Latest news with #AlexisTeodoro
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Activists demand release, fair hearings for 3 men detained in Pomona federal raid
Immigration activists representing several day laborers who were taken into custody during a federal raid in Pomona are speaking out, alleging the workers are being denied their due process. Activists and community members held a press conference outside Pomona City Hall on Tuesday, demanding answers and transparency after a court hearing was held for three detained workers. On April 22, at least 10 day laborers were taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents as they waited outside a Home Depot store, looking for work. The raid sparked concern as immigrant rights advocates protested the targeting of those they described as innocent civilians. Video of the raid showed Border Patrol vehicles surrounding the store's parking lot as the laborers were taken to an undisclosed location. Activists said three of those undocumented workers were later transferred into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and were being held at a detention facility in Calexico. From left: Edwin Juarez, Johnny Garcia, and Jesus Domingo Ros are seen in photos provided by their families. Community activists, immigration rights advocates and community members held a rally and press conference outside Pomona City Hall on May 6, 2025, demanding that three undocumented day laborers who were detained in a federal raid be given a fair bond hearing and due process. (KTLA) Alexis Teodoro, a Worker Rights Director with the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, spoke at a rally and press conference that was held outside Pomona City Hall on May 6, 2025. (KTLA) Community activists, immigration rights advocates and community members held a rally and press conference outside Pomona City Hall on May 6, 2025, demanding that three undocumented day laborers who were detained in a federal raid be given a fair bond hearing and due process. (KTLA) Home Depot store in Pomona, California. (KTLA) Community activists, immigration rights advocates and community members held a rally and press conference outside Pomona City Hall on May 6, 2025, demanding that three undocumented day laborers who were detained in a federal raid be given a fair bond hearing and due process. (KTLA) A bond hearing for the three workers was scheduled on Tuesday morning for Jesus Domingo Ros, Edwin Juarez, and Johnny Garcia. 'I will remind the public that an immigration judge only considers two factors to issue a bond hearing: Is this detainee a flight risk? Is this detainee a national security threat or public safety risk?' said Alexis Teodoro, a Worker Rights Director with the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center. But during Tuesday's hearing, Teodoro claimed ICE officials said the local immigration judge lacked jurisdiction because the men had been living in the U.S. for less than one year, making them ineligible for a bond hearing and instead, subject to expedited removal. Teodoro said not only were those claims false, but that none of the men are threats to public safety and a bond hearing is within their basic rights. 'All three men have been living in the United States for more than two years,' Teodoro said. 'ICE is trying to push through expedited deportations by lying to the court and denying these men the most basic rights, like the right to be heard. Looking for work is not a crime. Waiting for a job opportunity outside a Home Depot isn't a threat to anyone.' Arturo Burga, an immigration attorney based in the Inland Empire, shed more light on the case. 'If you don't have any evidence that you've been in the country for more than two years, you could be at risk of expedited removal and that's very fast,' Burga said. If evidence to support that timeline isn't found, Burga said their due process is limited. However, if they have indeed been living in the U.S. for more than a year, they'll have more options. 'They'll get an opportunity to defend themselves from deportation with an immigration judge, but that process is not quick,' Burga said. In a previous statement on the Home Depot raid, CBP officials said, 'Agents conducted an operation in Pomona targeting an illegal alien with an active arrest warrant. During the operation, nine additional illegal aliens were encountered and taken into custody. Several of those apprehended had prior charges, including child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, immigration violations, and DUI.' Immigrant rights advocates and community members held a demonstration outside a Home Depot store in Pomona on April 22, 2025, protesting a raid that involved the arrest of a group of day laborers at the location. (KTLA) Cell phone video from a witness showed several unmarked vehicles and vans reportedly belonging to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as agents surrounded a Home Depot store in Pomona and arrested a group of day laborers on April 22, 2025. Cell phone video from a witness showed several unmarked vehicles and vans reportedly belonging to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as agents surrounded a Home Depot store in Pomona and arrested a group of day laborers on April 22, 2025. Surveillance video showed Miguel Majin's father being surrounded