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Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'We need to find these people': L.A. immigration raids a sign of what's to come, officials say
When Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to unleash the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, he said his second administration would start by going after people with criminal records. But now, disappointed with the pace of arrests, the Trump administration is casting a wider net by targeting anyone deportable. Raids in California have taken place at courthouses, during scheduled check-ins with immigration authorities, at clothing factories, Home Depots, car washes, farms and outside churches. But officials say the state is hardly being singled out. Raids are coming for other sanctuary jurisdictions too, said Tom Homan, President Trump's chief advisor on border policy. "This operation is not going to end," he told The Times. Read more: All of L.A. is not a 'war zone.' We separate facts from spin and disinformation amid immigration raids Across the country, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is stepping up new strategies and tearing down precedent to meet the White House's demands. Homan acknowledged the pace of deportations had not met expectations and that while the administration still prioritizes removing those who threaten public safety and national security, anyone in the country illegally is fair game. "I'm not happy with the numbers," he said. "We need to find these people." Arrests are being made in places previously considered off limits, and the administration earlier this year rescinded a policy that prohibited enforcement actions in hospitals, schools or houses of worship. Agents who typically focus on drug and human trafficking are seeing their duties shifted to immigration enforcement. The government is also now appealing to the public to help find and deport people in the country without authorization. The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, released a poster on social media this week that depicts Uncle Sam urging people to call a hotline to 'report all foreign invaders.' And in Los Angeles, the National Guard and U.S. Marines were mobilized without the consent of state and local leaders — a tactic that Trump administration officials said could be repeated elsewhere. Trump claimed the deployments have been effective — "Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years,' Trump said Thursday — but local leaders have said the protests against ICE raids had not gotten out of control and that Trump's actions only inflamed tensions. As protests reached their seventh day in Los Angeles, isolated incidents of violence lessened, though some tensions remained. Even so, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wrote Wednesday on X that 'America voted for mass deportations. Violent insurrectionists, and the politicians who enable them, are trying to overthrow the results of the election.' California Democrats say the enforcement actions are about retribution against the state for its policies that protect immigrant residents, as well as an attempt to distract the public from congressional Republicans' attempts to pass the president's tax-and-spending bill, which would add more than $150 billion for immigration and border enforcement. They say the president is testing the bounds of his authority and wants protests to spiral so that he can crack down further by invoking the Insurrection Act to establish martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act would allow military troops to arrest civilians. Further unrest, Trump critics say, would be welcomed by the president. 'This is about if it bleeds, it leads,' said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). 'So he has created and manufactured violence so that he can have a show on the television. But other people — older people, folks who are disabled, young people — are going to be bleeding when Medicaid gets cut, when people are evicted from their homes.' While public attention has focused on the arrests of employees, the administration says it's also looking at employers who hire workers in the country illegally. "It's not just about arresting illegal aliens, it's about holding employers responsible too — but there's a burden of proof," Homan said. "If we can prove it, then we'll take action." Read more: Death threats, vandalism, investigations: L.A. immigrant rights groups in the fight of their lives One former Homeland Security official in the Biden administration said immigration laws could be enforced without escalating public tension. 'Why aren't they doing I-9 audits instead of just going after people?' said the former official, Deborah Fleischaker, of forms used to verify an employee's identity and eligibility to work in the U.S. 'There are ways to do this in ways that are less disruptive and calmer. They are choosing the more aggressive way.' In many ways, the current immigration crackdown reflects exactly what Trump said during the presidential campaign, when he declared that millions of people would be deported. The new expansive approach appears to be a response to a late May meeting, first reported by the Washington Examiner, in which Miller lambasted dozens of senior ICE officials, asking them: 'Why aren't you at Home Depot? Why aren't you at 7-Eleven?' 