Community members and religious leaders gathered Wednesday to denounce an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at a Downey church, alleging federal agents targeted a Spanish-speaking man in the church parking lot.
Reverend Tanya Lopez, senior pastor at Downey Memorial Christian Church, described witnessing five men in plain clothes with police badges and bulletproof vests detaining an individual.
“He could have just been walking down the street and choosing to walk through our parking lot,” Lopez said. “A lot of people do that all the time.”
Lopez said she approached the agents, demanding they identify themselves and asking the detained man not to sign any documents. At one point, she claims an agent pointed a rifle at her when she attempted to get closer to the vehicle.
“They did point their rifle at me and said, ‘You need to get back,’” Lopez recounted.
Paulina, a local community member who witnessed the incident, said the agents were aggressive and had out-of-state license plates from New Mexico and Texas.
“The gentleman who they took was dark-skinned and only spoke Spanish,” she said. “They don’t care if you have papers, as long as you look like what they want you to look like, they’ll take you.”
Reverend Richie Sanchez, a regional minister from the Pacific Southwest Region Disciples of Christ, emphasized the community’s commitment to resistance.
“We will continue to rise and meet the challenges head on,” Sanchez said. “L.A. is a place where our population is a microcosm of the United States of America.”
Union del Barrio, a community organization, reported at least 20 similar operations throughout the Los Angeles area, calling the raids “inhumane” and targeting working-class individuals.
The group urged community members to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities to local organizations.
Churches have typically been considered safe places from immigration raids or other law enforcement operations, but that is less of a legal policy and more a common courtesy.
“Legally speaking ICE agents can go into the public spaces of churches, mosques, places of worship,” said Loyola University law professor Jessica Levinson. “The important distinction is whether or not you’re in a public place or a private place. In a public place, maybe it’s a parking lot, maybe it’s where you first enter a house of worship, then ICE agents can go and arrest people and they do not need warrants as long as they have probable cause.”
In private places, including areas where one might give a confessional, those agents would need warrants, Levinson added.
ICE agents have continued to conduct immigration enforcement operations in broad daylight since raids began late last week at several locations across the city.
Earlier Wednesday morning, two unmarked vehicles sandwiched a family’s car in Boyle Heights, trapping the vehicle and taking the driver into custody. U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials later said that man was a “violent rioter” who was wanted for assaulting an ICE agent.
Other raids have taken place at car washes, home improvement warehouses and clothing storefronts.
While last Friday’s immigration raids were all in downtown L.A., agents have expanded their area of operations to outlying neighborhoods, surrounding cities and neighboring counties.
Protesters and law enforcement have clashed over these unexpected raids, leading to overnight protests in a small portion of the city that resulted in some looting and vandalism.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a curfew for a one-square-mile triangular parcel of land in downtown that included Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Skid Row and the Fashion District. Officials have not said if that curfew will remain in place moving forward.
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