Advocates say more than 300 people detained in ICE raids

CHIRLA, an immigrant rights organization, reported to the L.A. City Council that more than 300 people have been detained by ICE, according to family members. Federal immigration officials have not confirmed the count. 

Over the weekend, agents conducted several raids across Los Angeles, sparking protests against immigration enforcement. In response to the L.A. demonstrations, the Trump administration deployed thousands of National Guard troops and activated 700 Marines in the L.A. area to assist. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other officials have called on the Trump administration to withdraw troops from Los Angeles. The state of California is suing the Trump administration for violating federal power limits. 

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said it’s hard to know for sure how many people have been detained. 

“Based on just the family members, over 300 (detained) for sure,” Salas said. “We don’t know how many folks actually were fully in detention. It could be much more than that and that’s the problem by not having access.” 

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. On social media, the department said 118 people had been detained as of Saturday, June 7. 

Locating detainees is another challenge, Salas said. 

“We still can’t get to our detainees so that they won’t be deported,”  Salas said. “Many of them could end up in Texas, Louisiana, and many other places, if they're still here. And we don't even know if they're still here.”

Mayor Karen Bass said in a press conference Tuesday that city officials are not being informed of ICE raids and rely on reports from the community.

“The cause of what is happening here, I take it back to the raids that took place on Friday and … the fact we have families who are terrified that they don’t know if they should go to work, they don’t know if they should go to school,” Bass said. “We have people who were detained, we don’t even know the exact number of the people who were detained.” 

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez said these enforcement actions are not normal. 

“Everything that Salas is describing is being witnessed by people on the front line – armored vehicles, abductions, visiting work sites,” Soto-Martínez said. “This is a discriminate attack on all immigrant communities.” 

Salas urged the City Council to “be courageous” and speak up for the community members that have been impacted.

“We need to stop the raids and the military takeover of our communities,” Salas said. “We need to uphold due process rights and constitutional rights and access to legal counseling. This is warrantless arrest. We need to stop the racial profiling.”