Customers avoid Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet after immigration operation
"It's totally dead. No business at all," vendor Joseph Medina said. "I don't know what to think for the future."
Medina has been a vendor here for years and says he has never seen it so empty.
"This is how I make a living — how I pay my bills, how I eat," he said. "It worries me. It really does.
On Saturday, ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents raided the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the administrative arrests of two people, meaning they are accused of being in the country illegally.
"I'm American. I still think they are getting good people away from bad people," vendor Michael Dianella said.
Dianella said he is a proud supporter of President Trump but believes the administration is lacking transparency.
"They could announce that we got a few bad people here and we're going to try to find them and not bother anyone else," Dianella said.
A vendor, who is a U.S. citizen but did not want to show her face out of fear of being arrested by ICE, said she believed immigration officials are profiling people.
"I feel, from my point of view, is that they're basically profiling everyone," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fake AI photos of Trump with Epstein flood internet
Fake AI-generated photos and videos purporting to show Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein socializing with underage girls have flooded social media, racking up millions of views, researchers said Friday. The surge in deepfakes comes as the US president -- frequently photographed with Epstein during their 15-year friendship -- attempts to distance himself from the disgraced financier, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. One widely circulated AI-generated video appears to show Trump and Epstein leering at a group of young girls dancing, with the song "Is it a Crime?" by the English band Sade added as background music. At least two other fake photos appear to show the pair on a couch alongside underaged girls. Another such photograph purports to shows Trump dancing with a teenage girl on Epstein's private island. Overlaying the image is the caption: "Trump was in his 50's when this was taken. What kind of man does that?" At least seven such AI-generated images and one video cumulatively garnered more than 7.2 million views across social media platforms, according to a conservative estimate by disinformation watchdog group NewsGuard. The watchdog said it used multiple detection tools, including Hive and IdentifAI, to establish that the content was fabricated using AI tools and the actual number of views was likely much higher than its manual tally of high-engagement posts. Trump's ties to Epstein are extensive, and the pair were frequently pictured partying together during their friendship before they fell out in 2004 over a property deal. But there appear to be no known authentic photographs of the pair with underage girls or of Trump visiting Epstein's private island in the Caribbean, NewsGuard said. AI slop -- low-quality visual content generated using cheap and widely available artificial intelligence tools –- increasingly appears to be flooding social media sites, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. Many content creators on YouTube and TikTok offer paid courses on how to monetize viral AI slop on tech platforms, many of which have reduced their reliance on human fact-checkers and scaled back content moderation. AI-generated images of Trump spread rapidly after the FBI and Justice Department said in a July 7 memo that there was no proof that Epstein kept a "client list" of elite co-conspirators as conspiracy theorists have contended. Trump's core Make America Great Again (MAGA) base erupted in anger over the memo, calling on the White House to release the so-called "Epstein files." Some even within the Republican president's own party have demanded the files be released, but his administration has declined to do so. Fake images appear to be gaining traction in that vacuum. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the president's name was among hundreds found during an official review of the files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing. Trump filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the newspaper last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. ac/sla
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Surgery center workers who scuffled with ICE agents facing federal charges
Two California surgery center workers are facing federal charges after being accused of scuffling with ICE agents. The July 9 incident captured on video shows the two workers standing in the way of agents, as they tried to detain a man who ran into the surgical building. To identify the workers, federal agents staked out the Los Angeles-area SCA Health Ontario Advanced Surgery Center for three days following the July 8 confrontation, in which masked, plainclothes ICE agents chased a suspected illegal immigrant into the building. Federal officials on July 25 said Jose de Jesus Ortega and Danielle Davila have been charged with assaulting a federal officer and conspiracy to prevent by force and intimidation a federal officer from discharging his duties. Ortega was arrested on July 25, and authorities said they're still pursuing Davila. The video, which went viral, shows two surgery center workers in scrubs yelling and blocking one of the agents from detaining the man. Federal officials criticized what they said was a "false narrative" in the media and online that portrayed the detainee as a patient at the clinic. According to authorities, the ICE agents saw the truck stop outside the building, and when they approached the men, the men ran. According to court records, the agents had no specific knowledge that the man who ran into the clinic was living in the country illegally, and had been following the truck in which he was riding as part of a "roving patrol" in their unmarked vehicle. "The illegal alien arrested inside the surgery center was not a patient," United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. "He ran inside for cover and these defendants attempted to block his apprehension by assaulting