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CNN
04-07-2025
- Business
- CNN
How ICE raids turned parts of Los Angeles into ghost towns
Santee Alley is known for its bargains and its crowds. Shoppers flock to the heart of Los Angeles' Fashion District to see what's on sale and get the latest styles from wholesalers and entrepreneurs, whose colorful goods spread out from the squat, industrial-looking stores. Music assails the senses, as do aromas from food vendors cooking up snacks for the visitors. Or that's what it used to be like. A visit late last month found a very different Santee Alley. Metal shutters were rolled down and padlocked shut, even on a mild Southern California day. Instead of people jostling around each other in the hubbub, the street was all but empty. Even the mannequins showing off clothes to buy were absent. Santee Alley is one of the places where immigration enforcement action by the Trump administration is having a visible and costly impact — turning parts of the US's second biggest city into ghost towns. 'This is something that's unprecedented,' said Anthony Rodriguez, the president and CEO of the LA Fashion District Business Improvement District. 'I personally think that the impact of this is more significant than that of the pandemic when we were in the lockdown phases.' The Fashion District, south of Downtown LA, had some of the first workplace immigration operations by federal agents early in June. CNN affiliate KTLA reported dozens of people were taken away from a clothing store. The raids, the protests that followed, the deployment of the National Guard and now a lawsuit by the Trump administration against Los Angeles for its sanctuary policy have all sent chills through this city of immigrants, documented and undocumented. 'The sense of fear is overwhelming,' Rodriguez said. 'This is largely an immigrant business community here, for the business owners, the consumers and the employees.' Visitors are down 45%, Rodriguez said, meaning 10,000 or 12,000 fewer shoppers a day and massive losses in revenue for what he said was one of the economic drivers of Los Angeles. Christopher Perez said his fashion store — where he said he and all his workers are citizens or in the country legally — has seen a 50% drop in sales, even though they are open. 'A lot of people are scared to come out,' he said. Even a whisper of a potential operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the neighborhood can have an impact, Rodriguez said. 'Even when there isn't actual activity … someone thinks they hear something and that alone will shut down the entire area,' he said. From June 1 through June 10 this year, ICE apprehended 722 people in the Los Angeles area, according to government figures obtained and shared by the Deportation Data Project, a group of academics and lawyers. More than half of the cases — 417 — were classified as immigration violations. Some 221 people — or about 30% of the 722 apprehended — were convicted criminals. That compares with 103 apprehensions in the same period in 2024, when more than two-thirds of the people rounded up were convicted criminals, the statistics show. Santee Alley and the Fashion District are heavily Latino, as is Olvera Street a few miles away, one of the oldest streets in the city and considered its birthplace. It commemorates the founding of the community named 'El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula' by settlers in 1781. As the town grew, first as part of Spain, then Mexico and finally the United States, its name shrank to Los Angeles. Here too, the word on the street seems to be 'fear.' 'Everyone's afraid,' said Vilma Medina, who sells jewelry from her kiosk. 'People who we know are citizens, they're still afraid of being picked up even though they're … carrying around their documents.' It's putting a damper on what should be a good time of year for business, she added. 'We've all been waiting for this time because it's summer break, so you get the families coming in,' she said. But instead of the expected boom, there are no crowds and little trade. Medina said her sales have plummeted 80% since early June. 'There'll be days I've sold $10 the whole day. That's how bad it's gotten,' she said. 'And that's even with most of the kiosks not even opening, so you would think that would increase my sales.' She said she was tapping into her savings, hoping to keep going as she had through Covid and then the wildfires that devastated parts of her city earlier this year. For one 63-year-old man, keeping going means firing up his taco truck on the streets even if he has no papers to show ICE agents if they come to him. Urbano, who did not want to give his full name, told CNN he immigrated from Mexico 43 years ago and has lived undocumented in Los Angeles ever since. 'We have to go out to work because if not, who's going to pay our rent? To pay our bills?' he asked. 'Who's going to pay our taxes? Like I'm paying taxes. Can you imagine?' His story is far from unique, and the contributions of undocumented workers is acknowledged and applauded by state leaders. Lt. Gov Eleni Kounalakis highlighted the findings of a recent report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute stating that California's undocumented immigrants contribute more than $23 billion in local, state and federal taxes. And if all 2.3 million undocumented people in California were deported, the report said the state's gross domestic product would decline by $278 billion. 'That's 9% of our GDP. That GDP value is larger than the entire state of Nevada, than the entire state of Oregon. These are not small outputs,' said Abby Raisz, the group's research director. 'These workers are really contributing to an entire economic engine that when one part of it crumbles, when we remove these workers who comprise 8% of the labor force, it has ripple effects that go way beyond just that one worker getting deported.' Rodriguez said his Fashion District organization is trying to get assistance for vendors in financial trouble, but he acknowledged some might not survive the slump. Even so, he insisted Santee Alley would endure. 'This is a resilient area. We're going to bounce back from this,' he said against a backdrop of shuttered storefronts. 'It'll be challenging, it'll be difficult — but we're absolutely going to persevere.' CNN's Kate Carroll contributed to this story.
