Latest news with #majority-Latino
Axios
5 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Violent crime in border cities fell below national rate in 2024
Several U.S. border communities saw violent crime drop below the national average in 2024, as nationwide rates fell to 20-year lows, according to new FBI data analyzed by Axios. Why it matters: The findings from last year run counter to claims by President Trump and GOP leaders, who painted border towns as crime hotspots because of newly arrived immigrants. The big picture: Eleven border cities examined annually by Axios — Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo, Eagle Pass, Del Rio and El Paso in Texas; Sunland Park in New Mexico; Nogales and Yuma in Arizona; and Calexico and San Diego in California — had an average violent crime rate of 356.5 per 100,000 residents. That was a sizable drop from 2023 and was slightly below the national average of 359.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents last year, FBI numbers show. Between the lines: The 11 border communities, all of them majority-Latino, had a homicide rate of 2.5 per 100,000 residents — half of the national average of 5 per 100,000. Four of the border cities — Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Sunland Park and Nogales — reported no homicides in 2024, the data show. El Paso and Yuma had the highest homicide rate among the border communities with 2.9 per 100,000, still well below the national average. The intrigue: McAllen — located across the Rio Grande from Reynosa, Mexico, one of the most dangerous places in the Americas — had one of the lowest violent crime rates on the border. Zoom out: The border communities had low crime rates before Trump took office, boosted border security and canceled millions of dollars in federal money for crime prevention programs. Early numbers for 2025 indicate that overall violent crime in the border cities is continuing to drop, as Trump's lockdown of the border has greatly reduced illegal crossings. Yes, but: Local officials fear that could change if the administration pulls back on anti-crime grants amid fights over immigration enforcement. The Trump administration is threatening to withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants unless cities agree to work with federal immigration officials on mass deportations. El Paso has been an exception this year, experiencing a 42% jump in homicides in the first half of 2025, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). The intrigue: Some border cities, such as Laredo and Sunland Park, are dispatching AI-enhanced drones to help fight crime amid officer shortages. Flashback: Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeated false claims that migrants from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East were responsible for jumps in violent crime, despite studies showing violent crime was dropping.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We're seeing the best of LA': as Ice raids haunt the city, Angelenos show up for each other
In the days after ramped-up immigration raids began in Los Angeles, 50-year-old Lorena, who has been running a tamale cart in Koreatown for decades, stayed home. So did her husband, who works as a day laborer. Worried about paying their bills, both of them after a few days went back out to work. 'My son would go around the block and watch out for us,' said Lorena, whom the Guardian is not identifying by her full name for fear of reprisal. He'd text them a warning when he suspected that immigration agents were nearby. Eventually, though, they concluded the effort was not only risky, but futile. There was no business. 'People are scared. They do not go out to buy anything,' she said. Then Lorena was offered a grant by a local advocacy group, KTown For All, which had raised money online from supporters to 'buy out' street vendors at risk of being detained. Related: As Ice infiltrates LA, neighborhoods fall quiet: 'We can't even go out for a walk' She and her husband have been able to remain home since, and keep a low profile. She knew the group because they had organized initiatives to support vendors during the height of the coronavirus pandemic – and on occasion she had worked with them to distribute her tamales to unhoused people and others in need. 'That is why I believe that when you give love, you receive love,' she said. 'I want more people to know about [how] this way they can also support more vendors, more sellers. Because there are many, many vendors who are still taking risks because they need to make money.' KTown for All has said publicly that its supporters donated enough money to cover a month's rent and food for at least 42 vendors and their families, and it has shared links to street vendor fundraising efforts in other Pasadena, LA's South Bay and other neighborhoods. The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The LA Street Vendor Solidarity Fund, a similar effort organized by several non-profits, has raised $80,000 so far, with the goal of raising at least $300,000. An estimated 1 million of Los Angeles county's more than 10 million residents are undocumented people, the largest undocumented population of any city in the US. Street vendor buyouts are just one of the ways Angelenos are responding to the Trump administration's raids, which are continuing to spread terror across Los Angeles, with many immigrant families afraid to leave their homes for school or work. 'Community members that have not been traditionally plugged into politics or the current state of affairs are plugging in – they're getting informed,'said Eunisses Hernandez, a 35-year-old city councilmember who represents a quarter-million people in a majority-Latino district in northern Los Angeles. Many Angelenos who did not attend protests against the new Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids are doing other kinds of work, Hernandez said, like providing 'know your rights' information to small businesses about interacting with law enforcement officials, or figuring out how to deliver food to immigrant families too afraid to leave home even to buy groceries. Related: 'A moral obligation to protest': LA residents on being thrust into chaos Mutual aid networks created to help people affected by the January's wildfires have been 'reinvigorated' to respond to the Trump administration's raids, Hernandez said. 