Editorial: Trump wants us to forget about the very lives being destroyed. Don't give in

Jose Paulino Gonzalez, an employee at Ambiance Apparel, was taken, along with two dozen other coworkers, on June 6 in Los Angeles’ Fashion District.

Joel Gutierrez, sole provider for his family, was taken on June 4 on his way to work in Phoenix.

Lazaro Suarez Garcia, a Cuban man seeking asylum, was taken on May 21, minutes after his immigration case was dismissed by a Phoenix Immigration Court judge.

Emerson Colindres, a soccer player from Honduras who recently graduated high school, was taken on June 4 in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Maria Isidro, a nanny and the wife of a preacher who arrived in the U.S. decades ago from Mexico to treat their oldest daughter's medical condition, was taken on June 3 in Tallahassee, Florida.

These are the names of just five immigrants who were detained within the last couple of weeks as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted raids in workplaces, on the road, outside courthouses and at federal facilities. They were taken by men who often wear no name tags, no badges, no identification of any sort, traveling in unmarked vans and offering no information to their loved ones or their lawyers on how to find them. 

Some of them have already been deported, without due process, without seeing a judge to make a final decision on their case. 

Their stories offer merely a glimpse into the reality that many Latino and immigrant families face as the Trump administration — as a direct result of the racially-charged deportation machine that White House adviser Stephen Miller has managed to bring to life — carries out a violent campaign that separates families, uproots communities and destroys lives.

However, the voices of their family members and loved ones, who plead for their release and return home, are being drowned out. This administration, by Machiavellian design, continues to unleash nonstop attacks on our communities in what a former White House advisor described to the Wall Street Journal as a “flood the zone strategy to overwhelm the opposition.”

The “riots,” as mainstream media would like you to reduce this moment to, are an expression of rage and also part of the right to peacefully assemble, which is protected by the First Amendment. They are a defense against the militarization of a city brought on by President Donald Trump in order to sow fear, wreak havoc and redirect public indignation away from those who are being victimized by this anti-immigrant and anti-Latino agenda.

Maria, Jose, Joel, Lazaro and Emerson represent the faces and the stories that we must not stop talking about, that we must elevate in every rally, march and demonstration, that we should share with our colleagues, friends and loved ones.

Because if it happened to them, it can and, unfortunately, will happen to countless others.

In an address to Californians, Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned both the ongoing raids that are “indiscriminately targeting hardworking immigrant families” and the unlawful militarization Los Angeles has been subjected to since last Friday.

“What we’re witnessing is not law enforcement — it’s authoritarianism,” Newsom said Tuesday night. “What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty. Your silence. To be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.”

As of June 1, the Department of Homeland Security reported having over 51,000 people under ICE detention, the highest recorded since September 2019 during Trump’s first term in office. With a recently requested quota of up to 3,000 detentions per day by the White House — up from a daily average of 600 — those numbers are expected to increase exponentially.

According to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a project of Syracuse University, over 40% of those in detention have no criminal record. That’s over 22,000 everyday individuals — your truck drivers and warehouse personnel who guarantee you receive your same-day delivery on time; your in-home caregivers who look after your children and elderly; your farmworkers who work tirelessly to ensure there’s food on your table; your laborers who build homes that they may never afford to live in.

From the Naturalization Act of 1790, which excluded non-white people from eligibility to naturalize, to the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, which established the data entry system in place at ports of entry and shared across agencies, to the subsequent creation of ICE in 2003, leadership of this country has attempted to ingrain the belief that immigrants are to blame for the inequity and insecurity plaguing it. 

What a lie to impose on everyday Americans who, because of extremist and nationalist rhetoric rooted in hate, would rather fear and demonize their neighbor than hear their story.

Immigrants are the backbone of this country. They build, support, contribute and prosper, inspiring generations that follow to do the same, despite the challenges and limitations imposed by a broken immigration system. 

It is because of them, at their heartbreaking and life-altering expense, that an entire movement is being activated.

As we push for justice and for power to return to the people, we mustn’t forget who motivates that fight.

The CALÓ News Editorial Board publishes separately from the newsroom.