CNN
04-07-2025
- Business
- CNN
How ICE raids turned parts of Los Angeles into ghost towns
Santee Alley is known for its bargains and its crowds. Shoppers flock to the heart of Los Angeles' Fashion District to see what's on sale and get the latest styles from wholesalers and entrepreneurs, whose colorful goods spread out from the squat, industrial-looking stores. Music assails the senses, as do aromas from food vendors cooking up snacks for the visitors. Or that's what it used to be like. A visit late last month found a very different Santee Alley. Metal shutters were rolled down and padlocked shut, even on a mild Southern California day. Instead of people jostling around each other in the hubbub, the street was all but empty. Even the mannequins showing off clothes to buy were absent. Santee Alley is one of the places where immigration enforcement action by the Trump administration is having a visible and costly impact — turning parts of the US's second biggest city into ghost towns. 'This is something that's unprecedented,' said Anthony Rodriguez, the president and CEO of the LA Fashion District Business Improvement District. 'I personally think that the impact of this is more significant than that of the pandemic when we were in the lockdown phases.' The Fashion District, south of Downtown LA, had some of the first workplace immigration operations by federal agents early in June. CNN affiliate KTLA reported dozens of people were taken away from a clothing store. The raids, the protests that followed, the deployment of the National Guard and now a lawsuit by the Trump administration against Los Angeles for its sanctuary policy have all sent chills through this city of immigrants, documented and undocumented. 'The sense of fear is overwhelming,' Rodriguez said. 'This is largely an immigrant business community here, for the business owners, the consumers and the employees.' Visitors are down 45%, Rodriguez said, meaning 10,000 or 12,000 fewer shoppers a day and massive losses in revenue for what he said was one of the economic drivers of Los Angeles. Christopher Perez said his fashion store — where he said he and all his workers are citizens or in the country legally — has seen a 50% drop in sales, even though they are open. 'A lot of people are scared to come out,' he said. Even a whisper of a potential operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the neighborhood can have an impact, Rodriguez said. 'Even when there isn't actual activity … someone thinks they hear something and that alone will shut down the entire area,' he said. From June 1 through June 10 this year, ICE apprehended 722 people in the Los Angeles area, according to government figures obtained and shared by the Deportation Data Project, a group of academics and lawyers. More than half of the cases — 417 — were classified as immigration violations. Some 221 people — or about 30% of the 722 apprehended — were convicted criminals. That compares with 103 apprehensions in the same period in 2024, when more than two-thirds of the people rounded up were convicted criminals, the statistics show. Santee Alley and the Fashion District are heavily Latino, as is Olvera Street a few miles away, one of the oldest streets in the city and considered its birthplace. It commemorates the founding of the community named 'El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula' by settlers in 1781. As the town grew, first as part of Spain, then Mexico and finally the United States, its name shrank to Los Angeles. Here too, the word on the street seems to be 'fear.' 'Everyone's afraid,' said Vilma Medina, who sells jewelry from her kiosk. 'People who we know are citizens, they're still afraid of being picked up even though they're … carrying around their documents.' It's putting a damper on what should be a good time of year for business, she added. 'We've all been waiting for this time because it's summer break, so you get the families coming in,' she said. But instead of the expected boom, there are no crowds and little trade. Medina said her sales have plummeted 80% since early June. 'There'll be days I've sold $10 the whole day. That's how bad it's gotten,' she said. 'And that's even with most of the kiosks not even opening, so you would think that would increase my sales.' She said she was tapping into her savings, hoping to keep going as she had through Covid and then the wildfires that devastated parts of her city earlier this year. For one 63-year-old man, keeping going means firing up his taco truck on the streets even if he has no papers to show ICE agents if they come to him. Urbano, who did not want to give his full name, told CNN he immigrated from Mexico 43 years ago and has lived undocumented in Los Angeles ever since. 'We have to go out to work because if not, who's going to pay our rent? To pay our bills?' he asked. 'Who's going to pay our taxes? Like I'm paying taxes. Can you imagine?' His story is far from unique, and the contributions of undocumented workers is acknowledged and applauded by state leaders. Lt. Gov Eleni Kounalakis highlighted the findings of a recent report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute stating that California's undocumented immigrants contribute more than $23 billion in local, state and federal taxes. And if all 2.3 million undocumented people in California were deported, the report said the state's gross domestic product would decline by $278 billion. 'That's 9% of our GDP. That GDP value is larger than the entire state of Nevada, than the entire state of Oregon. These are not small outputs,' said Abby Raisz, the group's research director. 'These workers are really contributing to an entire economic engine that when one part of it crumbles, when we remove these workers who comprise 8% of the labor force, it has ripple effects that go way beyond just that one worker getting deported.' Rodriguez said his Fashion District organization is trying to get assistance for vendors in financial trouble, but he acknowledged some might not survive the slump. Even so, he insisted Santee Alley would endure. 'This is a resilient area. We're going to bounce back from this,' he said against a backdrop of shuttered storefronts. 'It'll be challenging, it'll be difficult — but we're absolutely going to persevere.' CNN's Kate Carroll contributed to this story.