at gunpoint and taken into custody by immigration officials outside his barber shop in Pomona on April 22, 2025. (Miguel Majin) Surveillance video showed Miguel Majin's father being surrounded at gunpoint and taken into custody by immigration officials outside his barber shop in Pomona on April 22, 2025. (Miguel Majin) Immigrant rights advocates and community members held a demonstration outside a Home Depot store in Pomona on April 22, 2025, protesting a raid that involved the arrest of a group of day laborers at the location. (KTLA) Immigrant rights advocates and community members held a demonstration outside a Home Depot store in Pomona on April 22, 2025, protesting a raid that involved the arrest of a group of day laborers at the location. (KTLA) Home Depot store in Pomona, California. (KTLA) However, Teodoro claimed many of the detained laborers did not have criminal records. As for the three workers they're representing, they intend to prove the men have been living and working in the U.S. for more than a year, that they should be released, and that they deserve a fair hearing before a judge. 'We demand that their due process rights are respected and that they are at least given the opportunity to post bond,' Teodoro said. A follow-up court hearing is scheduled for May 9. KTLA has reached out to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for a statement and is awaiting a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
CNN
02-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
How the fear of soft-target raids is changing undocumented migrants' behavior
All Carlos could do was cry. He watched as other day laborers in a Home Depot parking lot in Pomona, California, were detained by Customs and Border Protection agents April 22. Later, Carlos – who withheld his last name – stood before microphones at a news conference covered by CNN affiliates KCBS/KCAL and KABC. His face was obscured by a baseball cap, a mask and sunglasses, which he temporarily moved to wipe away tears. 'We are here. We are human beings. We're only here to support ourselves and to maintain our families,' Carlos said through an interpreter in the news conference, which was held by advocates of day laborers. While Carlos wasn't detained, day worker advocates say operations like the one in Pomona have long-lasting impacts on those who are apprehended, as well as their families and communities. Many day laborers are undocumented immigrants looking for work and a fair wage in appropriate and safe working conditions. Organizers who work with day laborers in the Pomona area say the raid that day was an anomaly, but it still sent a shockwave of fear through the migrant community. 'A raid like what happened at Home Depot hasn't happened in Pomona in the last decade,' explained Alexis Teodoro, the worker rights director for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, a non-profit that helps day laborers find work and job training. The action falls in line with President Donald Trump's campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration and the executive orders on immigration he signed on his first day in office. More than 66,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump's first 100 days in office, the agency announced Tuesday; that's nearly half the number arrested by ICE during the entire 2024 fiscal year. Teodoro and other day laborer advocates say the fear of more of these operations is having a 'chilling effect,' changing these workers' behavior and keeping them from so-called 'soft targets' where undocumented immigrants could easily be apprehended – places such as houses of worship, their children's schools and locations where they normally find work. Undocumented individuals such as Martin Majin Leon are also getting picked up in targeted operations. In surveillance camera footage from the same day as the Pomona raid, the 59-year-old from Guerrero, Mexico, is seen arriving at the Pomona barbershop he's owned for more than two decades, getting out of his car to open the gate, and being blocked in by two vehicles. Agents apprehended him in just a few minutes, parked his car off the road and drove away with him in a van. 'I was aware of my legal status and in the back of my mind, I knew this could happen after all the threats by the president and everything that's going on. But the way it happened? It was very unexpected – arresting me at gunpoint. I still can't understand that,' Majin Leon told CNN in Spanish, adding that the arresting agents didn't treat him badly. 'We don't know what to expect with this president,' he added. 'I was afraid I was going to end up in detention in El Salvador or Guantanamo. Watching the news and seeing all his actions, I felt despair.' More than a day later, Majin Leon, who has lived in the United States for 39 years, was given a hearing date and released. The father of seven and grandfather of 12 said the judge reviewed his record and decided he could be released with the least restrictions possible. He said he is required to check in with his probation officer monthly. 'I'm not doing well,' Majin Leon said. 'I have diabetes, high blood pressure. What I went through made things worse for me. I'm not doing well mentally.' Majin Leon said the experience has 'altered' his life. Despite having a valid driver's license, what he says is an 'impeccable' driving record in the United States and being told by his probation officer he could resume his life as it was, he's now having his son drive him around. 