'Well, now they're all of a sudden at Home Depots,' Fleischaker said. Homan said the agency has recently arrested around 2,000 people a day, up from a daily average of 657 arrests reported by the agency during Trump's first 100 days back in office. The increase is reflected in rising detention numbers, which have topped 50,000 for the first time since Trump's first presidency, according to TRAC, a nonpartisan data research organization. Asked about complaints of overcrowding and substandard conditions in detention facilities, Homan acknowledged some facilities are overcrowded during intake. Some of the immigrants detained in California since Friday have been transferred to other states, he said. 'California has been pretty stringent and they want to shut down immigration detention,' he said. 'It doesn't mean we're releasing these people. The less detention space we have in California, the more action they take in not helping us with detention beds, then we'll just simply move them out of state.' The work of immigration agents — sometimes hours of surveillance for a single target — can be slow. Jason Houser, who was ICE's chief of staff under the Biden administration, said law enforcement agents, when given quotas, will always find the easiest way to fulfill them. Miller, he said, knows ICE 'doesn't have enough resources or staff to get them to a million removals" by the end of the year. Houser said that's where the military troops come in. Homeland Security officials said military personnel already have the authority to temporarily detain anyone who attacks an immigration agent until law enforcement can arrest them. Houser predicted that soldiers could soon begin handling arrests. Critics of the administration's tactics, including former Homeland Security officials, said the White House's strategy boils down to frightening immigrants into leaving on their own. It costs a few hundred dollars a day to detain an immigrant; deportation can cost thousands, and some countries are reticent to accept the return of their citizens. 'They arrest one, they scare 10,' said one former senior ICE official. 'That's a win.' Read more: Tensions over L.A. immigration sweeps boil over as Padilla is tackled, ICE arrests pick up The former official, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely, said that's an about-face from the Biden administration, during which agents answered to lawyers and precedent. 'Everything was vetted and vetted … to the detriment in some ways of the agency,' the former official said. 'But to see them just doing whatever they want when they want, it's a little stunning and it's like, look at all the things we could've done if we had that attitude. But they seem to have so little regard for consequences, lawsuits, media, public opinion — they have no constraints.' Homan said protests in Los Angeles have made enforcement actions more dangerous but have not prevented agents from making as many arrests as planned. 'If the protesters think they're going to stop us from doing our job, it's not true,' he said. 'We're going to probably increase operations in sanctuary cities, because we have to.' Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
‘We need to find these people': L.A. immigration raids a sign of what's to come, officials say
WASHINGTON — When Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to unleash the largest deportation campaign in U.S history, he said his second administration would start by going after people with criminal records. But now, disappointed with the pace of arrests, the Trump administration is following through on his campaign promise: targeting anyone deportable. Raids in California have taken place at courthouses, during scheduled check-ins with immigration authorities, at clothing factories, Home Depots, car washes, farms and outside churches. But officials say the state is hardly being singled out. Raids are coming for other sanctuary jurisdictions, too, said Tom Homan, President Trump's chief advisor on border policy. 'This operation is not going to end,' he told The Times. Across the country, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is stepping up new strategies and tearing down precedent to meet the White House's demands. Homan acknowledged the pace of deportations had not met expectations and that while the administration still prioritizes removing those who threaten public safety and national security, anyone in the country illegally is fair game. 'I'm not happy with the numbers,' he said. 'We need to find these people.' Arrests are being made in places previously considered off limits, and the administration earlier this year rescinded a policy that prohibited enforcement actions in hospitals, schools or houses of worship. Agents who typically focus on drug and human trafficking are seeing their duties shifted to immigration enforcement. The government is also now appealing to the public to help find and deport people in the country without authorization. The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, released a poster on social media this week that depicts Uncle Sam urging people to call a hotline to 'report all foreign invaders.' And in Los Angeles, the National Guard and U.S. Marines were mobilized without the consent of state and local leaders — a tactic that Trump administration officials said could be repeated elsewhere. Trump claimed the deployments have been effective — 'Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years,' Trump said Thursday — but local leaders have said the protests against ICE raids had not gotten out of control and that Trump's actions only inflamed tensions. As protests reached their seventh day in Los Angeles, incidents of violence lessened, though some