logo
Protesters gather after immigration raid targets car wash in L.A. County

Protesters gather after immigration raid targets car wash in L.A. County

Protesters gathered in southeast Los Angeles County Friday evening, facing off with masked men in fatigues after federal agents detained at least three people at a car wash in the city of Bell, according to witnesses, and visited another car wash in neighboring Maywood.
The immigration action in Bell took place at Jack's Car Wash and Detailing, located in the 7000 block of Atlantic Avenue, just north of Florence Avenue. Security camera footage reviewed by The Times shows masked men wearing olive vests chasing a car wash employee, who was wearing a bright green uniform and cap.
The video shows another employee — wearing a bright green cap, a white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans — surrounded by the masked men, his hands restrained behind his back. The employee is tackled to the ground as customers and others gathered, with some taking out their phones to record videos.
The man in the white-long sleeved shirt is a car wash worker who is a U.S. citizen, according to the employee's brother, Jesús Rafael Cervantes. He said his brother, who lives in Bell Gardens, wanted to defend a coworker— an action that, Cervantes said, prompted agents to detain his brother.
'Just for defending someone, they came and knocked him down. As you can see in the videos, they came and knocked him down like that, just like that. And that's unfair, that they come and grab a person like that as if he were an animal or something,' Cervantes told The Times.
Protesters gathered to confront the agents in the area, which is about 6 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In one video shared with The Times, a protester sprays white paint on a silver SUV and a voice can be heard saying, 'Get the ... out of here!' while others jeer. People can be seen hitting the vehicle.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. In a statement posted on social media, the agency said Border Patrol vehicles 'were violently targeted during lawful operations' in Bell and neighboring Maywood.
The Department of Homeland Security said one vehicle was rammed and had its tires slashed on Atlantic Boulevard. On Slauson Avenue, a civilian struck a federal vehicle, totaling it, according to the department.
The statement included photos showing silver vehicles with cracked or shattered windows. One silver SUV was shown with dented doors and scratched paint.
'The driver was arrested for suspicion of vehicular assault as a mob formed and slashed additional tires,' the department said.
'Federal law enforcement is facing an ever-escalating increase in assaults—but we will not be deterred,' the department said. 'If you assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted.'
The statement did not indicate how many were detained on immigration-related matters.
The protest in Bell, a city with a large Latino and Lebanese community, comes as the federal government continues its campaign in Los Angeles to find and capture undocumented immigrants. The actions have spurred backlash from local and state officials and have forced some residents into hiding.
'We're not sure who these armed men are. They show up without uniforms. They show up completely masked. They refuse to give ID. They're driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases, out of state license plates. Who are these people?' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a briefing Friday night.
'If they're federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?' Bass asked.
Around Atlantic and Brompton avenues, crowds of people gathered, taking videos and looking at the agents — armed individuals wearing balaclavas, some carrying long weapons, wearing vests and camoflauge pants. They stood in the street near a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop.
The crowd and agents were separated by yellow tape. One woman with a bullhorn hurled obscenities at the agents and President Trump; others waved a Mexican flag and an upside-down U.S. flag, traditionally a symbol of protest or distress.
'Losers!' another woman called out. 'Go fight a real war!' Another shouted, 'Shame on you!'
Elsewhere, one of the armed people wore a U.S. flag on his vest, and some onlookers called out to them. 'Are you a bounty hunter? How much is the bounty for an illegal right now?' someone on the street yelled.
Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar Loza was in Bell as the crowds gathered, and said the mood on Atlantic Avenue shifted when suddenly an unmarked silver SUV drove toward her and other people standing near her, angering the crowd. Some began to hit and throw objects at the SUV. A second unmarked vehicle attempted to do the same thing moments later, she said.
'It felt like there was a point being made to incite violence,' Alcantar Loza said. 'People were peacefully protesting, and it became something completely different because of the vehicle that was trying to drive into the crowd.'
'We've seen it across the board, folks show up to an immigration activity and then violence is enacted upon them. Then they respond and we're shown as violent protesters—when in reality folks were calm, they were chanting, they were protesting. And they tried to run people over,' she said.
Just after 8 p.m., peaceful protesters waving Mexican and American flags gathered around Jack's Car Wash in Bell, as motorists honked their horns in support. 'ICE out of everywhere!!!' one sign said. 'Immigrants built this country,' said another.
There was another immigration action that appeared to focus on a car wash in Maywood on Friday, according to Maywood Councilman Eddie De La Riva. Ultimately no one was taken from that business, he said.
At one point, there was considerable commotion near the car wash.
Video shared with The Times shows a minor collision between a blue BMW and a blue SUV with at least three agents inside, all wearing green vests.
One of the passengers in the SUV opens his door in front of the slowly moving BMW, causing the BMW to hit the SUV's door.
Agents detained the BMW's driver, who was later released, the councilman said, after onlookers shouted at the agents to let the driver go. By then, a crowd of protesters had formed.
Fernando Botello, 39, was driving back to Maywood after picking up his girlfriend's 14-year-old son when he got an alert on his citizen app that people suspected to be immigration agents were spotted in the area.
Moments later, he said, he learned that the agents were at an Xpress Wash at Slauson and Alamo avenues, just blocks from his home. When Botello got close to the intersection, he could see several vehicles were blocking the roadway.
Unable to move, he got out of the car and watched the scene.
He said the crowd started screaming to let the man go. He could hear people asking for the agents' badge numbers. After five minutes, he said, local police arrived.
It was at that point, he said, the agents got in their vehicles and threw tear gas at a group standing on a corner near a park.
A video taken by Botello shows an armed masked man standing from the ledge of an open door of a black SUV slowly driving along a street near Maywood's Riverfront Park. The video shows the agent throwing an object toward a crowd of people, and a loud bang can be heard as he gets back in the vehicle. Botello said the object was a flash bang grenade, and was tossed at people who were taking video.
'They knew what they wanted to do,' he said.
As he recounted the situation, Botello paused, trying to hold back tears.
'I was upset because the people were exercising their right. They weren't hitting the officers' vehicles, they weren't in the middle of the street,' he said. 'You're punishing people for standing up for their neighbors and yourself.'
'It feels surreal. I don't know how long this is going to last.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Texas Democrats meet with Newsom to stop Trump's push to ‘rig' the 2026 election
Texas Democrats meet with Newsom to stop Trump's push to ‘rig' the 2026 election

