ICE raids upend Latino life in Orange County as climate of fear spreads
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A handful of shoppers strolled through the sparsely populated aisles of the Anaheim Indoor Marketplace on a recent afternoon, a desolate scene in the wake of ICE raids in Orange County and across Southern California.
Having served to illustrate Anaheim’s changing demographics in the past, O.C.’s largest indoor swap meet now tells a somber story.
Once home to more than 200 businesses under one roof that sold everything from jewelry to clothing, many stands have shuttered in the past week — and aren’t coming back, according to shopkeepers that remain.
“Hopefully, things will get better soon,” said one vendor who asked to stay anonymous out of fear, even though they are a U.S. citizen. “But right now, it seems like [ICE] is approaching anyone who is Latino.”
Shopkeepers declined on-the-record interviews, but told the same story of fretting over making rent for their stalls, as business is in a freefall. On Father’s Day weekend, the crowds disappeared. Scheduled music and cultural performances at the Anaheim Indoor Marketplace were canceled.
Armed, masked ICE agents executed a raid Saturday afternoon at a swap meet in the city of Santa Fe Springs hours before a concert was to begin, witnesses said.
Videos of masked federal agents arresting a man on June 12 at Pearson Park in Anaheim went viral on social media and amplified fears racial profiling. Prompted by the images, an Anaheim council member spoke to U.S. citizen who was stopped at the park by the agents who interrogated him about his immigration status.
Sensing a climate of fear, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken made a personal plea during the Anaheim City Council meeting on June 10.
“If you have a neighbor that is afraid to go to the grocery store to get food or necessities for their families, check in on them,” Aitken said. “If you have a mother in your community that maybe is afraid to take her kids to camp or drop them off at school, perhaps offer a ride.”
“We need to stick together in these uncertain times,” she added.
The raids are not only affecting businesses in Latino neighborhoods in O.C., but workers, too.
Five jornaleros, or day laborers, sat in the shade next to a Home Depot in Anaheim as they awaited work.
“Are you la migra,” one asked a TimesOC reporter wearing a press badge, referring to ICE.
The men expressed a fatalistic view as the pool of day laborers has dried up since the ICE raids arrived earlier this month, comparing them to death.
“If they take us, ni modo,” one day laborer said. “Oh well.”
He pointed up toward the sky before saying, “With God, we will fortify ourselves.”
Before the raids, dozens of day laborers congregated in different pockets of the vast parking lot, the men said. But that’s no longer the case.
“The targeting of the most vulnerable people, either waiting on street corners or outside stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s increases fears,” said Palmira Figueroa, a spokesperson for the National Day Laborers Organizing Network. “People are staying home, even though that is not sustainable.”
The five laborers, who had searched for work in Anaheim since 6:30 a.m. without much luck, accounted for about half of those present.
“I have a family, that’s why I’m here,” a Mexican immigrant told TimesOC. “I have to work because there’s no other option.”
The following morning, video surfaced of federal agents raiding the area. A witness saw day laborers running away before an unknown number of arrests were made.
“We do not have any specific knowledge,” said Mike Lyster, an Anaheim spokesperson, “but it appears to be consistent with other federal enforcement activity that we’ve seen in our city.”
In downtown Santa Ana, the raids have punched the city’s restaurant scene in the gut.
Luis Perez, a chef at Lola Gaspar and Chapter One, noted a 40% drop in sales at Lola Gaspar, a Mexico City-inspired gastrobar, even though it doesn’t typically serve a working class Latino clientele.
Amid a tumultuous week that saw ICE raids, protests and the deployment of the California National Guard in downtown, the back kitchen is where the impact hits hardest.
“My staff has been with me for over 10 years,” said Perez, a son of immigrants. “It’s seeing the fear in their eyes in not wanting to come to work and not wanting to leave their homes.”
Two of Perez’s Chapter One employees quit out of fear.
“These people are the backbone,” he said. “I thought I’d never see this happen.”
Viral posts on social media claimed ICE appeared at Disneyland, but it didn’t happen. Anaheim officials are more confident about federal agents arresting a man at Pearson Park over his immigration status, which was captured on video.
Back in Anaheim, the lunch rush at Taquería Los Güeros No. 2 was no rush at all.
With tacos stuffed with choice meats at $1.80 each, the taquería usually attracts a line of patrons that coils out the front door of what once was a Carl’s Jr. restaurant.
Taquería Los Güeros No. 2 provided affordable meals for working class Latinos during the worst of the pandemic and the high inflation that followed.
ICE raids are another matter.
Most patrons trickle in and take orders to go. No more than four to six people sat down for a meal at a time in the dining area. The absence of patrons provided a clear view of a telling image through the windows.
Rows of tables sat empty while a red “Take America Back” Trump flag flapped from the backyard of a home that abuts the taquería’s parking lot.
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