'I used to live an independent life, going places and taking my wife to her appointments. I don't feel I can do that right now. I just can't take any chances.' In the Pomona Home Depot raid, 10 undocumented immigrants were detained, a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security told CNN in an email. The operation was targeting one person with an active arrest warrant, the department and Customs and Border Protection said. 'Several of those apprehended had prior charges, including child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, immigration violations and DUI,' the statement said. In response to a CNN email request for comment about the Pomona raid, a Home Depot spokesperson said, 'We weren't notified in advance, and we weren't involved in the operation.' Teodoro estimated there were about 50 day laborers who were at the Home Depot in Pomona at the time of the raid but several managed to avoid being taken, adding day laborers rely on Home Depot parking lots and similar locations in many communities to find work. 'Construction companies, contractors, private homeowners – they have historically gone to the Home Depot to buy their materials and then they come outside and hire a day laborer,' Teodoro said in an interview with CNN. 'This is common knowledge and is almost as American as apple pie now.' People looking for help with all kinds of manual labor projects can approach workers waiting at places like these, negotiate a deal for the kind of service they need, then go off to do the job. The day laborers are often paid in cash at the end of the day; many return to these locations daily hoping to get enough work to allow them to provide for their families. Teodoro said the fear of more raids hurts the regional economy as construction sites can't hire the workers they need, and those day laborers have less income to spend in local businesses. In the days right after the raid, Teodoro said, he found only a fraction of the usual groups of day laborers at the places where they find work. There have been publicized raids in other cities as well. 'We know that these types of operations intend to intimidate people who are looking for an honest day of work,' said Pablo Alvarado from the National Day Labor Organizing Network. These roundups of undocumented workers are different from the ICE raids in the past, Alvarado said. 'They claim they are going to … specific people who have removal orders, but in that process, they arrest anybody they found that might be undocumented,' Alvarado told CNN, adding he's seen agents operate in smaller groups to carry out these kinds of actions. 'That's what they call collateral arrests.' In March, ICE raided a business in El Cajon, California, arresting three workers charged with using false documents to work in the United States as well as the general manager who was charged with conspiracy to harbor undocumented workers. In January, Homeland Security Investigations apprehended another three people in a raid on a seafood restaurant in Newark, New Jersey, prompting the mayor to put out a statement saying the agents detained 'undocumented residents, as well as citizens, without producing a warrant.' US Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey took to social media, writing about the operation that 'our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics.' In some locations, charities are also present to assist day laborers. Catholic Charities of Los Angeles contracts with Home Depot to operate temporary skilled worker centers at nearly two dozen locations in the region. Some of its funding comes from city governments to create safe spaces for day laborers to find work. Raids in the past several months have made it difficult for workers to safely connect with potential employers at their centers, said Regional Director Sandra Yanez. The fear of being detained adds up to many days of lost work, she said. 'We have had dates someone heard there was a raid, and on these days not one single person would show up,' Yanez said to CNN. Advocacy groups are advising day laborers to know their rights if they are confronted by border patrol or ICE agents, telling them that 'being day laborers is not a crime.' 'If you are detained, you can exercise your rights. You can refuse to answer questions, and you can ask to speak to an attorney,' said Jessica Bansal, a lawyer with the National Day Labor Organizing Network. Still, while the Trump administration didn't invent the kind of operation that happened in Pomona, it has raised the ante, Teodoro said. 'The Obama administration also targeted day laborers. This is nothing new. But the new thing now is that they don't care about the law,' Teodoro said. 'They could have done an operation anywhere. They could have gone to any neighborhood, full of gangs. They didn't do that. They went to a place that's a work site for immigrant workers who are trying to feed their families.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How the fear of soft-target raids is changing undocumented migrants' behavior