Los Angeles Times

time4 hours ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Texas Democrats meet with Newsom to stop Trump's push to ‘rig' the 2026 election

Gov. Gavin Newsom stood alongside six Democrats from the Texas Legislature on Friday and joined them in accusing President Trump and Republicans of trying to 'rig' elections to hold onto congressional seats next year. 'They play by a different set of rules and we could sit back and act as if we have some moral authority and watch this 249-, 250-year-old experiment be washed away,' Newsom said of the nation's history. 'We are not going to allow that to happen.' The Texas lawmakers and the governor spoke with reporters after meeting privately at the Governor's Mansion in Sacramento to discuss a national political fight over electoral maps that could alter the outcome of the midterm elections and balance of power in Congress. At the urging of President Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called his state Legislature into a special session this week that includes a call to redistrict the Lone Star State to help Republicans pick up seats in Congress. The move is part of a gerrymandering effort pushed by Trump to prevent the GOP from losing control of the House of Representatives next year. If Democrats take the House, they could derail the president's agenda, which has so far included a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, tariffs on imports, rescinding efforts to combat climate change and undercutting state protections for the LGTBQ+ community, among other policy priorities. Newsom has threatened to mirror Trump's tactics and said he's in talks with leaders of the California Legislature to redraw the state's congressional districts to favor electing more Democrats and fewer Republicans. Texas Democrats, who said they traveled to California to meet with the governor and explain the state of play in Texas, pledged do everything in their power to push back against Trump's plan. 'We're going to use every tool at our disposal in the state of Texas to confront this very illegal redistricting process that is going to be done on the backs of historic African American and Latino districts,' said Texas state Rep. Rafael Anchía. Another group of Texas lawmakers are expected to meet with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in Chicago. Changing the maps to benefit Democrats is a massive departure from California's work over the last decade to remove political partisanship from the redistricting process. California voters in 2010 gave an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission the power to determine the boundaries of voting districts for the U.S. House of Representatives instead of leaving that authority with the state Legislature. To redistrict before the midterms, the most legally sound option is for state lawmakers to send a constitutional amendment to voters that seeks to allow changes to the voter map outside the boundaries of California's independent redistricting process. The vote would need to happen in a special election before the June primary. Newsom has said he's also exploring a potential legal loophole that could allow the California Legislature to redraw the congressional maps themselves with a two-thirds vote. The governor's office said state law charges the redistricting commission with crafting new maps after a census, which is conducted about every 10 years. But they say the law is silent on everything that happens in between that time period. Newsom's lawyers believe it could be possible for the Legislature to redistrict congressional seats mid-decade on its own without going to the ballot. The governor's call to fight Trump using his own gerrymandering tactics has drawn a mixed response. Newsom argues that Democrats will continue to lose if they remain the only party that plays by the rules. But others worry about the integrity of electoral outcomes across the nation if political parties in every state resort to naked political gamesmanship to gain control. Texas Republicans have long been accused of crafting political maps to dilute the power of Black and Latino voters, which led to an ongoing lawsuit from 2021. Newsom's effort in California would effectively seek to increase the share of Democrats in Republican-held districts. Redistricting experts in California say redrawing the maps in the Golden State could create the potential for Democrats to flip at least five of the seats held by GOP incumbents. Democrats may have the potential for greater gains from gerrymandering, particularly in places such as California that have attempted to practice nonpartisan redistricting, compared to states such as Texas, where maps are already drawn in favor of Republicans. 'It should be no surprise to anybody who covers Texas that every decade since 1970 Texas has been found to discriminate against people of color in its redistricting process,' Anchía said. 'In trying to do this, it is going to create great harm, not only to the people we represent, to the voters of the state of Texas, but also potentially to all Americans,' he said about Trump's plan. It's common for the party in control of the White House to lose seats nationally in the first election after a presidential contest. Republicans hold majorities in the Senate and the House, and losing power to Democrats could be detrimental to Trump's presidency. Trump's job approval rating dropped to a second-term low of 37% in a Gallup poll conducted earlier this month. The dip is just above his lowest approval rating ever of 34% at the end of his first term. Trump has said publicly that he thinks it's possible for Republicans to redistrict and pick up five seats in Texas, with the potential for gains in other states that redraw their maps.

