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Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Latino neighborhoods overwhelmingly targeted in immigration raids, rights group says
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 documents 471 immigration enforcement actions reported to its Los Angeles Rapid Response Network 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." 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. Here are the 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. Twenty-two enforcement actions were reported from Panorama City, the highest of every zip code analyzed. Its 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 did not respond to requests for comment from The Times. The agency has pushed back against racial profiling claims in the past. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement that any such allegations are "disgusting and categorically FALSE." She also said, "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 its immigration policies. Reporting from The Times shows L.A. residents, especially darker-skinned Latinos, have expressed fear about being targets for ICE agents, and even American citizens have been swept up in raids. CHIRLA was one of the groups who sued DHS on July 2, claiming its arrests and detentions in L.A. and the surrounding counties were unlawful and racially targeted. "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. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
22-07-2025
- 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.
New York Post
15-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
How ‘charities,' funded by your tax dollars, helped break immigration law
When violent riots erupted across Los Angeles in defiance of President Trump's efforts to enforce federal immigration law, the uprising was not as spontaneous as open-borders politicians would have you believe. Far-left non-governmental organizations, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), helped provide transportation and services to those going to the protests in support of illegal immigration, many of which quickly devolved into brutal attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As it turns out, CHIRLA received nearly $34 million in California state grants from June 2022 to June 2023. Advertisement From October 2021 to September 2024, under the Biden-Harris administration, the group also received $450,000 in grants from the Department of Homeland Security. But this pattern of incentivizing lawless behavior at taxpayers' expense isn't an isolated case — it is an example of the extensive partnership of open-borders activists and their allies in the Biden-Harris administration, and Americans are still paying the cost. On Wednesday, my Committee will examine this pattern and its impacts in a hearing featuring testimony from Mike Howell of the Oversight Project, human trafficking expert Ali Hopper, and veteran border and riot correspondent Julio Rosas. Advertisement Every one of these witnesses has seen up close how these organizations work with Democrat officials and open-borders policies to advance a pro-illegal immigration agenda — from how NGOs help incentivize cartel human smuggling across our borders and participate in the final mile of this illicit activity, to how they work with far-left rioters opposing ICE enforcement in our streets today. Over the last four years, the Biden-Harris administration's catch-and-release policies allowed more than 13 million to cross our borders, including gang members, criminals and suspected terrorists. From the early days of the historic border crisis, Biden and Harris' DHS released these inadmissible aliens to a vast network of NGOs, particularly those operating at the border. These groups received billions of taxpayer dollars from DHS and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide all manner of services to illegal aliens once they were released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection or ICE custody including legal services, lodging, and transportation to the destination of their choice. Advertisement These NGOs not only incentivized illegal entry, however — they actively participated in completing the human smuggling chain begun by the cartels outside our borders. The evidence of this NGO industrial complex is incontrovertible. A groundbreaking 2022 study using mobile-device data showed that NGOs were serving as a launching pad for illegal aliens to disperse throughout the country. In a 2023 transcribed interview with the Committee, then-Chief Patrol Agent for the Del Rio Sector Jason Owens described how NGOs were complicit in funneling millions of inadmissible aliens into the country, saying, 'A large portion of [the aliens] were being given parole and … ICE would then turn them over to NGOs for them to travel to wherever they were going to go while they await their hearing.' Advertisement In March, the Committee opened an investigation into the mayors of Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago — sanctuary cities that helped funnel funding to numerous far-left NGOs during the border crisis. Last month, the Committee expanded its probe to more than 200 NGOs across the country that are suspected of using taxpayer funds to support or benefit from illegal immigration. NGOs like CHIRLA, Catholic Charities USA, Make the Road New York, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Global Refuge, Southwest Key Programs, and Endeavors all received letters requesting information on how they spent government funds during the crisis and how they may have used those dollars to encourage and facilitate illegal immigration. The near-total lack of accountability for how the taxpayer dollars given to NGOs were spent under the Biden-Harris administration is unacceptable. In March 2023, the DHS Office of Inspector General reported that an audit could not account for more than half of the DHS funding that the OIG reviewed, due to lack of proper documentation by these groups. The overall funding to these NGOs was immense. The Biden border crisis was good for business, as many NGOs saw their annual revenues rise significantly during the Biden-Harris administration. Advertisement For example, it was reported that three prominent NGOs that assisted illegal aliens went from making a combined $597 million in revenue in 2019 to $3 billion just three years later in 2022 — an increase of 400%. One NGO, Southwest Key Programs, received more than $2 billion under the previous administration to provide services for unaccompanied alien children. However, an HHS OIG report found that Southwest Key leadership may have improperly benefited from the deal, with one top employee