All Carlos could do was cry. He watched as other day laborers in a Home Depot parking lot in Pomona, California, were detained by Customs and Border Protection agents April 22. Later, Carlos – who withheld his last name – stood before microphones at a news conference covered by CNN affiliates KCBS/KCAL and KABC. His face was obscured by a baseball cap, a mask and sunglasses, which he temporarily moved to wipe away tears. 'We are here. We are human beings. We're only here to support ourselves and to maintain our families,' Carlos said through an interpreter in the news conference, which was held by advocates of day laborers. While Carlos wasn't detained, day worker advocates say operations like the one in Pomona have long-lasting impacts on those who are apprehended, as well as their families and communities. Many day laborers are undocumented immigrants looking for work and a fair wage in appropriate and safe working conditions. Organizers who work with day laborers in the Pomona area say the raid that day was an anomaly, but it still sent a shockwave of fear through the migrant community. 'A raid like what happened at Home Depot hasn't happened in Pomona in the last decade,' explained Alexis Teodoro, the worker rights director for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, a non-profit that helps day laborers find work and job training. The action falls in line with President Donald Trump's campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration and the executive orders on immigration he signed on his first day in office. More than 66,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump's first 100 days in office, the agency announced Tuesday; that's nearly half the number arrested by ICE during the entire 2024 fiscal year. Teodoro and other day laborer advocates say the fear of more of these operations is having a 'chilling effect,' changing these workers' behavior and keeping them from so-called 'soft targets' where undocumented immigrants could easily be apprehended – places such as houses of worship, their children's schools and locations where they normally find work. Undocumented individuals such as Martin Majin Leon are also getting picked up in targeted operations. In surveillance camera footage from the same day as the Pomona raid, the 59-year-old from Guerrero, Mexico, is seen arriving at the Pomona barbershop he's owned for more than two decades, getting out of his car to open the gate, and being blocked in by two vehicles. Agents apprehended him in just a few minutes, parked his car off the road and drove away with him in a van. 'I was aware of my legal status and in the back of my mind, I knew this could happen after all the threats by the president and everything that's going on. But the way it happened? It was very unexpected – arresting me at gunpoint. I still can't understand that,' Majin Leon told CNN in Spanish, adding that the arresting agents didn't treat him badly. 'We don't know what to expect with this president,' he added. 'I was afraid I was going to end up in detention in El Salvador or Guantanamo. Watching the news and seeing all his actions, I felt despair.' More than a day later, Majin Leon, who has lived in the United States for 39 years, was given a hearing date and released. The father of seven and grandfather of 12 said the judge reviewed his record and decided he could be released with the least restrictions possible. He said he is required to check in with his probation officer monthly. 'I'm not doing well,' Majin Leon said. 'I have diabetes, high blood pressure. What I went through made things worse for me. I'm not doing well mentally.' Majin Leon said the experience has 'altered' his life. Despite having a valid driver's license, what he says is an 'impeccable' driving record in the United States and being told by his probation officer he could resume his life as it was, he's now having his son drive him around. 'I used to live an independent life, going places and taking my wife to her appointments. I don't feel I can do that right now. I just can't take any chances.' In the Pomona Home Depot raid, 10 undocumented immigrants were detained, a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security told CNN in an email. The operation was targeting one person with an active arrest warrant, the department and Customs and Border Protection said. 'Several of those apprehended had prior charges, including child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, immigration violations and DUI,' the statement said. In response to a CNN email request for comment about the Pomona raid, a Home Depot spokesperson said, 'We weren't notified in advance, and we weren't involved in the operation.' Teodoro estimated there were about 50 day laborers who were at the Home Depot in Pomona at the time of the raid but several managed to avoid being taken, adding day laborers rely on Home Depot parking lots and similar locations in many communities to find work. 'Construction companies, contractors, private homeowners – they have historically gone to the Home Depot to buy their materials and then they come outside and hire a day laborer,' Teodoro said in an interview with CNN. 