{"id":290108,"date":"2026-04-28T18:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/290108\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T18:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:56:10","slug":"day-laborer-centers-were-hit-hard-by-ice-raids-advocates-say-1m-of-the-citys-budget-is-not-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/290108\/","title":{"rendered":"Day laborer centers were hit hard by ICE raids. Advocates say $1M of the city\u2019s budget is not enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

This\u00a0story<\/a>\u00a0first appeared on\u00a0The LA Local<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Across Los Angeles, masked and armed federal immigration agents have raided day laborer centers, detaining workers and, at times, pointing their guns<\/a> toward staff, according to advocates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In one raid last fall<\/a>, federal agents entered the day laborer center in Cypress Park \u2014 which is private property \u2014 and threw a site coordinator to the ground, said Maegan Ortiz, executive director of the nonprofit Instituto de Educaci\u00f3n Popular del Sur de California, known as IDEPSCA, which operates five of the seven day laborer centers in the city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ortiz said, day laborers have \u201cdisappeared\u201d after the raids, leaving it up to the centers to locate the detention facilities where they\u2019re being held.<\/p>\n

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Now, advocates say the $1 million allocated for the city\u2019s seven day laborer centers is not enough to address the realities that day laborer centers are facing under the current federal administration. The proposal is part of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass\u2019 $14.9 billion budget released last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to IDEPSCA, 136 people have been captured by agents during the 23 immigration raids at the day laborer centers, which are located in Cypress Park, Westlake, the Fashion District, Harbor City, Hollywood, North Hollywood and Van Nuys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Advocates instead are asking for a total of $3 million for the seven day laborer centers, arguing that $1 million does not cover the \u201cgrowing needs of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing i<\/a>ncreases to the police department budget <\/a>\u2026 Meanwhile, the day laborer centers combined have had more than 100 people kidnapped,\u201d Ortiz told Boyle Heights Beat.<\/p>\n

For many families, the centers have also become a lifeline after having their loved ones taken by immigration agents. The centers have provided more than $400,000 in assistance for rent, food and legal fees, according to IDEPSCA.<\/p>\n

Ortiz also said that day laborers have been crucial in recovery efforts from the January 2025 LA wildfires.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the workers cleaning those homes, repairing those homes, rebuilding [are] our day laborers and household workers who use our centers,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cOur centers have become climate disaster hubs that help workers who are left out of the safety net system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is more than just about an immigration issue. This is an economic issue. This is a climate issue. This is a health and safety issue,\u201d Ortiz added. \u201cThe role that day labor centers play in the economy of Los Angeles cannot be understated and should not be understated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortiz said additional funding is needed for basic security upgrades, including cameras and reinforced doors. The goal, Ortiz said, is to \u201cmake it harder for Border Patrol to go in and violate the Constitution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Across Los Angeles, masked and armed federal immigration agents have raided day laborer centers, detaining workers and, at times, pointing their guns toward staff, according to advocates.<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Luis Cano<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Boyle Heights Beat<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

At a budget and finance committee hearing<\/a> on Friday, Ortiz and other advocates urged the city to increase the funding. Members of IDEPSCA and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), which operates the day laborer center in Westlake, also testified.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A series of budget hearings is scheduled through mid-May. The budget needs to be approved by the City Council and signed by the mayor by July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttacks have intensified and the needs have grown significantly,\u201d Jorge Nicolas with CARECEN told the budget and finance committee. \u201cDay laborers are at the center \u2026 facing direct impacts of these attacks. Our response cannot remain the same while the crisis grows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintaining decorum budget is not enough,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Joshua Erazo, an organizer at the CARECEN Day Labor Center, said he has witnessed four different raids at the Westlake center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been witness to the fear instilled in our community. Despite these attempts, the immigrant community continues to rise above,\u201d Erazo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of these attacks, all the day laborer centers remain open so the community could have a space for healing,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are grateful to be in the proposed budget \u2026 The amount is just not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boyle Heights Beat has reached out to the mayor\u2019s office for comment. This story will be updated if one is received.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This\u00a0story\u00a0first appeared on\u00a0The LA Local. Across Los Angeles, masked and armed federal immigration agents have raided day laborer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[683,2076,8010,1409,217,48,52,51,80628,39057,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-290108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-angeles","tag-budget","tag-center","tag-city","tag-day","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-laborer","tag-los","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}