'In this moment, while we're seeing the worst of our federal administration, we are seeing the best here in the city of Los Angeles,' she said. The pervasive fear of federal raids is reshaping the daily life of the city, leaving streets emptier and quieter. One in five local residents lives with someone undocumented or are undocumented themselves. Half the total population is Latino. 'Our economy is being destroyed, our culture is being destroyed,' said Odilia Yego, the executive director of Cielo, an advocacy group focused on local Indigenous migrant communities. 'The buzzing feeling of being an Angeleno is under attack.' When Yego went out with Cielo workers earlier this month to deliver food to 200 families, she said, the streets were eerily quiet, and restaurants were half-empty, raising concerns about how small businesses already battered by Covid, Hollywood strikes and the wildfires will weather this new crisis. It's not only undocumented residents who fear being snatched up by masked federal agents in raids community members say look and feel like kidnappings, Yego said. 'Even with documents, people are afraid to go out. Even citizens are afraid to go out. People are afraid to encounter an Ice agent regardless of their status, because of the level of violence they have seen on social media or on TV,' she said. Multiple US citizens in the Los Angeles area have reportedly been detained as part of immigration raids this month. As Cielo and similar advocacy groups help frightened immigrant families, other people are stepping up to help them. In early June, one of the city's most popular taquerias and an immigrant-owned coffee shop in West Hollywood held fundraisers for Cielo. 'We own a business, so we can't go protest,' one of the West Hollywood coffee shop's owners said. The Guardian is not identifying the businesses or its owners for fear of reprisal. Helping raise funds for Cielo was 'a way for us to show up to be a voice with our community'. 'In LA, we support each other during times of crisis,' Yego said. 'Someone sent us $100 and said: 'You helped me during the pandemic, and today, I'm able to give back.''
Los Angeles Times
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. street life ‘paralyzed' as ICE raids keep shoppers away, close businesses
With federal immigration sweeps showing no signs of slowing across Southern California, there was growing concern from top officials, spiritual leaders and business owners that a climate of fear was sending more people underground and changing the rhythm of city life. Once-bustling immigrant hubs, including MacArthur Park, the Garment District, downtown's produce market and areas of the Eastside have seen a noticeable reduction in foot traffic over the last week, with some businesses forced to close as a result. It comes as social media is rife with videos of immigration agents making arrests at shopping centers, swap meets, car washes and other businesses. Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said he has been 'disturbed' by how many of these raids have been carried out, and how they've caused a deep panic among his majority-Latino parishioners. 'People are staying home from mass and work, parks and stores are empty, the streets in many neighborhoods are silent,' Gomez in an opinion piece for Angelus, a local Catholic news outlet. 'Families are staying behind locked doors, out of fear. ... This situation is not worthy of a great nation.' At the 7th Street Produce Market Wednesday morning, a spot usually bustling in the mornings with customers filling up plastic bags with vegetables and fruits — far fewer people than normal walked among the shops. Parking at the market was plentiful and several shops that are usually open were shuttered instead. 'Right now, with the immigration raids everything, no one is here,' said a security guard who asked not to be named. In the nearby Garment District — where this recent surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations began almost two weeks ago — the streets were empty except for a handful of customers peeking into stores. Workers there said there's been no business since the immigration raids began. 'It affecting everything, it's affecting all of us,' said Eva Ibrahim, 48, the owner of a shop that sells dresses and suits. For a few days after the initial raids, workers and customers seemed afraid to come in, so several shops just stayed closed. This week, many of them opened back up, but workers said there just aren't enough customers coming in. 'It's like everything was paralyzed,' Ibrahim said. '... A lot of people don't want come for fear they'll get nabbed.' The full economic toll of the raids is still difficult to calculate. But city and county officials are sounding alarms that it could be extensive — especially depending how long the stepped-up enforcement continues. L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis on Tuesday got the county to agree to study how the recent immigration blitz had affected the economy, noting how many of the county's immigrants are petrified to leave their home. 'They are terrorized,' Solis said. 'You don't see them.' A few days ago, Mayor Karen Bass toured downtown's historic Mariachi Plaza, which was deserted, and Boyle Heights and said she was stunned. 'It's the uncertainty that continues that has an absolute economic impact. But it is pretty profound to walk up and down the streets and to see the empty streets, it reminded me of COVID,' Bass told The Times on Sunday afternoon. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said he has been 'disturbed' by how many of these raids have been carried out, and how they've caused a deep panic among his majority-Latino parishioners. 'People are staying home from mass and work, parks and stores are empty, the streets in many neighborhoods are silent,' Gomez said in an opinion piece for Angelus, a local Catholic news outlet. 