Protests and immigration raids that resulted in the arrests of seven people occurred in Los Angeles over the weekend, as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to allow continued aggressive enforcement tactics by federal agents throughout Southern California.
Federal immigration agents carried out two raids at Home Depot parking lots in Van Nuys on Friday, arresting seven people, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed in a statement to HeySoCal.com.
“Border Patrol conducted targeted immigration raids in Van Nuys at two Home Depots that resulted in the arrest of seven illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras,” McLaughlin said.
Of the seven detainees, McLaughlin said four had criminal records that include multiple DUIs, an arrest for disorderly conduct that involved prostitution, an “ICE fugitive” who allegedly failed to appear at a hearing for removal from the U.S. and another detainee who has a prior deportation order.
LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath blasted the Van Nuys operation Friday on social media. She accused federal officials of violating a judge’s temporary restraining order barring immigration agents from “roving patrols” that detain individuals in violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. The Trump administration on Thursday night asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the TRO.
“This morning in Van Nuys, several of our neighbors were forcibly taken by ICE,” Horvath posted on X. “ICE agents showed no warrants & car windows were smashed. The Trump administration is defying a court order to stop terrorizing our immigrant communities. It is heartbreaking, it is lawless, and it must end.”
McLaughlin defended the raids that started June 6 and have been ongoing throughout LA and Southern California counties.
“What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S. — NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” McLaughlin said. “America’s brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists — truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities. 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges. President Trump and Secretary Noem are putting the American people first by removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to our communities.”
Protests
Activists held a rally and march at MacArthur Park Saturday to protest the crackdown on illegal immigration, after over a dozen people were arrested in another overnight demonstration in downtown Los Angeles.
“Officers attempted to make contact with an organizer of the demonstration when the crowd surrounded the officers and began to hit the cars. Items were thrown and an Unlawful Assembly was declared due to the aggressive nature of a few demonstrators,” the LAPD Central Division posted Friday night on X.
“The protest went into the late night hours with people refusing to disperse. At its conclusion, over a dozen people were arrested, streets were cleared of any debris and lanes of traffic reopened,” police said Saturday morning. “Central Division will continue to support 1st Amendment rights of all people. However, if violence or criminal activity occurs, laws will be enforced.”
The demonstration dubbed “take back MacArthur Park” was in response to recent immigration enforcement activities in the area, organizers said. The rally started 11 a.m. Saturday at Seventh and Alvarado streets, when 50 to 100 demonstrators marched to a nearby Home Depot. The marchers returned to the park, where several speakers discussed the effects of the ongoing raids on immigrant communities, the local economy and other issues, according to published reports.
The rally and march were peaceful with no reported confrontations with police.
Activists also called for a boycott of Home Depot stores, which they say federal agents have used as staging areas for enforcement operations.
“We aren’t notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in them,” Home Depot spokewoman Beth Marlowe told City News Service in a statement Saturday. “In many cases, we don’t know that arrests have taken place until after they’re over. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”
More cities join LA lawsuit
Seven more cities joined an LA-led coalition’s lawsuit against the federal government for alleged racial profiling and unconstitutional detentions during immigration raids throughout Southern California, Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced Friday.
Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, Pico Rivera, Montebello, Monterey Park and West Hollywood are now part of the motion to intervene in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, Feldstein Soto said at a City Hall press briefing.
The lawsuit was filed July 2 by the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Counsel and individual immigration and civil rights lawyers. Plaintiffs ranging from day laborers, advocacy groups and a union allege ICE and Customs and Border Protection engaged in “unconstitutional and unlawful stops, roundups and raids without reasonable suspicion or probable cause,” according to court documents.
LA County, the city of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pomona, South Gate, Lynwood, Huntington Park, Paramount, Bell Gardens, Beverly Hills, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Oxnard quickly joined plaintiffs.
“Since these illegal raids started in LA on June 6, I have maintained that every person in the United States, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to constitutional protection from the types of enforcement activities we have seen,” Feldstein Soto said. “We will always stand up to protect our communities and to uphold the rule of law.”
Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse said aggressive immigration enforcement has caused widespread disruption across Santa Barbara County and neighboring areas.
“These actions have discouraged community participation, reduced access to essential services and negatively impacted the local economy,” Rowse said. “The city is particularly troubled by the use of masked law enforcement officers, which has raised concerns about false detainment by impersonators and undermined public trust.”
Rose added that while the city supports the enforcement of laws, “it strongly objects to the methods being used and is filing a petition to intervene in Vasquez Perdomo et al. v. Noem et al., joining other jurisdictions in defending constitutionally protected rights and ensuring accountability in enforcement practices.”
A Los Angeles federal judge’s temporary restraining order requires the government to stop so-called “roving patrols” that target car washes, parking lots where day laborers gather and garment factories. These types of raids disrupted immigrant communities regionwide for weeks, causing widespread fear.
Last week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the federal government’s request to reverse the order prohibiting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies from continuing what U.S. District Judge Maame E. Frimpong determined were unlawful actions in LA and nearby counties.
On Thursday, the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the court order barring federal agents from making immigration arrests.
“This case involves a district-court injunction that threatens to upend immigration officials’ ability to enforce the immigration laws in the Central District of California by hanging the prospect of contempt over every investigative stop of suspected illegal aliens,” according to the Justice Department’s application to the Supreme Court to stay the lower court order.
The high court will decide whether to grant the government emergency relief as the lawsuit plays out over the course of this year.
The lawsuit is set for a Sept. 24 hearing in Los Angeles in which Frimpong will consider a preliminary injunction that could extend the conditions of the temporary restraining order as the case progresses.
