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Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Data shows evidence of racial profiling in immigration raids, rights group says
BELL, CA - JUNE 20, 2025 - - Residents confront ICE agents, assisted by Border Patrol agents, on Atlantic Blvd. In the city of Bell on June 20, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) The neighborhoods targeted by federal agents for immigration raids were overwhelmingly Latino, according to data from a prominent immigrant rights group. A heat map produced by the The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) documents 471 immigration enforcement actions reported to its LA Rapid Response Network (LARRN) between June 6 and July 20, in L.A. County. 'That's only those reports we were able to verify through our responders,' said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, CHIRLA's Director of Communications. 'It doesn't mean those are the only number of incidents in that area.' Advertisement Cabrera suspects CHIRLA caught one third of the enforcement activity that took place across the county. During the same period of time, CHIRLA claims to have received 1,677 calls of enforcement activities across the region that it could not confirm, with 1,500 of these reports mentioning armed agents being present, and 389 reports mentioning witnessing random arrests of community members. Areas with the highest number of enforcement actions reported to CHIRLA: San Fernando Valley (Panorama City) – 22 actions Pico Rivera – 18 actions Silver Lake-Echo Park – 15 actions Bell Gardens– 14 actions Hollywood– 9 actions Vernon-South Los Angeles – 8 actions Pico/Union-Downtown Los Angeles– 8 actions Little Tokyo-Downtown Los Angeles – 7 actions Glassell Park– 7 actions South Gate – 7 actions Of the five zip codes with the highest immigration enforcement numbers, a combined 76% of the population was Latino, CHIRLA's analysis shows. Advertisement Twenty-two enforcement actions were reported from Panorama City, the highest of every zip code analyzed. Their population is 42% Latino, and 38.2% immigrants. 'The blatant racial profiling by the Trump Administration is clearly visible in this map,' said Angelica Salas, Executive Director for CHIRLA, in a press release. 'Areas where People of Color live and work, which also include major Latino hubs, were racially profiled and targeted. This military federal immigration enforcement operation was a surgical attack meant to provoke panic and confusion, and unleash terror in our neighborhoods.' ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to requests for comment from the Times. The agency has pushed back against racial profiling claims in the past. Advertisement DHS spokeswoman wrote in a statement that any such allegations are 'disgusting and categorically FALSE,' and 'These type of smears are designed to demonize and villainize our brave ICE law enforcement.' The CHIRLA analysis is not a full accounting of the raids conducted in Los Angeles. DHS has not released the number of enforcement actions or the locations. It has reported that from the time the operations began in June to early July, ICE and Border Patrol arrested 2,792 illegal aliens in the L.A. area. 'The map shows they didn't go to wealthy, white neighborhoods,' said Cabrera. 'They went where they could randomly pick up people of color.' This report comes during widespread concern about racial profiling by the Trump administration in their immigration policies. Reporting from the Times shows LA residents, especially darker-skinned Latinos, have expressed fear about being targets for ICE agents, and even American citizens have been swept up in their raids. CHIRLA was one of the groups who sued the DHS on July 2, claiming their arrests and detentions in LA and the surrounding counties were unlawful and racially targeted. Advertisement 'The preponderance of individuals stopped and arrested in the raids have not been targeted in any meaningful sense of the word at all, except on the basis of their skin color and occupation,' wrote the plaintiffs in their lawsuit. U.S District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled in their favor, writing that DHS and ICE may not use apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish, or a person's occupation to justify an arrest or detention. The Trump administration is attempting to have these restrictions lifted.
Winnipeg Free Press
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Immigration authorities carry out enforcement activity across Los Angeles amid crowds of protesters
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal immigration authorities carried out enforcement activities at several locations in Los Angeles on Friday, with some clashes breaking out as crowds gathered outside a warehouse and other locations across the city to protest the activity. Federal law enforcement officials were present at a Home Depot, an apartment complex, federal courts and in the fashion district, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to discuss the details of its operations. The agency said it routinely makes arrests of noncitizens 'who commit crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws.' Cabrera said people calling a rapid response hotline reported dozens of arrests. KABC-TV reported crowds tried to hinder officers from leaving one location after their operation was over. Aerial footage broadcast by the station showed officers throwing smoke bombs or flash bangs on the street to disperse the people so they could drive away in SUVs, vans and military-style vehicles. The station showed one person running backward with their hands on the hood of a moving white SUV in an apparent attempt to block the vehicle. The person fell backward, landing flat on the ground. The SUV backed up, drove around the individual and sped off as others on the street threw objects at it. Other video showed people being handcuffed by federal authorities in a Home Depot parking lot. Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to 'sow terror.' 'As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place. These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city,' Bass said. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a written statement that his department was aware of the enforcement activities. 'I'm aware that these actions cause anxiety for many Angelenos, so I want to make it clear: the LAPD is not involved in civil immigration enforcement,' he said in a statement.
