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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out several raids in Long Beach on Thursday, Nov. 20, prompting responses from local elected officials, watchdog groups, and community members. (Photo courtesy of \u00d3rale).\n<\/p>\n
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out several raids in Long Beach on Thursday, Nov. 20, prompting responses from local elected officials, watchdog groups, and community members. (Photo courtesy of \u00d3rale).\n<\/p>\n
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out several raids in Long Beach on Thursday, Nov. 20, prompting responses from local elected officials, watchdog groups, and community members. (Photo courtesy of \u00d3rale).\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAn individual, a gardener \u2014 who has been a contractor here for many years \u2014 was chased down and brutalized here in this restaurant in front of guests,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cIt\u2019s a sad day in America when you can\u2019t simply go to work and a resident can\u2019t go to breakfast in their community. This was a traumatic incident and it was dehumanizing and it\u2019s absolutely unacceptable in this community.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bixby Knolls Community Foundation and Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association also issued a joint statement<\/a> about the incident on Thursday, which said that some Long Beach Police Department officers happened to be dining inside Polly\u2019s Pies when ICE attacked the gardener.<\/p>\n \u201cEmployees and LBPD tried to diffuse the situation,\u201d the statement said. \u201cMoments like these are deeply painful for our community, and even more devastating for the people directly affected.\u201d<\/p>\n Aside from Polly\u2019s Pies, ICE also conducted raids at multiple other confirmed locations across Long Beach, according to \u00d3rale<\/a>, including the Farmers & Merchants Bank on Bellflower Boulevard; the intersections of PCH and Gaviota Avenue and PCH and Walnut Avenue; Cherry Donuts on Cherry Avenue; and The Light of the World Church on Junipero Avenue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can confirm that ICE has been present throughout Long Beach today and can confirm that abductions happened at these locations,\u201d \u00d3rale wrote in a Thursday social media post.<\/p>\n ICE was also seen talking to parents outside Lafayette Elementary School on Thursday, according to Hahn\u2019s office. Hahn represents the Fourth District, which includes Long Beach, San Pedro, Torrance, and many other parts of the South Bay.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen incidents of ICE all over the community today and this is unacceptable,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cWe need ICE out of Long Beach, ICE does not belong here, and these acts of dehumanizing chaos and brutality on our community needs to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Hahn, meanwhile, said in a Thursday statement that she plans to unveil an ordinance on Friday, Nov. 21, which would prohibit all law enforcement, including ICE, from concealing their identities in response to ongoing concerns about how ICE agents have conducted themselves.<\/p>\n ICE began ramping up its operations in Los Angeles County in early June, arresting people at Home Depots, car washes and other places around the region, from\u00a0Paramount\u00a0to\u00a0Pasadena. The increased activity \u2014 which has also spread to other major population centers nationwide, such as Chicago \u2014 has happened at the behest of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the operations, saying they are necessary to make the nation safe, characterizing the people ICE arrests as dangerous criminals.<\/p>\n But immigration advocates and officials across Los Angeles County have decried such characterizations, saying ICE is detaining hard-working members of the community \u2014 and, in some cases, U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n ICE\u2019s increased presence in the region also resulted in weeks of protests, while community groups have sought to patrol neighborhoods to warn people when federal agents are present. And elected officials have taken steps to protect immigrant communities.<\/p>\n The Board of Supervisors, in October, voted to declare a state of emergency for LA County as a result of ICE<\/a> arresting breadwinners during raids, leaving families unable to pay rent, buy food and clothing for their children, and causing many to stay home and not report to work because of fear.<\/p>\n \u201cICE is continuing to terrorize our communities and they hit Long Beach hard today,\u201d Hahn said Thursday. \u201cThey are not communicating with local law enforcement, and we know they are not targeting violent criminals. They are targeting people based on the color of their skin, or their accent, or the place that they work. They are violating our residents\u2019 rights every day they remain on our streets. They are creating chaos and spreading fear in our immigrant community, and they need to leave. This is how an authoritarian\u2019s secret police operate \u2014 not legitimate law enforcement in a democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Hahn noted her appreciation and support for the community members who have served as crucial rapid responders and watchdogs during ICE\u2019s ongoing assault on local communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI continue to be impressed by the peaceful community members who have organized themselves,\u201d Hahn said, \u201cand are doing everything they can to report on ICE\u2019s presence in our neighborhoods and share the stories of the many people who have been ripped away from their families.\u201d<\/p>\n Across the Vincent Thomas Bridge, local watchdogs and elected officials reported that ICE activity had increased in San Pedro and the Harbor not only on Thursday \u2014 but since the start of the week.<\/p>\n \u201cThis week, beginning Monday (Nov. 17), we saw a significant uptick in the number of raids, arrests and interactions by ICE agents with residents in our community,\u201d McOsker said in a video posted online Wednesday, Nov. 19<\/a>. \u201cAnd that is alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n Harbor Area Peace Patrol, a watchdog group that catalogs and responds to ICE raids in the area, said in a statement that ICE had detained people at Neptune Avenue and PCH; Anaheim Street and McDonald Avenue in Wilmington; at Cal Marine Fish Company on Terminal Island; and at Vermont and Rosecrans Avenues on Thursday alone.<\/p>\n San Pedro and the surrounding areas have been targeted by ICE for months. In early October, for example, ICE detained three people on walks at a local park<\/a>, where they also threatened to arrest staff members from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation for trying to intervene.<\/p>\n