LOS ANGELES – Today, federal agents raided multiple L.A. workplaces in the Fashion District, a Westlake Home Depot, and other locales. This comes a day after federal agents detained hundreds of people—including children—in the basement of the Edward Roybal Federal Building in downtown L.A., some overnight without access to food, water, attorneys, or their loved ones.
In response, Andres Kwon, attorney and senior policy counsel at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, issued the following statement:
“Angelenos know that immigrants make up the fabric of this beautiful and diverse city. It is because of their strength and courage that our city leaders recently designated Los Angeles a sanctuary—promising to keep families together and defy the Trump administration's cruel and inhumane actions.
Today, city leaders broke their promise. LAPD officers assisted federal agents in terrorizing L.A. neighborhoods—impeding people from going to work, making their immigration court appearances, or attending their children’s graduations.
When masked goons are abducting and locking Angelenos in basements, when police are tear gassing protestors and legal observers exercising their First Amendment rights, and when union leaders are brutalized for daring to oppose blatant injustice, we ask our local and state leaders: Where are you? What will you do to end this madness?
Now is not the time for pronouncements. We call on our elected officials to uphold their commitment to all Angelenos—immigrants and non-immigrants alike—by taking all action necessary to grind this oppressive and vile paramilitary operation to a halt and keep our city safe and whole.”