Los Angeles Councilman Eunisses Hernandez found clearer agreements about their immigration asylum laws during a law enforcement operation in South Los Angeles on Friday.
Videos circulating on social media show federal agents enforced the law with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement at an apartment building in the 400 block of East 41st Street, where neighbors shouted, calling them “Perros” – “dogs” in Spanish. The Humanized Immigration Rights Alliance held a hotline to report on the raid, which he said also made calls for several law enforcement actions across the county.
“An ongoing investigation into human smuggling” said Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe. She did not provide details of the action, such as how many people were arrested or how common it was.
At least one resident – Jessica, 22, refused to give her a last name because she was worried about law enforcement retaliation and said she saw at least two people in custody. She said LAPD officials are assisting in the operation by blocking traffic entering nearby.
For immigration enforcement purposes, sanctuary law in Los Angeles prohibits the use of “investigation, arrest, detain, transfer or detain” property that “investigation, arrest, detain, transfer or detain” property that “investigation, arrest, detain, transfer or detain”. But this is an exception to law enforcement investigations for serious crimes.
Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement Friday night that officials “assisted traffic control at the Newton branch as the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to arrest a suspect for human trafficking.”
“I want to be fully clear: LAPD is not participating in civil immigration enforcement,” he said. “This is the department’s policy since 1979 and it remains the same today.”
LAPD CMDR. German Hertado said federal immigration officials asked for assistance in law enforcement operations in the city today, but the department refused because of its long-term policy on such operations. The department does work with federal authorities on warrants for certain violent crimes.
After watching the Tiktok video of the incident, Hernandez introduced a council bill asking city prosecutors to outline “clear guidance and understanding of their responsibilities under the city’s sanctuary city ordinance.”
“When these federal agencies are present, it is the responsibility of the city council and other city leaders to be able to clearly understand their voter rights and the resources available,” the motion said.
In an emotional appeal to her colleagues, Hernandez said some of the enforcement actions on Friday were in her area.
“We have to put everything in protecting our families, protecting our young people, protecting Los Angeles and most of the population in Los Angeles,” she said. “I want you to be ready. My on-site office is open to anyone who needs information about your rights.”
A woman told Fox 11 that immigration agents had entered her home and brought an 18-year-old guest who said she was detained without a criminal background. According to videos played by the TV station, at home, a wall was damaged and the mattress was overturned.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the president of the council representing a part of South Los Angeles, said at a meeting Friday that the ice agents knocked on doors in his and Congressman Curren Price’s area, pulling cars and “doing a lot of suspicious legitimacy.”
“Neighbors are helping neighbors on the street,” said Harris Dawson. “Those who don’t know their rights, neighbors tell them their rights.”
In the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the north, Icefield Agents were found, Florence Street in the south, Avalon Boulevard in the east and Vermont Avenue in the west, Harris-Dawson said.
“People are sending us pictures, people are sending us videos,” he said. “I have some staff there. We are scattered because there is no formal announcement.”
Immigration rights activists have been on an intensified state of alert since President Trump took office and promised “massive deportation.”
Ron Gochez, a member of the Community Self-Defense Alliance, is a group of over 60 organizations that have been patrolling the streets for immigration enforcement actions, saying he arrived at the Central Apartment Building around 7:45 a.m.
“We got there, there were a lot of federal brokers’ vehicles. It was no surprise,” he said. “But surprisingly, there are also multiple LAPD vehicles next to the federal agent at the site.”
He got on the megaphone and started telling people not to come out, not to talk to the Icefield Agents, not to sign anything. He was watching people in the apartment.
“They heard me, they were all looking at me,” he said. “I saw the kid.”
The motion will be submitted to the Public Safety Commission before the Public Safety Commission convenes the Committee for the Whole.
Times worker David Zahniser contributed to the report.