receiving a 280% increase in salary by Fiscal Year 2023 to $1.2 million. Last summer, the federal government sued Southwest Key, alleging that employees engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse and harassment against the children in its shelters and failed to take sufficient action to protect the children in its care. Advertisement Under the Trump administration, HHS has stopped all placement of unaccompanied alien children in Southwest Key facilities. Another NGO, Endeavors, received sole-source, no-bid ICE contracts under Biden and Harris, despite having no experience as a lead contractor for shelter services. The non-profit received more than $2 billion in federal contracts under the Biden-Harris administration. In 2023, Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, a senior director at Endeavors and former ICE employee under the Biden administration, admitted in an undercover video that he used his previous connections with Biden's 2020 transition team to help facilitate the contacts. Advertisement While the Trump administration has successfully re-secured our borders and is working to put the abuse of taxpayer dollars under the Biden-Harris administration behind us, a lot of damage has already been done — and the money has already been spent. American taxpayer dollars were laundered through Biden and Harris' DHS to these 'non-profits,' who then used those dollars to undermine the laws of the same government giving them funding. Congress must ensure the NGOs and far-left officials that benefited from and contributed to the worst border crisis in American history are held accountable. Advertisement As many of these same NGOs fight the Trump administration's efforts to restore law and order, we must be vigilant that they never again receive a business opportunity like the Biden border crisis. Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK), is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability.
Los Angeles Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Pepe Aguilar drops new song for immigrant rights: ‘I'm not making a cent off this song'
Storied Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar is using his platform to elevate the struggle and celebrate the dignity of the immigration experience in the U.S. with his latest single, 'Corrido de Juanito.' The track, which dropped Friday, explores the societal and emotional trials of being far from home while attempting to make the best of life. The song was originally written and recorded by former Calibre 50 vocalist and accordionist Edén Muñoz in 2017. Aguilar's take on the song comes at a time when its message takes on a heavier meaning as Immigration and Customers Enforcement agents have increased their presence in Los Angeles under the directive of President Trump. The 'Por Mujeres Como Tú' singer's track with a message also acts as a monetary service to the immigrant community of L.A. All the proceeds from the song will go to the immigrant rights organization Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). 'I'm not making a cent off this song. We're giving away everything, not only from the song, but from my latest released album,' Aguilar told The Times following the single's release. '[CHIRLA] is helping immigrants to fight this battle legally and peacefully and respectfully. That's why I created this song, and that's why I decided to donate whatever it makes and whatever my album makes, for the time that it's more valuable.' The advocacy group focuses on the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees in L.A. and throughout the state of California. Its services include free and low-cost legal services and community education. 'We thank Pepe Aguilar for using his voice and platform to defend and support the immigrant community that is foundational to their fan base,' CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas said in a statement. 'Thank you for your invaluable support and for uplifting the presence and contributions of immigrants in the U.S.' Following the onset of the ICE raids in June, the 56-year-old Grammy winner posted a message on Instagram in support of the immigrant community. 'I'm not going to fight the system; I'm going to peacefully resist it with art, with memory, with culture, with tradition, with respect,' said in the June 7 social media video. In the same post, he announced that he would be working on a version of the song that was released today. Aguilar, who is headlining at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 15 and 16, first heard the song at an awards show around the time of its initial release and felt deeply impacted by its message. 'I was really touched by the lyrics and the truthfulness of the song,' Aguilar said Friday morning. 'I had a lump in my throat when I first heard it and then it was a hit.' Flash forward to 2025 and he revisited the Calibre 50 track while singing bohemias with his family at his daughter's house a few months back. 'Something called me in at that party to sing the song and I had never sang it before,' he said. 'I didn't know what it felt like to sing the song and when I sang it, I loved the way it sounded.' It was after that experience that he knew he needed to record his own version. 'Now, with everything going on with all these deportations and with immigration, I think it's a song that applies tremendously to create consciousness around this subject and to portray a reality that is lived by millions,' Aguilar said. 'There are millions of Juanitos that are unable to go back home or unable to go to their loved ones funerals and are afraid of being deported, but at the same time they are working and helping the engine of America to remain stable.' Aguilar channels the pain of homesickness and the worry of becoming forgotten that immigrants face on the daily. 'It's been almost 14 years since I've gone back to the land I was born,' Aguilar sings in the single's opening lines. 'Everything has now changed, I beg God that they don't forget about me.' The 'Perdonóme' vocalist shared a direct message to the people currently being most affected by the ongoing ICE raids. 'No están solos, we care for you, and when I mean 'we,' I'm talking about everybody that understands your situation, not only Mexicans, but I have a lot of friends that are not Mexican, even a lot of full-blooded Americans, who are tremendously worried about what's going on,' Aguilar said. '[A] lot of associations want to do something about this unfair situation, a tremendously unfair and historically unfair for a country like the U.S. I believe in the principles that created the United States, and I hope that those principles are used in this tremendously sad situation.'