'This is common knowledge and is almost as American as apple pie now.' People looking for help with all kinds of manual labor projects can approach workers waiting at places like these, negotiate a deal for the kind of service they need, then go off to do the job. The day laborers are often paid in cash at the end of the day; many return to these locations daily hoping to get enough work to allow them to provide for their families. Teodoro said the fear of more raids hurts the regional economy as construction sites can't hire the workers they need, and those day laborers have less income to spend in local businesses. In the days right after the raid, Teodoro said, he found only a fraction of the usual groups of day laborers at the places where they find work. There have been publicized raids in other cities as well. 'We know that these types of operations intend to intimidate people who are looking for an honest day of work,' said Pablo Alvarado from the National Day Labor Organizing Network. These roundups of undocumented workers are different from the ICE raids in the past, Alvarado said. 'They claim they are going to … specific people who have removal orders, but in that process, they arrest anybody they found that might be undocumented,' Alvarado told CNN, adding he's seen agents operate in smaller groups to carry out these kinds of actions. 'That's what they call collateral arrests.' In March, ICE raided a business in El Cajon, California, arresting three workers charged with using false documents to work in the United States as well as the general manager who was charged with conspiracy to harbor undocumented workers. In January, Homeland Security Investigations apprehended another three people in a raid on a seafood restaurant in Newark, New Jersey, prompting the mayor to put out a statement saying the agents detained 'undocumented residents, as well as citizens, without producing a warrant.' US Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey took to social media, writing about the operation that 'our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics.' In some locations, charities are also present to assist day laborers. Catholic Charities of Los Angeles contracts with Home Depot to operate temporary skilled worker centers at nearly two dozen locations in the region. Some of its funding comes from city governments to create safe spaces for day laborers to find work. Raids in the past several months have made it difficult for workers to safely connect with potential employers at their centers, said Regional Director Sandra Yanez. The fear of being detained adds up to many days of lost work, she said. 'We have had dates someone heard there was a raid, and on these days not one single person would show up,' Yanez said to CNN. Advocacy groups are advising day laborers to know their rights if they are confronted by border patrol or ICE agents, telling them that 'being day laborers is not a crime.' 'If you are detained, you can exercise your rights. You can refuse to answer questions, and you can ask to speak to an attorney,' said Jessica Bansal, a lawyer with the National Day Labor Organizing Network. Still, while the Trump administration didn't invent the kind of operation that happened in Pomona, it has raised the ante, Teodoro said. 'The Obama administration also targeted day laborers. This is nothing new. But the new thing now is that they don't care about the law,' Teodoro said. 'They could have done an operation anywhere. They could have gone to any neighborhood, full of gangs. They didn't do that. They went to a place that's a work site for immigrant workers who are trying to feed their families.'
CNN
02-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
How the fear of soft-target raids is changing undocumented migrants' behavior
All Carlos could do was cry. He watched as other day laborers in a Home Depot parking lot in Pomona, California, were detained by Customs and Border Protection agents April 22. Later, Carlos – who withheld his last name – stood before microphones at a news conference covered by CNN affiliates KCBS/KCAL and KABC. His face was obscured by a baseball cap, a mask and sunglasses, which he temporarily moved to wipe away tears. 'We are here. We are human beings. We're only here to support ourselves and to maintain our families,' Carlos said through an interpreter in the news conference, which was held by advocates of day laborers. While Carlos wasn't detained, day worker advocates say operations like the one in Pomona have long-lasting impacts on those who are apprehended, as well as their families and communities. Many day laborers are undocumented immigrants looking for work and a fair wage in appropriate and safe working conditions. Organizers who work with day laborers in the Pomona area say the raid that day was an anomaly, but it still sent a shockwave of fear through the migrant community. 'A raid like what happened at Home Depot hasn't happened in Pomona in the last decade,' explained Alexis Teodoro, the worker rights director for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, a non-profit that helps day laborers find work and job training. The action falls in line with President Donald Trump's campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration and the executive orders on immigration he signed on his first day in office. More than 66,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump's first 100 days in office, the agency announced Tuesday; that's nearly half the number arrested by ICE during the entire 2024 fiscal year. Teodoro and other day laborer advocates say the fear of more of these operations is having a 'chilling effect,' changing these workers' behavior and keeping them from so-called 'soft targets' where undocumented immigrants could easily be apprehended – places such as houses of worship, their children's schools and locations where they normally find work. Undocumented individuals such as Martin Majin Leon are also getting picked up in targeted operations. In surveillance camera footage from the same day as the Pomona raid, the 59-year-old from Guerrero, Mexico, is seen arriving at the Pomona barbershop he's owned for more than two decades, getting out of his car to open the gate, and being blocked in by two vehicles. Agents apprehended him in just a few minutes, parked his car off the road and drove away with him in a van. 