tensions remained. Even so, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wrote Wednesday on X that 'America voted for mass deportations. Violent insurrectionists, and the politicians who enable them, are trying to overthrow the results of the election.' California Democrats say the enforcement actions are about retribution against the state for its policies that protect immigrant residents, as well as an attempt to distract the public from congressional Republicans' attempts to pass the president's tax-and-spending bill, which would add more than $150 billion for immigration and border enforcement. They say the president is testing the bounds of his authority and wants protests to spiral so that he can crack down further by invoking the Insurrection Act to establish martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act would allow military troops to arrest civilians. Further unrest, Trump critics say, would be welcomed by the president. 'This is about if it bleeds, it leads,' said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). 'So he has created and manufactured violence so that he can have a show on the television. But other people — older people, folks who are disabled, young people — are going to be bleeding when Medicaid gets cut, when people are evicted from their homes.' While public attention has focused on the arrests of employees, the administration says it's also looking at employers who hire workers in the country illegally. 'It's not just about arresting illegal aliens, it's about holding employers responsible too — but there's a burden of proof,' Homan said. 'If we can prove it, then we'll take action.' One former Homeland Security official in the Biden administration said immigration laws could be enforced without escalating public tension. 'Why aren't they doing I-9 audits instead of just going after people?' said the former official, Deborah Fleischaker, of forms used to verify an employee's identity and eligibility to work in the U.S. 'There are ways to do this in ways that are less disruptive and calmer. They are choosing the more aggressive way.' In many ways, the current immigration crackdown reflects exactly what Trump said during the presidential campaign, when he declared that millions of people would be deported. The new expansive approach appears to be a response to a late May meeting, first reported by the Washington Examiner, in which Miller lambasted dozens of senior ICE officials, asking them 'Why aren't you at Home Depot? Why aren't you at 7-Eleven?' 'Well, now they're all of a sudden at Home Depots,' Fleischaker said. Homan said the agency has recently arrested around 2,000 people a day, up from a daily average of 657 arrests reported by the agency during Trump's first 100 days back in office. The increase is reflected in rising detention numbers, which have topped 50,000 for the first time since trump's first presidency, according to TRAC, a nonpartisan data research organization. Asked about complaints of overcrowding and substandard conditions in detention facilities, Homan acknowledged some facilities are overcrowded during intake. Some of the immigrants detained in California since Friday have been transferred to other states, he said. 'California has been pretty stringent and they want to shut down immigration detention,' he said. 'It doesn't mean we're releasing these people. The less detention space we have in California, the more action they take in not helping us with detention beds, then we'll just simply move them out of state.' The work of immigration agents — sometimes hours of surveillance for a single target — can be slow. Jason Houser, who was ICE's chief of staff under the Biden administration, said law enforcement agents, when given quotas, will always find the easiest way to fulfill them. Miller, he said, knows ICE 'doesn't have enough resources or staff to get them to a million removals' by the end of the year. Houser said that's where the military troops come in. Homeland Security officials said military personnel already have the authority to temporarily detain anyone who attacks an immigration agent until law enforcement can arrest them. Houser predicted that soldiers could soon begin handling arrests. Critics of the administration's tactics, including former Homeland Security officials, said the White House's strategy boils down to frightening immigrants into leaving on their own. It costs a few hundred dollars a day to detain an immigrant; deportation can cost thousands, and some countries are reticent to accept the return of their citizens. 'They arrest one, they scare 10,' said one former senior ICE official. 'That's a win.' The former official, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely, said that's an about-face from the Biden administration, during which agents answered to lawyers and precedent. 'Everything was vetted and vetted … to the detriment in some ways of the agency,' the former official said. 'But to see them just doing whatever they want when they want, it's a little stunning and it's like, look at all the things we could've done if we had that attitude. But they seem to have so little regard for consequences, lawsuits, media, public opinion — they have no constraints.' Homan said protests in Los Angeles have made enforcement actions more dangerous but have not prevented agents from making as many arrests as planned. 'If the protesters think they're going to stop us from doing our job, it's not true,' he said. 'We're going to probably increase operations in sanctuary cities, because we have to.'