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘If You Support Anything, Let It Be Justice': Tom Morello Talks ICE Protest Song ‘Pretend You Remember Me'
Tom Morello has been raging against the machine for the entirety of his music-making career — and perhaps even before. So there was no question, and there should be no surprise, that the Rage Against the Machine guitarist would address the Trump administration's frenzied deportation efforts, particularly in Los Angeles, in song. Morello has released the hard-hitting 'Pretend You Remember Me' in coordination with the Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a Los Angeles County-based organization that was founded in 1986 and operates a hotline, legal services and other resources focused on its mission to protect the area's immigrant community. 'Releasing this song now is in direct response to what we've seen happening, the state terror we've seen happening in this country of mass agents tearing families apart,' Morello tells Billboard. Recent ICE raids in and around Los Angeles, as well as the federal government sending National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into Los Angeles as part of its campaign only stroked the guitarist/activist's, well, rage. More from Billboard Dolly Parton Puts Songwriting 'On Hold' Following Husband's Death Benny Blanco on Wedding With Selena Gomez: 'It'll Be Chill' 'Pride & Prejudice' Film Soundtrack Bewitches the Charts With 20th-Anniversary Vinyl Reissue 'I was on the front lines in the battles of the Marines and cops and ICE in the streets of Los Angeles,' he says, 'and blasting out of every car were Rage songs. On placards held up at every rally are the lyrics from Rage songs — some of the Nightwatchman music I played in the streets, too. So playing this music at this time felt like it was absolutely appropriate to do. 'Like anybody else, I'm all in favor of violent criminals being arrested — but I think we should start with the violent criminals who the International Criminal Court is seeking for their wars overseas rather than hard-working people who are just trying to make a decent life for their families here. If you support anything, let it be justice. 'The reason why you saw one of the biggest protests in the history of the U.S. (against the ICE raids in Los Angeles) is there is a real fear that American fascism is about to kick down our door. We're not at the brink of it; we're in the middle of it. The good news is tens of millions of people were out in the streets protesting it. The band news is it's real. Fortunately there are a lot more of us than there are of them — that's something we tend to forget.' 'Pretend You Remember Me' is slated for what Morello — who served as musical director for the recent Back to the Beginning Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne farewell concert in England — calls 'my first solo rock album,' which he expects to have out next year via Mom+Pop Music. It follows 'Soldier in the Army of Love,' which came out during June of 2024. 'I continue to write and record,' he says. 'I definitely want to have more new music out this year as I continue to tour. My rock albums have mostly been band efforts (with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave) or they've been hybrid albums, like the three Atlas Underground records with a lot of guest artists and weaving in kind of EDM threads. I've made four acoustic Americana records under the name the Nightwatchman that are near and dear to my heart. And I've made rock albums with Bruce Springsteen and Prophets of Rage. 'The reason why this (rock album) is manifesting now is that over the course of the last three years I've been touring and embracing the totality of my catalog. That's steered me towards making (rock) music of my own.' Morello says to expect 'some shredding guitar solos on it. On the one hand is the big Morello riffage of Rage and Audioslave; on other hand is a kind of Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town vibe. ('Pretend You Remember Me') falls comfortably in between those.' Morello — who played on Springsteen's Wrecking Ball and High Hopes albums and toured as an E Street Band sub during 2013-14 — is also backing The Boss' critical concert comments about Trump and his administration during his recent European tour. 'Bruce and I have texted about the ongoing stuff. I know he's stood strong while he's performing overseas, that he stood strong every day, and I'm very supportive of that.' Morello is currently playing shows in Canada, with two shows at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom coinciding with the release of 'Pretend You Remember Me.' He'll also perform at the Rocklahoma Festival on Aug. 30 in Pryor, Okla., with more Canadian shows on his schedule in October and November. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