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Chicago ‘sanctuary' laws
Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Chicago ‘sanctuary' laws

Hamilton Spectator

time4 hours ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Chicago ‘sanctuary' laws

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge in Illinois dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit Friday that sought to disrupt limits Chicago imposes on cooperation between federal immigration agents and local police. The lawsuit, filed in February, alleged that so-called sanctuary laws in the nation's third-largest city 'thwart' federal efforts to enforce immigration laws. It argued that local laws run counter to federal laws by restricting 'local governments from sharing immigration information with federal law enforcement officials' and preventing immigration agents from identifying 'individuals who may be subject to removal.' Judge Lindsay Jenkins of the Northern District of Illinois granted the defendants' motion for dismissal. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was pleased with the decision and the city is safer when police focus on the needs of Chicagoans. 'This ruling affirms what we have long known: that Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety. The City cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration's reckless and inhumane immigration agenda,' he said in a statement. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Heavily Democratic Chicago has been a sanctuary city for decades and has beefed up its laws several times, including during Trump's first term in 2017. That same year, then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed more statewide sanctuary protections into law , putting him at odds with his party. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .

Hispanic colleges targeted by lawsuit push back in court
Hispanic colleges targeted by lawsuit push back in court

NBC News

time4 hours ago

  • NBC News

Hispanic colleges targeted by lawsuit push back in court

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities is joining a legal fight over the fate of a federal program aimed at addressing educational disparities in higher education. This week, the association, better known as HACU, filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit that seeks to dismantle the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program — which provides federal grants to universities and colleges with a student body that is over 25% Latino. The program created by Congress provides grants to universities already educating the majority of the nation's Hispanic college students to expand their ability to help 'Hispanic students and other low-income individuals complete postsecondary degrees.' HACU is now part of the effort started last month by the Students for Fair Admissions — the same group behind the legal challenges that resulted in the Supreme Court striking down college affirmative action programs in 2023 — and the state of Tennessee to sue the Department of Education over the HSI program. They allege it ' discriminates based on ethnicity ' and are calling on the federal court to deem it unconstitutional. The association representing Hispanic universities also alleges that the lawsuit unfairly characterizes the HSI program, since the added resources from the grants benefit the entire student body of the institution. "We want our side of the story to be heard by the court before they decide on the case," Dr. Antonio R. Flores, president and chief executive officer of HACU, told NBC News on Friday. Flores said HSI-designated schools don't automatically get grants based on the number of Hispanic students on their campus. They must 'compete among themselves' to access the money and must prove that the majority of their students are low-income and that they 'spend less money per student than their peer institutions.' "This is not about preferential treatment. It is about equitable resource allocation for institutions,' Flores said. In court filings Thursday, Students for Fair Admissions and the state of Tennessee did not oppose HACU's motion to join the case as a defendant. The Department of Education has not yet responded to the complaint in court. It also did not respond to an email from NBC News seeking comment on Friday. To identify which colleges and universities serve the majority of the nation's Hispanic students, Congress defined Hispanic-Serving Institutions as those that have at least 25% of its full-time student population be of Hispanic or Latino descent. The HSI designation is based on geography and demographics, Fran Fajana, an attorney at LatinoJustice representing HACU in this case, told NBC News. 'It's not because the institution went out of its way to recruit a lot of Latino students.' The percentage of Latinos with a college degree still lags far behind white students. In 2022, about 21% of Latino adults over 25 had a bachelor's degree, compared to 42% for non-Hispanic whites, according to census figures. Students for Fair Admissions, which is led by conservative activist Ed Blum, referred to the 25% requirement as an ' arbitrary ethnic threshold" when it published a news release about the lawsuit on June 11. "This lawsuit challenges a federal policy that conditions the receipt of taxpayer-funded grants on the racial composition of a student body," Blum said in a statement last month. The Office of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in another statement from that the "rule leaves many needy students out in the cold." "The HSI program's discriminatory grant standards are just as illegal," Skrmetti said in the statement. Their lawsuit is part of a series of legal challenges brought forward in recent years — following the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action — against schools, scholarships, internships and other educational programs that mention race or ethnicity in their criteria. Once an institution is competitively awarded a grant, there is no requirement in the HSI program limiting how those resources are distributed across the school, Fajana said. "Whether they've gotten the resources to expand their science program laboratories [or]capacity building," she said, "those resources are not limited to Latino students." A 2023 study from the Urban Institute found that the investments made by HSI-designated institutions increased the number of students of all races and ethnicities who completed college and obtained bachelor's degrees. "What is at stake?" Flores said, "Success in advancement of, not just the Latino community, but all of the students who go to HSIs and benefit from the funding."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store