The Guardian
19-06-2025
- The Guardian
LA teachers are on the frontlines as Ice raids terrorize their students: ‘You are not alone'
One morning earlier this month, Melanie woke up to the news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had detained more than 40 migrant workers at a garment factory, as part of a series of raids across Los Angeles. Her high school, located downtown, is not too far away from where the arrests took place. She didn't want to go to school – but still drove there to complete her final exams. 'When I got to school, that fear didn't leave me. I might have been in a safe enough place but my family wasn't,' said Melanie, whose uncle and father work in the Fashion District, the neighborhood where the raid took place. She did not give her last name to protect her family's safety, since many members are undocumented. 'Overall, every second was daunting. It felt like time wouldn't move fast enough.' That fear still hasn't left. After her sister's graduation the following week, she and her family decided to go straight home instead of going to eat together at a restaurant. 'We knew it wouldn't be safe or smart to go out. Even though we usually do, whenever we have a special achievement in our lives we celebrate, this time we couldn't due to fear of being deported. We came straight home through the least common streets seeing as Ice has been by my school multiple times.' This is a feeling that Angélica, her social studies teacher who grew up undocumented and did not give her last name, knows all too well. She makes sure to keep track of Ice activity in the area and let Melanie and other affected students know. Because of own personal experiences, she is passionate about helping other undocumented youth navigate scholarships, internships, or jobs, and learn how to advocate for themselves safely. 'What people don't know is the copious amount of trauma living in a mixed-status family,' she said. 'There's a heavy presence of it everywhere. The fear will come up at random times. It's something students are always thinking about.' Across LA and the rest of the US, undocumented students and those with mixed-status families have been living in heightened fear amid the Ice raids over the last two weeks. Families are choosing to stay inside, skipping graduation ceremonies and foregoing grocery shopping. The raids sparked a series of protests against the deportations, which the Trump administration responded to by sending the national guard and marines to downtown LA. Experts say that these events could have serious negative impacts on mental health for children growing up, and also create long-term disparities in food security, academic performance and school attendance. 'These raids are going to be core memories and they will shape how a whole generation of children of undocumented immigrants understand legal vulnerability,' said Dr Laura Enriquez, an associate professor of Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California Irvine who has researched the long-term impacts of immigration policy on mixed-status families. Embedded in their local communities, teachers are now becoming the biggest advocates and resource distributors for their students, helping them develop longer term resiliency at school and beyond. Martha Meléndrez has been working as a psychiatric social worker (PSW) at a school near MacArthur Park in LA for the past four years. She services first-generation, English language development (ELD) newcomer students and a predominantly Latino community. Her community has faced Ice raids before: three months ago, a student at her school, who was a US citizen, had his mother taken away. She provided him with weekly check-ins and psychological counseling and information on legal support services to help the mother get court visits. At school, she also facilitated a series of community circles in her ELD classes, allowing students to discuss ongoing events and how it has affected them. 'Providing a space for students to process is absolutely critical right now,' she said. Many of her students are recent arrivals to the US who are applying for asylum and adapting to a new environment. 'They were able to find common ground and connection with other students about their fears, their hopes and their feelings.' As a former undocumented person and newcomer, Meléndrez channels her own perspective to inform her practice and outreach. 'I am part of this community. This provides me with a unique lens of what students and families are going through,' she said. That the new round of Ice raids happened so close to the end of the school year makes her worried about how students will be supported in the coming months. 