LOS ANGELES — Ongoing immigration enforcement actions across Los Angeles County have sparked mass protests and heightened fear in immigrant communities, according to reports from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and The Guardian.
Federal immigration raids and the deployment of more than 2,000 troops to Los Angeles began June 6, resulting in what CHIRLA describes as “tense, violent, and dangerous incidents involving federal agents against community members as they are exercising their constitutional rights.”
Los Angeles — a city built by immigrants — has become the epicenter of a contentious federal crackdown. The Guardian reported that tensions escalated after the arrival of federal troops supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in raids that led to 118 arrests.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed the individuals detained were “the worst of the worst,” including violent criminals — a description immigrant rights advocates strongly dispute.
“We’ve found no credible evidence to back Homeland Security’s claims,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesperson for CHIRLA. “These were not targeted arrests. They weren’t based on judicial warrants. And the lie won’t survive for long.”
CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas called the actions “ruthless, immoral, and violent,” adding that they have affected not only undocumented immigrants but also U.S. citizens and legal residents. “For 12 days, terror has been unleashed on immigrant and Latino communities in Los Angeles by the Trump administration’s massive deployment of its immigration enforcement force,” Salas said.
According to CHIRLA, the raids are concentrated in “mostly Latino neighborhoods.”
The historical context helps explain the intensity of the public response. As The Guardian noted, Los Angeles sits on land originally inhabited by the Tongva and Chumash peoples, later becoming part of Mexico before being annexed by the United States in 1848. Today, immigrants are integral to the city’s fabric.
“L.A. County’s more than 10 million residents include millions of immigrants, and 1.6 million children in the region have at least one immigrant parent,” The Guardian reported. These families hail from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Philippines, China, and beyond. Immigrants make up 40% of the L.A. metro area’s workforce.
Community organizations like CHIRLA are documenting alleged abuses and providing legal support, though they face challenges as detainees are frequently transferred between facilities, making it difficult for attorneys and families to locate them.
Cabrera urged continued nonviolent resistance while warning of potential backlash. “If we give the government reasons to repress us, they will use their maximum power to do so,” he said.
He added: “This federal immigration raid feels like a war-like operation in one of the largest urban centers in the world. Angelenos are in shock. Angelenos feel hunted. Angelenos want this siege to stop.”