'Families are staying behind locked doors, out of fear. ... This situation is not worthy of a great nation.' In the Angelus essay, Gomez appeared to question involving the military and admonished the White House for putting the nation's best ideals — which he described as being a 'beacon of hope for those seeking freedom and refuge from oppression — under fire. Earlier this week, an additional 2,000 National Guard members were activated and sent to L.A., joining a contingent of 3,000 National Guard and U.S. Marines already deployed to the area — against the wishes of state and local leaders. Mounting stress — and confusion — about the immigration raids runs up and down the state. The administration has said multiple things at once, including that it will target all undocumented immigrants and that it won't go after those working in agriculture and other vital industries. But then, in a social media post this week, President Trump said ICE deportation efforts in Los Angeles and other Democratic cities will grow. As ICE's presence in Southern California has grown, so has their opposition. In Pico Rivera, after federal agents carried out a string of arrests Tuesday, protestors marched on city streets. City leaders distanced themselves from the raids, raising concerns about 'warrantless stops' and 'operations that appear to target specific communities.' At a City Council meeting in Santa Ana, community members called for stronger policies to ensure the city's status as a 'sanctuary city' — the only such city in Orange County that limits cooperation with federal immigration officials, according to LAist. At one point, the city was exploring if its police could publicize alerts it receives from ICE, but the idea was ultimately tabled, citing legal issues, the Orange County Register reported. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, a Trump appointee, warned Santa Ana officials in writing to abandon the idea, saying it would 'not only hurt public safety, but it will also subject the city and its employees to potential criminal prosecution.' While cities look for ways to address community concerns and stay within the letter of the law, regular citizens and community activists have been opposing ICE agents wherever they can find them. In a video shared widely on social media, a Walmart employee in Pico Rivera was wrestled to the ground after authorities say he intervened in an ICE detention. In Pomona, activists rallied outside a hotel where they believed ICE agents were staying. Similar demonstrations have occured outside hotels near Los Angeles International Airport and Pasadena. Meanwhile, an interfaith group was planning a prayer walk through downtown L.A. Wednesday evening in support of family unity. 'Walking as public witness, we will unite in prayer, nonviolence, and unwavering solidarity with our immigrant neighbors,' the group said. Times staff writers Rebecca Ellis and Julia Wick contributed to this report.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sen. Alex Padilla disputes Trump administration's account of his forcible removal at a DHS event
Sen. Alex Padilla disputed the White House's account of the events surrounding his forcible removal from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on Thursday, pushing back against key details about what exactly preceded his handcuffing by federal law enforcement agents. Both the White House and Noem said Padilla, D-Calif., failed to identify himself to security, yelled and lunged toward Noem. "This man burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice, and was stopped, did not identify himself, and was removed from the room,' Noem said in an interview on Fox News. 'The way that he acted was completely inappropriate." Padilla denied all of Noem's characterizations in his first interview after the incident — on MSNBC with NBC News' Jacob Soboroff. "That's ridiculous. It's a lie but par for the course for this administration," Padilla began. "They said I wasn't wearing my pin. My polo says 'United States Senate,'" Padilla said. "There was no threat. There was no lunging. I raised my voice to ask a question, and it took what, maybe, half a second before multiple agents were on me." The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Noem held a news conference in Los Angeles related to ongoing immigration raids across the city that have triggered volatile protests. Padilla, who was attending a nearby briefing, interrupted Noem's remarks, which he characterized as increasingly inaccurate and partisan, before he was forcibly removed from the event, put down on the ground and handcuffed by FBI officers, resulting in widespread backlash from Democrats. Padilla called the degree of force FBI agents used against him 'excessive' and an 'overreaction' because of his view that he wasn't 'threatening in any way.' He highlighted that because Noem's event was taking place in a federal building, he underwent a security screening and was escorted by federal agents at all times. Despite that, Padilla said, he was shoved out of the room by several agents, forced onto the ground and handcuffed. He complied with all of the agents' orders, he said, because of lessons he learned from his upbringing in the majority-Latino San Fernando Valley. 'Where I grew up, you know what happens if you don't obey law enforcement. So I began to go on my knees to the extent that they would let me,' Padilla said. 'I kept repeatedly asking themselves, 'Why am I being detained?' No answer. 'Why am I being detained?' No answer. 'Why am I being detained?' No answer.' Democrats have widely condemned the incident, with former Vice President Kamala Harris, Padilla's Senate predecessor, calling it a "stunning abuse of power" and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, calling for the arrest of the agents involved. 