INS Sweeps Seize 117 in Canoga Park, Northridge

Responding to an appeal by Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge), federal immigration officers Tuesday arrested 117 alleged illegal aliens at street corners in Canoga Park and Northridge where day laborers gather to seek work.

Starting at 7 a.m., U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents converged on crowds of men on the corners of Parthenia Street and Vanalden Avenue in Northridge, and Canoga Avenue and Vanowen Street in Canoga Park.

Those lacking proof of U. S. citizenship or legal residency were arrested, INS spokesman Joe Flanders said. Each of those arrested may opt for voluntary deportation or a hearing in immigration court, he said.

Police and politicians have complained for years that the two areas are plagued by public drinking, vandalism and harassment of passers-by.

The raids, conducted by 14 INS agents, were prompted by many complaints to Fiedler’s office from nearby residents, Flanders said.

“The principal reason” for the raid “was the request from Fiedler,” Flanders said.

“Over the years, we’ve had literally hundreds of complaints,” said Paul Clarke, Fiedler’s executive assistant.

In Blighted Neighborhood

The Parthenia-Vanalden intersection lies in the blighted Bryant Street-Vanalden Avenue section of Northridge, three blocks of run-down apartment buildings in an otherwise middle-class neighborhood that recently have been the focus of cleanup efforts by police and politicians.

City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, last year proposed an ordinance that would have made it easier for owners of 30 apartment buildings to evict tenants and renovate or replace the structures. The ordinance drew strong opposition from the community and Mayor Tom Bradley, however, and was withdrawn.

The Los Angeles Police Department created a task force late last year aimed at reducing crime in the area. Capt. Mark Stevens, commanding officer of the Devonshire Division, said increased patrols have helped but that the neighborhood is still plagued by “nuisance crimes,” many associated with street-corner loitering.

“The area still requires a great deal of police service,” Stevens said. “Dope dealers frequent the location. The community has a terrible problem with littering, abandoned cars . . . the kind of crimes that cause . . . a community to be threatened.”

INS Officials Given Tour

After many residents complained, Fiedler’s aides took INS officials on a tour of the “morning meat market” of day laborers, Clarke said.

INS agents were told that the Bryant-Vanalden area, at least until recently, accounted for as much as 50% of the crime in Northridge, Clarke said.

Tuesday’s raids in the San Fernando Valley are the latest in a series of crackdowns on day-labor pools around Los Angeles.

On Sept. 25, INS agents arrested about 100 suspected illegal aliens in early-morning raids at gathering spots for workers in Costa Mesa. In August, more than 100 day workers were arrested on Sawtelle Boulevard in West Los Angeles.