As many as 44 people were detained on Friday throughout Los Angeles during chaotic, protest-inducing raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and a local congressman claims the raids being conducted by federal officials are being conducted “outside the bounds of the law.”
Speaking to KTLA 5’s Carlos Herrera shortly after a press conference on Saturday, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) said that he and his federal counterparts are being barred from entering the downtown Los Angeles facility in which people who were detained are believed to be held. Rep. Gomez was among several lawmakers condemning the raids and calling for transparency at the Saturday morning conference.
“We received reports that individuals were being detained here…this place has a capacity of a hundred folks and we heard it’s way above,” Rep. Gomez, whose 34th District includes several prominent ethnic enclaves in Los Angeles, told KTLA. “We have, as members of Congress, a right to conduct oversight…to make sure [detainees] have a place to sleep, that they have access to their medicines, food and water and access to a restroom…they also have a right to counsel.”
“But we were given this excuse that we weren’t allowed in because of our safety,” Gomez continued. “And it’s like ‘What safety issue?’ [because] there’s no safety issue.”
Gomez also said that another reason he and other officials weren’t let in was due to protests, but he countered that the “protests” blocking them from entering were actually members of Congress and the detainees’ legal teams; he further elaborated that the current law states that no prior notification or written permission is required for congressmembers to enter facilities like these.
“We can just show up, present ourselves and our IDs, and then be allowed in,” he said. “That’s been done time and time again. They usually drag their feet, so that’s why we showed up first thing in the morning, because we know this might take all day.”
The congressman said he observed vans being loaded up and people being “shipp[ed] out,” which may be an attempt to get all the detainees out before officials can get in. One of the people believed to be inside the facility is labor union leader David Huerta; the SEIU California president was arrested for obstruction, according to U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
Huerta is not only a constituent of Gomez but a personal friend, as they previously worked together in the labor movement. The congressman stated that he was not able to see Huerta or any of the other detainees on Saturday.
More individuals could be detained in the coming days; KTLA already received reports of ICE raids in Paramount and Downey on Saturday morning, and Rep. Gomez says that everyone – his constituent or not – has the right to be scared.
“This administration is operating outside the bounds of the law,” he said. “They are using tactics like showing up with masks, not presenting themselves, showing up in unmarked cars, and that’s all not only to enforce immigration laws, but to intimidate.”
“On top of that, they are starting to go to sensitive sites, arresting people who are presenting themselves at court, going through the asylum process or checking in, [which has] never been done before…or at hospitals and schools and graduations,” he continued. “And when that happens, people stop showing up…[ICE officials] present this fear because they want that fear to permeate so people self-deport. That’s absolutely shameful.”
Overall, Rep. Gomez says the tactics being used by the Trump administration are focused on “intimidation based on how you look.”
“I haven’t seen a Canadian living here illegally or is undocumented be thrown to the ground,” he said. “It’s always a Latino or a brown person that gets detained.”
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