'Right now, a lot of educators and PSWs, we are not able to provide that care for our school community because of summer. Unfortunately, they may not have access to a trusted adult and resources like during the academic year,' Meléndrez said, adding that the most common trauma responses for students right now may be excessive worry and nightmares about family separation. Throughout the Los Angeles United School District, which serves almost 400,000 students across more than 1,300 schools, there are 770 funded PSWs who provide mental health care and counseling onsite. However, not all schools can afford to have a PSW full-time or onsite; 95% are full-time in the second largest school district in the nation, according to an LAUSD spokesperson. The district also funds 171 student and family resource navigators, who provide referral and case management services within school-based health clinics. 'At this time, we are actively monitoring the mental health and wellness impact within the community related to recent activity and will develop appropriate strategies as needed,' said the LAUSD spokesperson, when asked if the district would be adding any PSW services. For now, Meléndrez has encouraged students and teachers to share and use the district's mental health family hotline, which the superintendent said at a press conference last week will be active 24/7 in the summer too. But students who normally rely on free lunches at school during the summer may be at a disadvantage, said Angélica, noting that at her school, about one out of every three students relied on a free breakfast and lunch program. Because of the fear of going outside with the Ice raids, she anticipates that more students will go hungry. In 2020, she volunteered to deliver dozens of boxes of food to students and families during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, she recommends that LAUSD bring back the same food distribution efforts so that students and their families don't have to leave the house to get food. 'A lot of people are in lockdown right now and it's terrifying,' Angélica said. A district spokesperson said that breakfast and lunch will be served at 582 schools Monday through Friday during summer school and afterschool programming through 26 July. More than 90,000 are enrolled in the summer school session so far. Starting later this month, the district has asked the Los Angeles regional food bank to supplement these meals with produce bags at different school sites that can be taken home and shared with the whole family. Melanie, the student, has said that her family now relies on her cousin, who is a US citizen, to go out and purchase necessities like food and personal hygiene products they need. Alejandra, a fifth-year English language development teacher in South Central Los Angeles, said that building a relationship with her students is key to addressing what's going on. '[My students] have had a range of emotions. They miss their home country. I see my job as not necessarily talking to them, but to make space for them to talk to each other,' she said. Teachers typically do not ask about students' documentation status, but developing that rapport allows students to open up in times of crisis. 'Having trusting relationships and identifying those resources helps a lot,' Alejandra said. Creating a collective healing practice can positively impact undocumented children, who may feel high levels of uncertainty and isolation. Research shows that reframing their experiences as a strength can help build resilience. 'There is a reason that 'you are not alone' messaging is powerful in the immigrant justice movement,' said Dr Dana Rusch, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. 'Social support and the sense of belonging we cultivate is a universal salve for suffering.' Despite the school year ending, teachers are continuing to organize to provide care for their students. Monica Caballero, a special education teacher at a middle school in Harbor City in the southern part of LA, volunteers to help coordinate one of the United Teachers of Los Angeles union rapid response networks where she helps respond to credible sightings of Ice and other federal agents in her local neighborhood community patrols. 'Everyone is inundated with tips and leads and we are all trying to do our best to verify and respond when needed,' Caballero said. Even though there's sometimes confusion with a false identification, 'the reality is if we go out and there's no activity, that is a best case scenario,' she said. On Instagram, organizations such as Union del Barrio, Self Defense Coalition LA, and other neighborhood patrol accounts have posted about Ice sightings in an effort to warn community members to stay indoors. Families have also relied upon a site called People over Papers, where users can submit photos and videos of suspected Ice activity and volunteers verify the sightings through a tedious process that involves reverse Google image searching and cross-checking with news reports and rapid response networks. In January, the Trump administration announced that schools and churches would no longer serve as sanctuary sites and that immigration authorities can enter to conduct arrests, rescinding 'protected area' guidance from the previous Biden administration that had focused on children and social service establishments. In response, volunteers had to cross out 'churches and schools' as safe place options on their materials. Caballero has passed out these updated information leaflets and hosted Know Your Rights trainings online. 'I'm Mexican American, my grandparents immigrated in the 1960s. I am fortunate enough to be documented and that's not the case for a lot of our community,' she said. 'It is the responsibility of those of us with documented status to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.'