'I was aware of my legal status and in the back of my mind, I knew this could happen after all the threats by the president and everything that's going on. But the way it happened? It was very unexpected – arresting me at gunpoint. I still can't understand that,' Majin Leon told CNN in Spanish, adding that the arresting agents didn't treat him badly. 'We don't know what to expect with this president,' he added. 'I was afraid I was going to end up in detention in El Salvador or Guantanamo. Watching the news and seeing all his actions, I felt despair.' More than a day later, Majin Leon, who has lived in the United States for 39 years, was given a hearing date and released. The father of seven and grandfather of 12 said the judge reviewed his record and decided he could be released with the least restrictions possible. He said he is required to check in with his probation officer monthly. 'I'm not doing well,' Majin Leon said. 'I have diabetes, high blood pressure. What I went through made things worse for me. I'm not doing well mentally.' Majin Leon said the experience has 'altered' his life. Despite having a valid driver's license, what he says is an 'impeccable' driving record in the United States and being told by his probation officer he could resume his life as it was, he's now having his son drive him around. 'I used to live an independent life, going places and taking my wife to her appointments. I don't feel I can do that right now. I just can't take any chances.' In the Pomona Home Depot raid, 10 undocumented immigrants were detained, a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security told CNN in an email. The operation was targeting one person with an active arrest warrant, the department and Customs and Border Protection said. 'Several of those apprehended had prior charges, including child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, immigration violations and DUI,' the statement said. In response to a CNN email request for comment about the Pomona raid, a Home Depot spokesperson said, 'We weren't notified in advance, and we weren't involved in the operation.' Teodoro estimated there were about 50 day laborers who were at the Home Depot in Pomona at the time of the raid but several managed to avoid being taken, adding day laborers rely on Home Depot parking lots and similar locations in many communities to find work. 'Construction companies, contractors, private homeowners – they have historically gone to the Home Depot to buy their materials and then they come outside and hire a day laborer,' Teodoro said in an interview with CNN. 'This is common knowledge and is almost as American as apple pie now.' People looking for help with all kinds of manual labor projects can approach workers waiting at places like these, negotiate a deal for the kind of service they need, then go off to do the job. The day laborers are often paid in cash at the end of the day; many return to these locations daily hoping to get enough work to allow them to provide for their families. Teodoro said the fear of more raids hurts the regional economy as construction sites can't hire the workers they need, and those day laborers have less income to spend in local businesses. In the days right after the raid, Teodoro said, he found only a fraction of the usual groups of day laborers at the places where they find work. There have been publicized raids in other cities as well. 'We know that these types of operations intend to intimidate people who are looking for an honest day of work,' said Pablo Alvarado from the National Day Labor Organizing Network. These roundups of undocumented workers are different from the ICE raids in the past, Alvarado said. 'They claim they are going to … specific people who have removal orders, but in that process, they arrest anybody they found that might be undocumented,' Alvarado told CNN, adding he's seen agents operate in smaller groups to carry out these kinds of actions. 'That's what they call collateral arrests.' In March, ICE raided a business in El Cajon, California, arresting three workers charged with using false documents to work in the United States as well as the general manager who was charged with conspiracy to harbor undocumented workers. In January, Homeland Security Investigations apprehended another three people in a raid on a seafood restaurant in Newark, New Jersey, prompting the mayor to put out a statement saying the agents detained 'undocumented residents, as well as citizens, without producing a warrant.' US Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey took to social media, writing about the operation that 'our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics.' In some locations, charities are also present to assist day laborers. Catholic Charities of Los Angeles contracts with Home Depot to operate temporary skilled worker centers at nearly two dozen locations in the region. Some of its funding comes from city governments to create safe spaces for day laborers to find work. Raids in the past several months have made it difficult for workers to safely connect with potential employers at their centers, said Regional Director Sandra Yanez. The fear of being detained adds up to many days of lost work, she said. 