There will be a march around the park followed by a car caravan to the downtown area then an evening rally outside the detention center.
LOS ANGELES – Immigrant-rights advocates are staging a day-long “community stoppage” in Los Angeles, including boycotts and rallies, to protest federal immigration enforcement operations.
Timeline:
The day of action, which began at midnight Tuesday with a fast-food workers strike, includes a variety of events throughout Los Angeles.
A rally is set for 10 a.m. at MacArthur Park, and a caravan led by SEIU 721 will travel from the park to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Hall of Administration at noon.
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The day will conclude with a rally at 5 p.m. at Placita Olvera, a march to the federal detention center at 6 p.m., and a vigil at 7:15 p.m.
What they’re saying:
A spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Jorge-Mario Cabrera, stated that the boycotted corporations “whether implicitly or not have allowed their facilities to be used as places where federal agents violated workers’ rights and have inflicted pain and terror in our community and families.”
He added that these corporations “benefit on a daily basis from our hard-earned dollars and yet remain silent in light of the attacks against Angelenos and workers.”
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Cabrera also called the stoppage a “precursor of more actions to come later in the year calling on the federal government to stop these racist raids.”
Home Depot, one of the boycotted businesses, responded in a statement: “Immigration enforcement agencies are the best sources if you have questions. We aren’t notified that these activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”
U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles Bill Essayli acknowledged a recent raid on X, writing, “For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again. The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.”
Angelica Salas, executive director for CHIRLA, said the groups were proud of their work in documenting abuses that led to a temporary restraining order from the courts. “We believe in the courts, and we believe in the Constitution, and we’re going to continue to fight in the courts because we have rights, and we’re going to affirm those rights in every way possible,” she said.
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The backstory:
The “community stoppage” was announced a day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security raid at a Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard, which resulted in the arrest of approximately 16 individuals.
This raid was part of a larger series of enforcement actions that began on June 6, leading to the arrest of 2,792 immigrants in Los Angeles County and six surrounding counties.
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This number is a significant increase from the fewer than 1,400 immigrants arrested in the region the previous month, according to Homeland Security.
Some experts have linked a previous decrease in arrests to a federal court order that limited the scope of immigration enforcement operations.
The federal government has appealed this ruling but was denied a stay last week by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The government is expected to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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CHIRLA was among the groups who sued the federal government for their “roving patrols” and enforcement tactics.
The Source: Information for this story is based on public statements from a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and its executive director. We also sourced information from a statement by a Home Depot spokesman, a post on X from a U.S. Attorney, and details from a news conference where the events were announced. Additional data on recent immigration arrests was provided by the Department of Homeland Security.