LOS ANGELES - Just before dawn, 10 people met at a parking lot shared by a laundromat and coffee shop in South Central Los Angeles ...
on what has become a daily mission: Look for immigration officers and warn people of their presence to try to prevent arrests. Bullhorns and sirens are ready for use.
“There’s raza that’s been detained,” Ron Gochez, founder of Union del Barrio’s Los Angeles chapter, said before they split up in five cars. “It seems like there’s more activity now. Let’s keep a close eye out.”
Working with other similar-size groups and using walkie-talkies, the Community Self-Defense Coalition, made up of more than 60 organisations, found nothing Thursday but appeared to have disrupted US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations earlier in the week. In Los Angeles and across the country, these tactics have been a thorn in ICE’s side as it tries to carry out President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations.
“Positive spotting right now of ICE agents at the Target in Alhambra,” Lupe Carrasco Cardona said in a live Instagram report Sunday from the Los Angeles suburb over a blaring siren to draw attention. She said at least six government vehicles were identified in the ICE operation.