'We have had dates someone heard there was a raid, and on these days not one single person would show up,' Yanez said to CNN. Advocacy groups are advising day laborers to know their rights if they are confronted by border patrol or ICE agents, telling them that 'being day laborers is not a crime.' 'If you are detained, you can exercise your rights. You can refuse to answer questions, and you can ask to speak to an attorney,' said Jessica Bansal, a lawyer with the National Day Labor Organizing Network. Still, while the Trump administration didn't invent the kind of operation that happened in Pomona, it has raised the ante, Teodoro said. 'The Obama administration also targeted day laborers. This is nothing new. But the new thing now is that they don't care about the law,' Teodoro said. 'They could have done an operation anywhere. They could have gone to any neighborhood, full of gangs. They didn't do that. They went to a place that's a work site for immigrant workers who are trying to feed their families.'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Federal raid and arrests in Pomona spark concern, outrage in community
A federal raid at a Home Depot store in Pomona has sparked concern as families and community members said a group of day laborers were taken into custody Tuesday. Immigrant rights advocates held a demonstration outside the store, protesting the targeting of those they described as innocent civilians. 'Our people should not be living in fear,' one speaker said. 'Today, approximately between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents, both with marked and unmarked vehicles, showed up to Home Depot from two entrances,' said Alexis Teodoro, a Worker Rights Director with the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center. 'They took approximately 15-20 day laborers.' Video of the incident showed vehicles appearing to belong to Border Patrol surrounding the store's parking lot Tuesday morning. The people who were taken into custody were transported to an undisclosed location. A man named Carlos spoke in Spanish as he described witnessing the raid. 'I arrived here and when I started seeing the scene, I started crying,' his translator told KTLA. 'We're here, we're human beings, we're only here to support ourselves and to maintain our families.' 'It is not a crime to look for work,' said Jessica Bansal, an attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. 'It is not a crime to be a day laborer. So we are asking, 'What information did Border Patrol have when it made these arrests?'' On the same morning at a nearby barber shop on Holt Avenue in Pomona, Miguel Majin said his father was also taken into custody without warning. Surveillance video showed Majin's father arriving at the barber shop he has owned for about 20 years. He steps out of his car to open a gate and moments later, a van and SUV surround him as several agents quickly approach him with guns drawn. 'They get him at gunpoint and he surrenders,' Majin tells KTLA's Shelby Nelson. 'I think it's unnecessary to use guns. My dad's not a criminal. He has properties. He pays taxes.' Majin said he has no idea where his father has been taken. He does confirm that his father had been previously been deported in the early 2000s. 'I get that they're deporting criminals, but my dad is not a criminal and I believe it's not fair what's happening in Pomona,' Majin said. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis issued a statement on the incident, saying: 'This morning, my office was alerted by community members of a federal Homeland Security presence in the City of Pomona, where approximately 15-20 day laborers were reportedly detained. In response, I immediately directed the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs to connect with the Pomona Day Labor Center to ensure those impacted receive the support and resources they need. Just last week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved an additional $5.5 million in funding for RepresentLA — a program dedicated to providing our immigrant community with access to legal representation. While this remains a developing situation, I want to reaffirm my unwavering commitment to ensuring that all residents, regardless of their immigration status, are aware of and can exercise their constitutional rights.' It remains unclear which agencies were involved in both operations. A spokesperson told KTLA that neither the U.S. Department of Homeland Security nor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was involved in the Home Depot raid. KTLA has reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials about the incidents and is awaiting a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