'We want a fast and full investigation on the assault of Sen. Alex Padilla. That's what we want. We want those people that assaulted him to be looked at and to be arrested,' Espaillat said, adding that the Hispanic Caucus is 'fully behind' Padilla. FBI leadership has defended the actions of the officers amid the backlash, noting that Padilla was in plainclothes and not wearing a security pin and accusing him of resisting law enforcement officers. "Our FBI LA personnel responded in support of Secret Service completely appropriately. We stand by them and appreciate their swift action," a spokesperson for the bureau said on X. Former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, an NBC News contributor, said that the situation was 'unfortunate' but that she believed the officers 'had an obligation to respond' and acted appropriately. 'Their job is to make sure that no one causes harm to the secretary,' Best said. 'If the security detail hadn't acted in a situation like this, I think they would have been in hot water." Padilla said that after federal agents removed his handcuffs, he was invited to meet with Noem for 'a few minutes,' an opportunity he said he accepted in order to question her about Trump's decision to authorize the deployment of several thousand National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids. She did not appear conciliatory during the meeting, he said. 'You'd think she might have started the meeting with an apology for what happened? Of course not,' Padilla said. In the hours after the incident, Padilla has sought to tie his interaction with law enforcement agents to the ongoing immigration raids in Los Angeles, speculating that if federal personnel can use excessive force against a senator, they might use similar force when pursuing nonviolent immigrants. 'If they're willing to do this to a United States senator representing the state of California, just imagine how it's going with their immigration enforcement on the streets when they show up at restaurants and are trying to detain a cook or outside a Home Depot trying to detain a day laborer,' he said. This article was originally published on
Time of India
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Unrest in LA: Donald Trump sends in troops to control immigration protests; Governor Newsom calls move 'inflammatory'
National Guard troops arrive in Los Angeles on Trump's orders to quell immigration protests (Picture credit: AP) National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles early Sunday under the direct orders of US President Donald Trump, marking an extraordinary move to assert federal authority amid escalating protests against immigration raids and triggering fierce political and legal pushback. Trump deployed 2,000 troops from the California National Guard without Governor Gavin Newsom's request, the first such action since 1965, according to the New York Times. That year, President Lyndon B. Johnson federalised the Guard to protect civil rights marchers in Alabama. 'This move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions,' Newsom said, calling the order a misuse of military power that erodes public trust. He later warned on X, 'Federal authorities want a spectacle. Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully.' As per news agency AFP, helmeted troops carrying long guns and travelling in armoured vehicles were seen in Compton and downtown Los Angeles, areas where protests had intensified after federal immigration agents carried out sweeping raids, arresting over 100 people in majority-Latino neighbourhoods. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Windows Users Don't Forget To Do This Before Sunday Read More Undo Confrontations broke out in Paramount and Compton on Friday and Saturday, with federal officers firing tear gas and flash-bang grenades at demonstrators. In Compton, a protester holding a Mexican flag stood in front of a burnt-out car spray-painted with anti-ICE slogans. The unrest prompted US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem to defend the action, telling CBS' Face the Nation, 'The National Guard are specifically trained for this type of crowd situation.' Meanwhile, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth warned that active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton were on high alert and could be deployed if violence escalated. Trump justified the federal activation of the Guard under Title 10, USC 12406, which allows such deployment if there is a 'rebellion' against federal authority. 'To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion,' his directive stated. But critics see the move as an overreach. 'For the federal government to take over the California National Guard, without the request of the governor, to put down protests is truly chilling,' said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, as quoted by The New York Times. California Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, speaking on CNN, accused the administration of targeting peaceful protests. 'We are having an administration that's targeting peaceful protests... The president is sending the National Guard because he doesn't like the scenes.' Republican leaders backed Trump's actions. House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed concerns on ABC's This Week, saying Newsom had shown 'an inability or unwillingness to do what is necessary.' He added that the potential deployment of Marines was not 'heavy-handed.' The deployment drew comparisons to Trump's handling of protests during his first term. In 2020, military helicopters were used to disperse demonstrators in Washington, DC, protesting police violence. As per news agency AP, protests continued late into Sunday evening outside federal buildings and near the Metropolitan Detention Centre. Police declared unlawful assemblies in some areas and made arrests, while authorities in Paramount erected barbed wire to prevent crowd surges. Fernando Delgado, a 24-year-old protester, was quoted by AFP as saying, 'These are injustices. Those detained are human beings just like any.' Senator Bernie Sanders posted on X, 'Conduct massive illegal raids. Provoke a counter-response. Declare a state of emergency. Call in the troops… Unacceptable.' Despite the backlash, a CBS News poll conducted prior to the unrest showed that a slight majority of Americans still supported Trump's immigration crackdown.