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Los Angeles protests: Over 20 arrested, tensions persist amid Trump immigration raids and military deployment
More than 20 people were detained on the first night of a curfew imposed in downtown Los Angeles, as police deployed crowd-control projectiles to disperse protesters rallying against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, authorities said on Wednesday. While officials reported fewer clashes compared to earlier demonstrations, the presence of heavily armed troops and ongoing immigration raids kept tensions high across the city. The curfew, covering a one-square-mile area at the heart of downtown, was enacted following five consecutive days of protests that have now spread to cities like Chicago, Austin, Dallas, and New York. 'If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and down our streets, I would imagine that the curfew will continue,' said Mayor Karen Bass. Federal immigration enforcement actions triggered the unrest, with Los Angeles authorities and residents accusing the administration of creating panic by raiding workplaces and separating families. 'When you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart… you're trying to cause fear and panic,' Bass added. Some 2,000 National Guard troops were already deployed, half guarding federal buildings and ICE agents. An additional 700 Marines are expected to join once trained, while another 2,000 troops are scheduled for deployment by Thursday. Army Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said this operation, overseen by Task Force 51, aims to secure sensitive infrastructure. California Governor Gavin Newsom criticised Trump's move as a 'military dragnet' and sought an emergency court order to stop the Guard from assisting immigration enforcement. Trump, however, defended the deployment, posting that the city 'would be burning to the ground' without military intervention. Across the country, parallel protests erupted. In New York, police detained 86 people during overnight protests in Manhattan. In Chicago, a 66-year-old woman was injured after being struck by a car during demonstrations. In Texas, where protests have also flared, the state's National Guard has been placed on standby. Federal authorities also announced charges against two individuals accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at police in LA, warning that more prosecutions may follow. 'If you took part in these riots and were looking to cause trouble, we will come looking for you,' U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. Meanwhile, Trump escalated rhetoric, calling protesters 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy,' to which Newsom responded by accusing the president of launching an 'assault on democracy.' The ongoing raids and arrests have heightened public anxiety, with reports of ICE agents operating at libraries, car washes, and schools, prompting some LA graduations to increase security or go virtual. Since the protests began, police have detained over 200 people, many for failing to disperse. Seven officers have been injured, and charges ranging from vandalism to assault have been filed. Despite the unrest, protesters continue to rally outside City Hall and federal buildings demanding an end to the raids and mass detentions. Police detained more than 20 people, mostly on curfew violations, on the first night of restrictions in downtown Los Angeles and used crowd-control projectiles to break up hundreds of protesters demonstrating against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, officials said Wednesday. But there were fewer clashes between police and demonstrators than on previous nights, and by daybreak, the downtown streets were bustling with residents walking dogs and commuters clutching coffee cups. Officials said the curfew was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators after five days of protests, which have mostly been concentrated downtown. Demonstrations have also spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin in Texas, and Chicago and New York, where thousands rallied and more arrests were made. LA's nightly curfew, which the mayor said would remain in effect as long as necessary, covers a 1-square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) section that includes an area where protests have occurred since Friday in the sprawling city of 4 million. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers). "If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and down our streets, I would imagine that the curfew will continue," Mayor Karen Bass said. The tensions in LA and elsewhere emerged as immigration authorities seek to dramatically increase the number of daily arrests across the country. Bass said the raids spread fear across the city at the behest of the White House. "We started off by hearing the administration wanted to go after violent felons, gang members, drug dealers," she told a news conference. "But when you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe. You're trying to cause fear and panic." Referring to the protests, she added: "If you drive a few blocks outside of downtown, you don't know that anything is happening in the city at all." Some 2,000 National Guard soldiers are in the city, and about half of them have been protecting federal buildings and agents, said Army Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, head of Task Force 51, which is overseeing the deployment of National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles. About 700 Marines will soon join the Guard troops, but they are still undergoing training and will not be mobilized Wednesday, Sherman said. Another 2,000 Guard troops should be on the streets by Thursday, he said. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has accused Trump of drawing a "military dragnet" across the nation's second-largest city with his escalating use of the National Guard, which Trump activated, along with the Marines, over the objections of city and state leaders. Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents. The assistance includes some guardsmen now standing protectively around agents as they carry out arrests. A judge set a hearing for Thursday, giving the administration several days to continue its activities. The change moves the military closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such as deportations, as Trump has promised as part of his immigration crackdown. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests would be made by law enforcement. The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city "would be burning to the ground" if he had not sent in the military. Meanwhile in New York City, police said they took 86 people into custody during protests in lower Manhattan that lasted into Wednesday morning. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful. A 66-year-old woman in Chicago was injured when she was struck by a car during downtown protests Tuesday evening, police said. Video showed a car speeding down a street where people were protesting. In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred demonstrators Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office said Texas National Guard troops were "on standby" in areas where demonstrations are planned. Guard members were sent to San Antonio, but Police Chief William McManus said he had not been told how many troops were deployed or their role ahead of planned protests Wednesday night and Saturday. Authorities announce arrests in protests Two people accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at police during the LA protests over the weekend face charges that could bring up to 10 years in prison, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. No one was injured by the devices. One of the suspects is a U.S. citizen, and the other overstayed a tourist visa and was in the U.S. illegally, authorities said. "We are looking at hundreds of people," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. "If you took part in these riots and were looking to cause trouble, we will come looking for you." Trump, Newsom locked in a war of words Trump has called the protesters "animals" and "a foreign enemy" and described Los Angeles in dire terms that the governor says is nowhere close to the truth. Newsom called Trump's actions the start of an "assault" on democracy. "California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next," he said. The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Thousands of people have peacefully rallied outside City Hall and hundreds more protested outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids. Despite the protests, immigration enforcement activity has continued throughout the county, with city leaders and community groups reporting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement present at libraries, car washes and Home Depots. School graduations in Los Angeles have increased security over fears of ICE action, and some have offered parents the option to watch on Zoom. Los Angeles police detained 200 people related to the protests throughout the day on Tuesday, including 67 who were occupying a freeway, according to the city's chief. The majority of arrests since the protests began have been for failing to disperse, while a few others were for assault with a deadly weapon, looting and vandalism. At least seven police officers have been injured.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Gavin Newsom should get out of Trump's way in LA
'Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions.' So says California Gov. Gavin Newsom after an X poster sent him video of his constituents setting police cars on fire and throwing rocks. What Donald Trump is doing is enforcing the law. By sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents into Los Angeles to arrest undocumented immigrants and then sending in the National Guard to restore order after riots erupted, Trump is doing nothing more than his job, something the Biden administration and Newsom himself largely abdicated. Joe Biden's border policies – somewhere between an open invitation and abject surrender before a late-term reversal – allowed waves of unwelcome migrants to enter the United States, millions of them, making it necessary for a tough surge of enforcement around the country to restore some respect for our borders. Gavin Newsom's sanctuary state policies made sure that plenty of that enforcement would need to take place in California. If Newsom didn't