'ICE out of South Central’: Community members demand a stop to immigration raids intensifying in the area

Today, the community of South Central Los Angeles was heavily hit by multiple ICE raids that began in the early hours of the morning, igniting dozens of community members to self-mobilize and enact community patrolling tactics, where civilian residents have documented and reported any ICE activities.

Some of the sightings took place in the heart of Historic South Central, a neighborhood home to some of the most socially, culturally and historically important locations in the country.

As early as 10 a.m., multiple social media posts signaled sightings of ICE agents, many of whom had arrived in unmarked vehicles to the corner of Central Avenue and Vernon Street, an intersection known for its frequent presence of street vendors. Two vendors told CALÒ News staff that although they did not flee the scene since they are documented, they did not sell anything at all after this incident. 

In a video captured by a community member at the scene, you can see two alleged ICE agents with their faces covered up in masks walking through the busy intersection. Despite not making any arrests at the site, the community reported the unmarked cars driving through the area. The incident happened in front of the City of Los Angeles' 9th Council District (CD-9) office. 

“ICE agents showed up right outside my district office this morning. Let me be clear: the threat is real,” CD-9 Councilmember Curren Price wrote in an Instagram post. “It is at our doorstep. It was disturbing. It was outrageous, and we responded immediately. We will not be intimidated. We will protect our people.”

About an hour later, around 11 a.m., community members rapidly responded to an incident that happened on 49th Street and McKinley Avenue, where agents who were in civilian clothes took a 17-year-old girl and a seven-year-old girl out of her home. 

The video, also captured by community members at the scene, shows the young girl crying as she is being placed in a child seat inside a truck. Community members first thought they were ICE agents because of the civilian clothes the agents were wearing, but it was later confirmed that they were undercover agents from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. 

“They pulled the little girl off her sister's arms. It was heartbreaking,” one of the neighbors said in a video sent to CALÒ News. In just minutes, community members gathered to denounce and document what they called a “kidnapping” because, at the time, it was still unclear where the young girl was taken. The street was rapidly blocked and closed by the Los Angeles Police Department, who asked community members who had gathered to disperse and go home. 

Less than half a mile away, another ICE sighting was reported just outside South Park, also known as Barry White Park, which CALÒ News recently reported on. No known arrests are said to have happened around the area, but a heavy presence of unmarked cars and agents in civilian clothes and covered faces was reported around the park and throughout South Central. 

After this incident, Union Del Barrio, a community patrolling social justice organization in South Central, took to social media to ask for community support. “We call on the people of Compton and South Central to patrol the streets right now,” the group wrote. “Many ICE vehicles in the 'hood today. Let's protect each other!”

On Sunday, a day before the heavy ICE presence in South Central, dozens of community members gathered at the intersection of Normandie Street and Florence Avenue to denounce the recent ICE raids throughout the city. 

The peaceful protest was organized by local South Central organizations, including the Youth Justice Coalition, South Central Unidos, CAT-911, a Southern California-wide network of Community Action Teams (CAT), the California Faculty Association and the Coalition for Community Control, who demanded “ICE out of South Central.”

Regarding the seven-year-old girl taken in South Central, LASD told CALÒ News the incident solely related to an ongoing murder investigations and unrelated to any federal immigration operation.

“Division investigators served a search warrant and arrest warrant in the 900 block of 49th Street in L.A. The warrant was related to an ongoing criminal investigation involving 21-year-old Lila Avila. Avila was immediately taken into custody and her child was taken into protective custody by L.A. County Department of Child and Family Services,” they said. “During the warrant operation, several residents mistakenly believed that the detectives were involved in a federal immigration enforcement activities. L.A. County Sheriff's Department is aware of the presence of operations of federal law enforcement agencies within our community. The department does not enforce civil immigration laws, nor do we ask about individuals’ immigration status.”

Despite this, the community of South Central, home to Central Avenue, site of West Coast jazz scene in the 30s and 40s, the former Black Panther Party headquarters in L.A and one of the epicenters of the Watts rebellion in 1965, has expressed their distrust in police and has also denounced the involvement of LAPD and LASD in working with or not defending the community against ICE raids. “We don’t want to trust you,” community members told LASD sheriffs in another video sent to CALÒ News.