A group of armed men in face coverings detained a Latino man outside a church in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey and took him away on Wednesday, in what pastors believed was a federal immigration raid.
The Rev. Tanya Lopez, senior pastor of Downey Memorial Christian Church, said she was in her office on Wednesday when three SUVs with tinted windows pulled up to her church. Then, Ms. Lopez said, five men, some wearing badges and tan bulletproof vests that said “POLICE,” rushed out of the vehicles and detained a man in the parking lot.
The men, Ms. Lopez said, refused to identify which agency they worked for, and they did not share their names or badge numbers when asked. Their vehicles had out-of-state license plates. They also did not provide a warrant, she said.
They took the man into a black SUV. And, Ms. Lopez said that as she shouted instructions in Spanish to the man inside the vehicle, an agent drew a rifle at her.
“It came across as essentially a final warning, to step back,” Ms. Lopez said, adding that the men then laughed at her and “started cracking up.”
She said she did not know the man and believed him to be someone just passing by the church at the time.
Eventually, they drove away with the man they had detained, leaving Downey, a predominately Latino city about 12 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, fearful amid reports of federal immigration raids across California.
“I’m incredibly shaken,” Ms. Lopez said, her voice breaking as she fought back tears. “It’s when I’m quiet and when I have a moment to catch my breath that it really hits me.”
Workplaces have increasingly become the targets of federal immigration raids as the Trump administration has pushed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrests of undocumented immigrants. In some instances, immigration officials may target a workplace looking for someone with a criminal history, but some raids have resulted in a number of collateral arrests, sparking resistance and protests across Southern California and beyond.
The Rev. Al Lopez, an administrative pastor at the church, said that he tried to question the men in the parking lot, and told one of them that church leaders did not want them on church property.
“This will stand in my mind,” Mr. Lopez said. “This gentleman just shouted, ‘The whole country is our property.’”
Mario Trujillo, a Downey City Council member, said at a news conference on Wednesday in Los Angeles that ICE agents had raided several businesses in his city earlier in the day. At least four people were detained at a fitness center and two at a Home Depot, he said.
“These raids at Home Depots, restaurants, places of worship or schools are not keeping our community safe,” Mr. Trujillo said. “They are creating havoc and fear.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trujillo said he believed the raids were being conducted at random, and without focusing on people with criminal records or warrants.
“They have classified someone being in the United States illegally as a criminal and that’s why that’s their narrative,” he said. “But to us, these are hardworking undocumented workers that are part of our economy, that are part of our city. These are our neighbors.”
Shawn Hubler contributed reporting.
Jesus Jiménez is a Times reporter covering Southern California.
Emily Baumgaertner Nunn is a national health reporter for The Times, focusing on public health issues that primarily affect vulnerable communities.
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