want to see flash bang grenades deployed in Los Angeles restaurant kitchens and heavily armed federal agents in donut shops and Home Depots, maybe he shouldn't have spent billions of taxpayer dollars making California a more welcoming home for people who broke the law. The biggest move he made was to spend the state into a deficit offering Medical (California's version of Medicaid) to those without legal status. It is a decision he has tried to partially reverse as the budget impact became clear. More appalling was a law passed by California's Democrat-dominated legislature to make undocumented immigrants eligible for six-figure housing down payment assistance or making poor citizens complete with the undocumented for scarce work-study opportunities at state universities and community colleges. You know, the places of education where citizens of El Salvador and Mexico already got cheaper tuition than those interloper immigrants from Missouri or Idaho. Newsom says 'Commandeering a state's National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral.' That's not exactly right. It wasn't 'illegal and immoral' for Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson to use commandeered National Guard units to enforce civil rights laws in 1965. And it isn't now for the threat to American sovereignty caused by Biden's feckless border policy and the violent reaction to efforts to rectify it, dangers just as grave as Alabama civil rights scofflaws were a half century ago. In both cases, protests threatened to derail the enforcement of federal law. And while Newsom says the National Guard is an unneeded provocation, the LA police chief has had second thoughts. 'Looking at the violence today, I think we've got to make a reassessment,' Jim McDonnell, told The New York Times. He's right. The Guard hasn't engaged with protestors yet, but they are an important backstop to the police who face not only local riots but the threat that others with broader anti-American agendas will come to take advantage of the chaos caused by the original timorous response from California law enforcement. It is unclear what message rioters were sending by setting multiple Waymo taxis on fire in downtown LA, but it is surely clear that unmanned transportation isn't exactly a symbol of Trump administration overreach. Maybe the violent protestors have more in mind than a confrontation over immigration enforcement. That was certainly the case in the violent riots over the murder of George Floyd that killed nine and cost billions. I have my problems with the Trump approach to immigration. Afghan patriots who served our military in trying to tame that terrorist-infested land deserve our thanks, not the boot. The U.S. has a long history of welcoming those who flee communism. Why that doesn't apply to Venezuelans, I don't know. Kicking out either group seems kinda dumb. And the policy of refusing to allow China to send full-fair paying students to our schools to subsidize American students' education doesn't make much fiscal sense to me. But if America is to return to its roots as a land built on exploiting the hard work, innovations and and entrepreneurialism of wave after wave of migrants, we have to have a reckoning over the lawlessness of the Biden years. It might get ugly in some cases, but in trying his best to kick out undocumented immigrants, Trump is only doing what we elected him for. Gavin Newsom should get out of the way.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters gather at Santa Ana federal building: 'This is the healthiest thing to do'
In Santa Ana, about 120 protesters gathered outside a federal building near City Hall on Monday afternoon. Multiple raids had been conducted across Santa Ana that morning, including at Home Depots and restaurants and in industrial areas of the city. 'I feel enraged,' said Councilmember Jessie Lopez, standing with the crowd. 'If [U.S. Atty.] Bill Essayli cares about criminals, he should start at the White house.' Essayli last week sent a letter to Santa Ana, warning the sanctuary city about its proposal to pass a resolution that would require the Santa Ana Police Department to inform residents whenever they received a courtesy call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement alerting them about upcoming raids. Bethany Anderson was with a group of friends from Fullerton, where they had been receiving calls Monday. They were standing in front of a driveway that led to a small gated garage where unmarked white vans had been driving in and out all day. Read more: Bass enacts curfew for downtown L.A. to stem chaotic protests 'I knew they would bring people here' to the federal building, said Anderson, who is accredited by the Department of Justice as a legal representative. 'This is not a jail, so we have no idea about the quality of conditions inside, so that's very worrisome. Suddenly, she saw movement in the driveway and grabbed the bullhorn hanging from her shoulder. 'We see you!' Anderson shouted as protesters screamed, 'Shame!' and rushed to see what was going on. 'We see you, private security guards! You don't have to do this!' The Orange County Rapid Response Network posted addresses and photos of locations where ICE had conducted raids in Fountain Valley. The group's co-director, Casey Conway, said he was happy to see so many people show up in Santa Ana. 