CBS News
17-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
LA County could soon examine impact of immigration enforcement on the workforce, local economy
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis on Tuesday introduced a motion to study the economic impacts of recent immigration enforcement actions in the area, particularly on small businesses. "The collateral damage, as I call it, from these [immigration enforcement] raids is already evident in our local economy in ways that we need to measure and address," Solis said during a news conference Tuesday. If approved, the motion would instruct the county director of economic opportunity to report back to the Board of Supervisors within 15 days with data connected to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including information on workforce losses, locations and industries affected, and on the economic impact of property damage and imposed curfews. The motion also proposes that the county look for ways to assist small businesses affected by immigration enforcement operations. "Many small businesses in the area who rely on immigrant customers have seen a significant drop in business," Solis said at a news conference Thursday. "You see it in the Fashion District, you see it in Little Tokyo." LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 11: A man boards up windows to a business ahead of protests against immigration raids on June 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Tensions in the city remain high after the Trump administration called in the National Guard against the wishes of city leaders. Jim Vondruska / Getty Images Business owners in areas with heavy foot traffic say they've experienced a sharp decline in activity. "It's been devastating. We've have probably 20 percent of the business that we normally would have," said KB Roowala, CEO of Perfumes Los Angeles, which is located downtown in Santee Alley. Solis said the motion proposes examining the long-term effects of the recent events. The Director of Economic Opportunity would report its findings to the Board of Supervisors monthly through December. The push to examine the economic impacts of immigration enforcement comes after several days of protest in L.A., some of which turned violent. As a result, Mayor Karen Bass implemented a curfew in downtown L.A. last week to help quell unrest in the city center. The curfew was lifted Tuesday. President Trump's push to increase deportations of immigrants suspected to be in the U.S. illegally has resulted in several enforcement operations across L.A. County, including at clothing company warehouses, hardware stores, car washes and restaurants. Mr. Trump has claimed on Truth Social that leaders in L.A. and in other cities led by Democrats are using undocumented immigrants to "expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens."
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Korean-American merchants in Los Angeles fear ‘devastation' as ICE raids, protests deepen
A wave of immigration raids in Los Angeles' Fashion District, commonly known as 'The Santee Alley' or 'Java Market', has sparked anxiety and economic disruption among Korean-American merchants, with many shuttering their stores in fear of further crackdowns. Advertisement Last Friday, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted coordinated raids across the district, detaining more than 40 undocumented immigrants, including over 20 workers at a Korean-owned wholesale clothing business. The raids also extended to nearby locations such as a Home Depot, prompting protests throughout the city and raising concerns within the immigrant business community. 'There's barely a soul on the streets. Some stores haven't reopened since the weekend,' said Yoon, a 62-year-old Korean-American merchant who has run a women's fashion store in the area for 30 years. 'We're scared they'll raid us again.' ICE appears to have focused its enforcement efforts on the Fashion District, where many garment businesses depend on Hispanic labour, some of whom are believed to be undocumented. Advertisement Merchants said it has long been an open secret that undocumented workers are employed across the district due to labour shortages and the area's demographic reality – roughly half of Los Angeles' population is of Latin American descent. 'You can't run a business here without Hispanic workers,' said one merchant. 'It's not like before. Sales are down, but we still need people to run operations. Sometimes you hire people even if you're unsure about their status.'
