks. The crowd followed, filming with cellphones above their heads, surrounding them for at least a block. The agents then used what appeared at least a dozen rounds of flash-bang grenades and pepper spray before protesters dispersed.

A group of 11 L.A. City Councilmembers released a joint statement lambasting the “indiscriminate targeting of children and families” and vowing to fight to protect immigrants.

“We condemn this in no uncertain terms: Los Angeles was built by immigrants and it thrives because of immigrants,” the group stated. “We will not abide by fear tactics to support extreme political agendas that aim to stoke fear and spread discord in our city.”

The Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department released statements saying they were aware of the local immigration actions on Friday. Both agencies said they will neither participate in any enforcement of civil immigration laws nor seek to determine an individual’s immigration status.

“We want our residents to know that when they call for help, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will respond, investigate and protect everyone — regardless of a person’s legal status,” the department said in a statement.

Friday’s escalation of immigration actions in Los Angeles comes as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller pushes ICE to start making at least 3,000 arrests a day and meet President Trump’s mandate to carry out the largest deportation effort in history.

This week, CBS reported that ICE had recorded 2,000 arrests each day, a dramatic increase from the daily average of 660 arrests reported by the agency during Trump’s first 100 days back at the White House.

The Los Angeles raids also come on the heels of several recent enforcement actions in the Southland — including an incident where ICE agents deployed flash-bang grenades during operations at two San Diego restaurants, and a raid at an underground nightclub in Los Angeles where Chinese and Taiwanese nationals were detained.

On Friday afternoon, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla — alongside California representatives Scott Peters and Juan Vargas — demanded an investigation into the tactics used during the San Diego raids.

“This troubling incident is not an isolated case. Rather, it appears to be part of a broader pattern of escalated and theatrical immigration enforcement operations across the country,” stated the lawmakers. “These events raise serious questions about the appropriateness, proportionality, and execution of ICE tactics.”