A toddler was among at least six people taken by immigration agents outside a Home Depot in Cypress Park on Tuesday morning, witnesses and responders said.<\/p>\n
Agents wearing U.S. Border Patrol vests descended on the parking lot and nearby streets in an operation that involved about a dozen unmarked vehicles with about two dozen agents in full tactical gear, according to Maegan Ortiz, executive director of IDEPSCA, which operates five day laborer centers.<\/p>\n
Ortiz said immigration agents wearing masks and carrying assault weapons entered their day laborer center, which she noted is private property and is under contract with the city of LA. She said day laborers were among those taken. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey threw my site coordinator onto the ground, handcuffed him, put their knees into his back and detained him,\u201d she said. The coordinator was eventually let go and took himself to the hospital due to swelling in his hands from the handcuffs, Ortiz added.<\/p>\n
One LA Tenants Union member,\u00a0who didn\u2019t want to share her name over fear for her safety, witnessed agents detain a day laborer on a sidewalk near the Home Depot\u2019s west entrance. She was recording as six agents surrounded the man, who lay face down wearing a yellow \u201cWest Coast\u201d hoodie.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me your name, tell me your number so I can tell people,\u201d\u00a0she can be heard yelling in a video shared with the Beat. Moments later, an agent pepper-sprayed him and he was handcuffed and taken by agents into a white Jeep SUV.<\/p>\n
Shortly after, the union member rushed to the south side of the lot under the 5 Freeway overpass, where agents were surrounding a black car. She recorded two agents in the front seats while a toddler sat strapped to a car seat in the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a baby in there,\u201d she can be heard screaming in the video.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another piece of footage shows a man, who the union member referred to as the child\u2019s father, being interrogated by agents.\u00a0The union member said he was forced into a white SUV in handcuffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IDEPSCA day laborer centers have been raided a total of 15 times, Ortiz said. All of those raids, she said, have been conducted by Border Patrol agents. \u201cClearly we are being targeted as an organization,\u201d Ortiz said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is Election Day, on a day that that everyone is being called to participate civically, that also means a call to the mayor\u2019s office about what she is doing in the city of Los Angeles to protect not just immigrants, but also the organizations that serve immigrants such as ours,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Alfredo, a vendor who sells work boots outside of the Home Depot, said he saw about 25 cars drive by this morning with about 50 immigration agents. He said they parked near the store, got out and began detaining people nearby, including a fruit vendor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis daughter, who I think is a U.S. citizen, ran and tried to defend him. She kept saying to let him go and they didn\u2019t,\u201d Alfredo said in Spanish.<\/p>\n
Alfredo, who did not want his last name published out of fear for his safety, said the agents were in civilian cars and wearing masks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey came to me and asked me if I had papers,\u201d he said, \u201cI showed them my residency card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Videos and photos posted by Uni\u00f3n del Barrio, a volunteer network of residents patrolling the streets for ICE activity<\/a>, appear to show armed federal agents inside the Cypress Park Home Depot<\/a> at 9:21 a.m. and in its parking lot around 9:55 a.m<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another photo posted by Uni\u00f3n del Barrio confirmed the presence of around 20 federal agent vehicles parked near Dodger Stadium <\/a>at 10:18 a.m.\u00a0According to The Los Angeles Times<\/a>, around 100 agents were seen in parking lot 13<\/a>, just outside stadium property next to the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center that is used by the Los Angeles Fire Department.<\/p>\n Lupe Carrasco Cardona, a member of Uni\u00f3n del Barrio, confirmed with the Beat that members of her group and the greater Community Self Defense Coalition<\/a> were on the ground at both locations to observe enforcement action and to warn community members nearby of their rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n In June, masked agents descended on the Cypress Park Home Depot<\/a>, chasing people around the parking lot and detaining at least 10 individuals. Immigration agents had raided the same location at least once before that month. <\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s operation in LA comes as voters head to the polls in a closely-watched special election<\/a>. Gov. Gavin Newsom in October warned voters that members of the military, ICE or Border Patrol may be seen in and around voting places across the country on Election Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Newsom launched the campaign for Prop. 50 at an event in Little Tokyo, federal immigration agents held an operation outside the venue<\/a> and detained a strawberry vendor nearby.<\/p>\n Boyle Heights Beat reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the Dodgers organization but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n This is a developing story. Refresh for updates. <\/p>\n \t