our agents. It doesn't matter who you are or where you work, if you assault our agents or otherwise interfere with our operations, you will be arrested and charged with a federal crime." In a July 9 social media post, Homeland Security officials said the man who agents were chasing is Honduran national Denis Guillen-Solis. They said he was living illegally in the United States. "He ended up near the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center where hospital staff assaulted law enforcement and drug the officer and illegal alien into the facility," DHS said in the post. "Then, the staff attempted to obstruct the arrest by locking the door, blocking law enforcement vehicles from moving, and even called the cops claiming there was a 'kidnapping.'" The video is among the latest examples of people delaying or obstructing ICE agents carrying out President Donald Trump's mass-immigration initiative, which has also sparked widespread protests. The identities of the two ICE agents involved in the surgery center detention were not released. Federal officials say ICE agents are increasingly being assaulted or targeted by community members, which requires them to remain anonymous. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Feds charge surgery center workers recorded in scuffle with ICE agents
Newsweek
22 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Man Married to US Citizen Held in Alligator Alcatraz After Traffic Stop
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Oscar Alejandro, a Mexican national married to a U.S. citizen, and his brother, Carlos Martin Gonzalez, who was traveling on a tourist visa, were arrested during a traffic stop in Orlando, Florida, and taken into custody at the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center, according to multiple local media reports. Newsweek has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Consulate of Mexico in both Orlando and Miami for comment via email on Friday. Newsweek has filled out a contact form for comment with Reyes Legal, who are representing the brothers. Why It Matters In recent weeks, human rights advocates have raised concerns about a new Florida detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," which was quickly created on Everglades land and holds an estimated 1,000 beds currently. The center is part of the Trump administration's effort to crackdown on illegal immigration. President Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, an initiative that has seen an intensification of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and arrests across the country, including people with valid visas and documentation. The administration has deported thousands of people to their countries of origin, as well as a smaller percentage to third countries with U.S. agreements. It has also encouraged individuals without proper documentation to self-deport. What To Know On July 7, Carlos, 26, was stopped by Florida Highway Patrol in Orlando over tinted windows and a Mexican license plate, the local news outlet WSVN reported. The trooper found no proper registration for the vehicle. Carlos said his brother had the registration materials, which Oscar, 30, reportedly brought. However, the registration was not in the brothers' names, and Carlos was arrested for operating an unregistered vehicle. The brothers were first held in Orange County Jail before being transferred to the detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz. Newsweek could not confirm either brother's location in the ICE detainee database. Their father, Don Martin Gonzalez, told local news outlet WSVN his sons are "both in Alligator Alcatraz, but they are not together." He said his sons were on vacation in the Florida city following the death of their mother. Carlos was originally in the states on a tourist visa and Oscar is married to a U.S. citizen and has an expired residency permit, according to El Pais. Oscar has been living in the U.S. for eight months. President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee,... President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. More AP Photo/Evan Vucci What People Are Saying Juan Sabines Guerrero, Consul of Mexico in Orlando, Florida, said in Spanish in an X post on July 21: "Today I received Mr. Martín González, father of two young Mexicans detained in Orlando and transferred to the prison known as #AlligatorAlcatraz. His son Carlos was on vacation with a valid tourist visa following the passing of his mother; Alejandro is married to a U.S. a call, the attorney warned us about possible violations of the civil rights of both nationals, as the prison where they are held is not under federal government (ICE) jurisdiction but rather under the state of Florida, so they still lack an 'alien' number or case number, preventing them from accessing adequate defense and a fair trial." Don Martin Gonzalez, the brother's father, told WSVN: "They are in something like cages. They're like chicken coops. That's what they're telling me, so one is in one, and the other is in another. With, I think, like 36 people, or something like that, or more, per cage. This is a very harsh prison. Very harsh It's not a prison; it's a detention center. It's very difficult to be there. You're not allowed to bathe, only every four days. The water given to drink is dirty. You drink as little as possible so they don't get sick, while there are a lot of mosquitoes. They have them chained to the floor, hands and feet." Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Garrett J. Ripa said Friday about Alligator Alcatraz: "We've had two or three removal flights, and we'll continue to have those removal flights. Up to 100 individuals who were illegally present in the state of Florida have already been removed from the United States." What Happens Next Deportation flights from Alligator Alcatraz have commenced. Sabines Guerrero said that "following instructions from President @Claudiashein," the consul has assigned the brothers legal representation in an effort to release them from the facility. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday confirmed 14 Mexican nationals are being held at the facility and said "all arrangements are being made to ensure they are repatriated immediately."
