What businesses are the feds targeting during L.A. immigration sweeps? Here’s what we know
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As the immigration sweeps in Southern California intensify, some patterns appear to be emerging about federal targets.
While some sweeps appear to be centered at certain workplaces, others seem to be chosen at random.
Agents were spotted Monday at a courthouse and library in Whittier, Home Depots in Huntington Park and Santa Ana and businesses in Fountain Valley, according to officials and media reports.
In April, unmarked vehicles were the first to arrive outside the Home Depot on South Towne Avenue in Pomona around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, where dozens of workers had gathered outside, according to witnesses and advocates.
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An official with the Department of Homeland Security said 10 people were arrested in the enforcement action. Immigration advocates had previously estimated that as many as 25 were arrested.
Home Depot focus
A Home Depot in the Westlake District of Los Angeles was targeted last Friday.
Federal officials have provided few details about how they are choosing targets and how long the operation will last.
“I’m telling you what, we’re going to keep enforcing law every day in L.A.,” U.S. border policy advisor Tom Homan said Sunday. “Every day in L.A., we’re going to enforce immigration law. I don’t care if they like it or not.”
The Wall Street Journal reported the aggressive tactics were suggested by Stephen Miller, the White House official and leader of the administration’s push against illegal immigration.
Frustrated that officials were not making enough arrests, Miller reportedly told immigration officials in late May to not just focus on people with arrest records but to make random sweeps.
Hardware store chain Home Depot has become the site of several immigration raids across the L.A. area., with officials targeting day laborers in the latest crackdown.
“He directed them to target Home Depot, where day laborers typically gather for hire, or 7-Eleven convenience stores. Miller bet that he and a handful of agents could go out on the streets of Washington, D.C., and arrest 30 people right away,” the Journal reported, citing sources.
Local officials concerned
The sweeps have rattled local officials.
“We saw videos on social media of people being detained really aggressively by what looked to be both masked and armed ICE agents and others that were in full military gear,” said Orange County Supervisor Vincent Sarmiento.
The supervisor urged members of the public who might engage in protests to use their “energy positively and peacefully so we don’t change the narrative here and make the victims out to be the villains.”
According to Casey Conway of the Orange County Rapid Response Network, immigration enforcement agents were also seen detaining people at a doughnut shop, a warehouse, restaurants, and gyms.
The immigration advocacy group operates a hotline and received several calls around 8 a.m. about sweeps. The group sent representatives to several locations to confirm the federal activity, Conway said.
People were also being detained outside a Home Depot in Huntington Park.
The crackdown could come at a price for industries across Los Angeles and California that have become increasingly dependent on immigrants, whether they are here legally or not.
Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores said President Trump’s immigration enforcement “has nothing to do with public safety.”
“Federal agents have entered peaceful communities and have arbitrarily targeted Latino communities and left a trail of destruction,” Flores said in a statement. “We will stand together as a community, united, and denounce the federal government’s continued campaign of domestic terrorism.”
Targeted raids
Not all the raids have been random.
In late May, ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents executed search warrants at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta in San Diego. It sparked a clash with residents.
Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for HSI, a branch within ICE, said the warrants were related to alleged “violations of hiring and harboring illegal aliens and false statements.”
She said four people living in the country illegally were taken into custody. Citing an ongoing investigation, she provided no other details.
A search warrant filed by federal authorities and obtained by San Diego media outlets accused the restaurant of “knowingly employing both illegal immigrants and individuals not authorized to work in the United States.”
The warrant said officials got a tip five years ago that the eatery employed 19 undocumented workers using fake green cards and some worked 12-hour shifts with no breaks and were the subject of verbal abuse. A follow-up tip came earlier this year.
The investigation, authorities said, found multiple instances of workers using counterfeit documents, including Social Security numbers.
In a statement, Buona Forchetta said it was working with its attorneys to locate and support its employees and their families. It said it was also providing support to its staff who witnessed and experienced the incident firsthand. It did not immediately respond to the allegations in the warrant.
On Friday, officials targeted Ambiance Apparel in downtown L.A. Few details about the cause of the raid have been released, and no court documents have been filed.
“Ambiance complies with the law when it hires employees and it has always only hired people it believes have the legal right to work in the United States,” said Benjamin Gluck, a lawyer representing Ambiance. “We have reached out to the government to try to learn more about this raid but have not yet learned anything more about it. Ambiance will continue to both follow the law and support its employees, many of whom have been with us for decades.”
The Times reported the company had been the focus of early investigations.
Times staff writers Brittny Mejia and Anita Chabria contributed to this report.
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