‘It’s a risk to come to work’: Terror and a touch of desperation in L.A.

Traffic may still be clogging Los Angeles freeways during rush hour, but in many sections of the city, daily life as it once was has come to a jolting halt.

In the wake of widespread immigration raids across the region, fear and panic have settled across many communities in L.A., where one-third of residents are immigrants. For almost two weeks, social media has spilled over with videos capturing immigration agents at shopping centers and markets and on neighborhood streets, and federal agents making arrests at swap meets, car washes and other businesses.

“People are staying home from Mass and work, parks and stores are empty, the streets in many neighborhoods are silent,” Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said in an opinion piece for Angelus, a local Catholic news outlet. “Families are staying behind locked doors, out of fear.”

Businesses and workers are starting to feel the effects of these quieter streets — and it’s unclear how long the situation could last as the Trump administration vows to continue stepping up deportation efforts.

The Times on Wednesday visited several areas of Los Angeles that are typically bustling, only to find noticeably empty sidewalks and the owners and workers at food trucks, restaurants and clothing shops worried and struggling.

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At the 7th Street Produce Market in downtown L.A. on Wednesday morning, far fewer people than normal walked among the shops filling up plastic bags with vegetables and fruits. Several shops that are usually open were shuttered, and parking was plentiful.

In the nearby Garment District — where a dramatic raid almost two weeks ago preceded a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across Southern California, sparking volatile protests — the streets were empty except for a handful of customers peeking into stores. Workers said there had been almost no business since the immigration raids began.

Family members of detained workers speak to the media on June 9 outside of Ambiance Apparel, which was targeted by federal agents.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

“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, several shops closed because workers and customers seemed afraid to venture out. This week, many reopened, but workers lamented the lack of customers.

“It’s like everything was paralyzed,” Ibrahim said. “A lot of people don’t want to come for fear they’ll get nabbed.”

Nearby, a new quinceñera and bridal shop was also quiet. The store’s owner, Vilma, who declined to give her last name for fear of being targeted by federal agents, said it had been that way since the raids began.

“Everyone is scared,” she said.

“The way that ICE is going about these sweeps is terrifying people,” L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said Wednesday of what appeared to be an immigration operation at a Pasadena bus stop involving agents in unmarked vehicles. “We have already seen kids not going to school, people avoiding shopping, church, and even going to work. I wouldn’t be surprised if after people read about this incident that we see more people avoid taking Metro.

“This isn’t right,” she said. “The fear they are spreading is doing profound harm in our communities.”

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It’s not just undocumented workers and shoppers who say they are afraid to go to work or shop downtown.

Legal migrants with pending court proceedings are afraid of being detained by federal agents and having their immigration status ignored. People with valid student or work visas worry they could face deportation. Shop owners and workers said even legal residents and citizens had opted not to show up in recent days, worried that the Garment District, popular with migrants looking for deals, could be targeted again — or that they would be unfairly profiled based on their skin color.

On Santee Street downtown, Jessica Flores cut onions at her food truck while waiting for customers. Usually, she said, she’d be taking orders nonstop on what has been a busy street for the last decade she’s worked there.

Instead, she’s had to cut back her hours.

“I was left without people, and I still have to pay my bills and rent,” Flores said. “It’s sad.”

A worker at a nearby shop echoed those concerns. The woman, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by immigration officials, said her hours and pay had been cut amid the downturn, but rent still needed to be paid and groceries bought.

“It’s a risk to come to work, it’s a risk not to come,” she said.

By late Wednesday morning, she hadn’t gotten a single customer.

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A taco vendor who typically sets up his stand near MacArthur Park said he shut down his stand last week as a precaution when he saw people were being detained across the city — and he remains closed.

He asked that he not be identified because he’s concerned he’ll be targeted by immigration officials and has a 1-year-old son who needs him.

But he’s not the only one afraid, he said. Foot traffic where he usually sets up has been down for weeks, and on some days he’s had to toss away pounds of food because there just aren’t many folks around.

In Boyle Heights, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass visited Mariachi Plaza earlier this week and found the area shockingly deserted.

Arturo Aguilar said everything was still noticeably quiet.

“We’re really slow, nobody’s out in the street,” said the co-owner of Street Tacos and Grill near the plaza. Aguilar said a nearby restaurant had to close Wednesday because so many employees failed to show up.

“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.

But Aguilar said, for him, the dip in business was even worse than during the pandemic; at least then people were coming for takeout, ordering to go.

“They weren’t scared to come out,” he said of 2020.

But now?

“Everybody’s just scared to come out, period,” Aguilar said.