How Los Angeles Responds to ICE Raids and Immigrant Community Threats

Symposium Context and Purpose

• 💡 The event aimed to address complex issues and create a narrative that makes history whole, not just rewrite it.
• 🧠 Arts and culture, including storytelling and visual arts, are considered core to democracy and animate social movements.
• ⚠️ Jim Herr described Little Tokyo as "ground zero" for an administration's cruelty, with armed agents targeting people, an insult to Japanese American history.

Panelists' Personal Motivations

• 🎯 Angelica Salas (CHIRLA) expressed gratitude for supporters but also anger at the government and politicians for failing to provide a path to citizenship.
• 🔑 Miguel Santana (California Community Foundation) was shaped by his parents' undocumented status and learning about WWII internment, leading him to commit his career to fighting injustice.
• ⚡ Memo Torres (L.A. Taco) felt compelled to cover ICE raids after the June 6th events, realizing the need to shift focus from food to the attacks on the community.

The June 2025 ICE Raids in Los Angeles

• 🚨 The June 6th, 2025 raids were unprecedented, involving seven raids in one day with militarized agents, masks, and guns, which Angelica Salas had never witnessed in 30 years.
• 🚫 Despite efforts against police-ICE collaboration, LAPD was present at raid sites, and tear gas was used at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
• 📉 Memo Torres reported that many street vendors stopped working due to fear, highlighting the widespread sentiment of "living and working in fear."

Critiques of Institutional Responses

• 🗣️ Angelica Salas criticized LAPD Chief McDonald for not being bolder against ICE collaboration and Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats for voting to fund ICE.
• 📊 Miguel Santana noted a significant disparity in fundraising: $7 million for immigrant families versus $100 million for fire relief, indicating fear among donors and a lack of support from the Hollywood industry.
• 🏛️ Memo Torres expressed disappointment with Mayor Bass for downplaying the raids and Gavin Newsom for insufficient action, also criticizing local police departments for assisting Border Patrol instead of protecting residents.

Calls to Action for Angelenos

• ✅ Angelica Salas urged Angelenos to join rapid response networks, donate to immigrant rights organizations, and contact representatives to demand a path to citizenship and oppose ICE funding.
• 🛡️ Miguel Santana emphasized that the attacks on immigrants are a scapegoat to erode core American values, urging everyone to fight for these values as their own.
• 📣 Memo Torres stressed that the issue is not just immigration but a broader attempt to create a "police state" and take away everyone's rights, calling for awareness, donations, and active engagement with representatives.