'But this isn't just today. This has been every day for three weeks. We're super overwhelmed right now.' The crowd held pro-immigrant and anti-Trump signs and waved Mexican flags. Someone passed around bottled waters and masks as a young woman chanted on a bullhorn, 'Move ICE, get out the way!' to artist Ludacris' song 'Move.' Federal police stood by the building's entrance, where some took photos of the crowd. When they went back inside, the crowd started chanting, '¡Quiere llorar!' — 'He wants to cry,' a common insult among Mexican soccer and rock fans. Alicia Rojas looked on from the edge of a sidewalk. The Colombian native had her amnesty application denied in the federal building as a child. 'This is all triggering,' said the 48-year-old artist. Now a U.S. citizen, Rojas grew up in Mission Viejo during the era of Prop. 187 and remembered all the racism against people like her at the time. Seeing so many young people out to protest made her 'hopeful, but I'm also worried. I've seen how the response has been to these peaceful protests. This administration has no capacity to be American.' She looked on. 'I feel rage inside, but this is the healthiest thing to do. More than anything. I'm here to look after the kids.' As the vans came in and out throughout the afternoon, activists at first blocked them but later backed down when federal agents shot pepper balls into the ground. Among those hit was Conway, who rushed to the side to have their reddened eyes washed out with water. Read more: L.A. City Council members spar with police chief over immigration protests 'I need someone to be on deescalation,' Conway gasped. The task fell to Tui Dashark. Dressed in neon green Doc Martens, an olive hat and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt, he led the crowd through chants including 'No firman nada' (Don't sign anything). 'Please stop throwing water bottles,' Dashark said at one point. 'They're just water bottles to us. But to them, it's assault with a deadly weapon.' The crowd calmed down. 'I'm proud of you guys for not escalating,' Dashark said. 'You're the f— real ones.' He turned to the gate driveway, where federal agents had quietly returned. 'You're so cool man,' Dashark said in a sarcastic voice as the crowd laughed. ' I wonder, what kind of person is up thinking, 'I want to lock up kids as a career?' As the day continued, the situation eventually evolved into the old children's game of Red Rover: Protesters would get too close and throw water bottles, federal agents would shoot pepper balls and eventually escalate to flash-bang grenades and tear gas. After a couple of hours, the crowd moved a couple of hundred feet to the east to Sasscer Park, named after a Santa Ana police officer killed in the 1960s by a member of the Black Panther Party. Local activists call it Black Panther Park. By 5 p.m., the protesters numbered at least 500. T-shirts emblazoned with logos of beloved Santa Ana Chicano institutions colored the scene: Suavecito. Gunthers. Funk Freaks. Santa Ana High. El Centro Cultural de México. People took turns on bullhorns to urge calm and to unite. But then another protester saw federal agents gathering at the federal building again. 'We gotta make them work overtime!' a young woman proclaimed on a bullhorn. 'They don't make enough money. let's go back!' The crowd rushed back to the federal building. Eventually, Santa Ana police officers arrived to create a line and declare an unlawful assembly. For the next four hours, the scene was akin to a party broken up occasionally by tear gas and less-than-lethal projectiles. Cars cruised on nearby streets blasting Rage against the Machine, sierreño music and the tunes of Panteón Rococó, a socialism-tinged Mexican ska group. Someone used AutoTune to shout profanities against the police, drawing giggles from the overwhelmingly Gen Z crowd. A Latina woman who gave her name only as Flor arrived with her teenage daughter. It was their first protest. Read more: ICE expands immigration raids into California's agricultural heartland 'We live in a MAGA-ass town and saw this on television,' Flor said. 'I grew up just down the street from here. No way can we let this happen here.' Nearby, Giovanni Lopez blew on a loud plastic horn. It was his first protest as well. 'I'm all for them deporting the criminals,' said the Santa Ana resident. He wore a white poncho bearing the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. 'But that's not what they're doing. My wife is Honduran and she's not a citizen. She's scared to go to her work now even though she's legal. I told her not to be afraid.' The Santa Ana police slowly pushed the protesters out of Sasscer Park. Some, like Brayn Nestor, bore bloody welts from the rubber bullets that had hit them. 'Does someone have a cigarette?' he asked out loud in Spanish. The Mexico City native said he was there to 'support the raza, güey.' He was in obvious pain, but the trademarks arachidonic humor of his native city still bubbled through. 'It's chido [cool] that they hit me,' he proclaimed to anyone who would listen. 'Es perro, güey [it's cool, dog]. So the world knows what jerks those pigs are.' 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.
