Barely five months after surviving wildfires that destroyed the towns of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, Southern California was hit by another invasion–this time consisting of federal agents swarming into workplaces to round up people suspected of being undocumented, and disappearing them.
Tens of thousands of people have been gathering in downtown Los Angeles since June 5, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents showed up at a Southern California Home Depot and an outlet in the garment district, detaining immigrant workers. A few hours later, ICE agents also violently arrested and detained prominent union leader David Huerta, President of the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW).
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LA has become an epicenter of the resistance to President Donald Trump’s policy to criminalize and deport undocumented people. In this immigrant-rich city, cultures, nationalities, and races have mixed and mingled for generations.
I was on the streets of downtown LA on Monday June 9, and bring you this special report as part of our Rising Up in the Streets series.
You’ll hear the voices of April Verrett, SEIU’s first Black president, and Dolores Huerta, legendary labor leader, speaking from the stage at Grand Park at a rally for David Huerta. (Mr. Huerta was charged and freed from ICE custody later in the day.) I also spoke with Pastor Cue of Clergy and Laity United for Justice, former West Covina mayor Brian Calderón Tabatabai, of Working Families Party, Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations LA, and State Assembly member Isaac Bryan.
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