California is Fighting Back: State Leaders and Community Activists Resist Stepped-Up Immigration Raids

*Elected officials and grassroots organization leaders are speaking out against recent federal immigration raids they are calling “immoral,” and pledging their support for immigrants impacted by the intensified enforcement efforts in Los Angeles and across California.

On July 7, approximately 90 armed federal agents, National Guard troops, and Border Patrol officers swarmed MacArthur Park — regarded by many as the heart of L.A.’s immigrant community. 

Mayor Karen Bass was on the scene. 

“The Administration is treating Los Angeles as a test case for how far it can go in driving its political agenda forward while pushing the Constitution aside,” said Bass. 

“The City of Los Angeles, along with the County, cities, organizations, and Angelenos across L.A., is taking the Administration to court to stop its clear violation of the United States Constitution and federal law,” the mayor continued.  “We will not be intimidated – we are making Los Angeles the example of how people who believe in American values will stand together and stand united.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom also spoke about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent actions in L.A.

“What a disgrace, what’s happening in MacArthur Park.  What theatre,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom, in response.

“To those that feel torn asunder by everything that’s happened over the last six months, I want folks to know we have your back and we’ll continue to come back and do what we can to protect our diverse communities, to protect the spirit that defines the best of this city and our state and to push back against this cruelty, that has been perpetuated by the President of the United States,” said Newsom, speaking at a press conference on July 7 marking the 6-month anniversary of the devastating wildfires in L.A. County.

California is home to over 11 million immigrants; Almost half of all Californian children have at least one immigrant parent; Immigrants comprise one-third of the state’s workforce and account for 40.3% of entrepreneurs; and immigrant households contributed $61.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2023, according to Newsom’s office. 

“Right now, immigrants and their families are being subjected to indiscriminate immigration enforcement, including those who have been here for decades, who have paid taxes, created families, and built homes here,” reads a proclamation Newsom issued on June 30 declaring June “Immigrant Heritage Month” in California, recognizing the role immigrants play in strengthening the state culturally and civically and helping to fuel its economy. 

Bass, who denounced the MacArthur Park raid as “outrageous and un-American,” has issued an executive directive to support immigrant communities.

Executive Directive No. 12 bolsters protocols that prohibit use of City resources for immigration enforcement, expands access to resources for impacted families and seeks records from federal agencies, including reasons for detained individuals’ arrests during allegedly unlawful raids and associated costs of the federal activity, according to the document. 

Issued July 11, the directive also highlights the impact of ICE’s large-scale immigration enforcement operations across Los Angeles, which began on June 6. 

“These operations have heightened fears, torn apart families, disrupted the immigrant community, and interfered with businesses and day to day life across the city. These enforcement actions have deterred City residents from attending school and church, seeking city services, accessing healthcare, and going to work,” said Bass. 

Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Santa Monica) called the MacArthur Park incident “federally sponsored fear. Deploying armed agents into a neighborhood park where children play is indefensible and outrageous.”

On July 11, U.S, District Judge Maame Ewusi Mensah Frimpong, issued a ruling that ICE agents must have reasonable suspicion before stops and they cannot rely on racial profiling. The ruling also requires that detainees have access to legal counsel. 

According to activists with the Community Self-Defense Coalition and others, a boycott of Home Depot looms, as well as a general strike planned for Aug. 12. The activists are calling out Home Depot for its alleged silence as federal agents arrest suspected illegal immigrants on its properties. 

“Not only can we have the numbers to protest, but we can also shut down things,” said coalition member and activist John Parker. 

Parker, who is also founder of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice in L.A., said he feels that city officials and elected officials like Sheriffs, who oversee law enforcement officers, are not doing everything in their power to resist federal immigration enforcement actions. 

Recently, the non-profit Black Women for Wellness and partner organizations held a press conference to deliver a united Black response to the recent ICE raids and escalating military presence in Los Angeles neighborhoods. It featured Black leaders, advocates, and organizers standing in solidarity with immigrant communities to make clear why they say: “This is our fight, too.”

According to statistics cited in the coalition’s press release, data shows that Black people are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement regardless of their citizenship status. Black migrants also face deportation at dramatically higher rates per capita than other immigrant populations, making ICE raids as much a Black issue as a Latino one, they argue.

 “These raids are rooted in the same tactics of violence, surveillance, displacement, racism and over-policing that have historically targeted Black communities,” the press release indicated. 

On July 3, activists, lawmakers and other supporters joined members of the California Legislative Latino Caucus (CLLC) for a press conference at the Capitol in Sacramento. 

“On the eve of this Independence Day when we all say the Pledge of Allegiance inside the Capitol, and we say, ‘Liberty and Justice for All,’ we can’t help but to think ‘Liberty and Justice for who?’” said CLLC chair Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach).  “We are standing here today as immigrants, daughters, sons, family members, neighbors. We are here to say loudly and clearly, these cruel and immoral immigrant raids don’t just hurt families, they hurt all our communities,” she said.  

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