On Friday, federal agents in downtown Los Angeles arrested more than 40 people during immigration raids and search warrants at several sites.
According to Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe of the Homeland Security Investigations section of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, four search warrants were used in three different places in Los Angeles.
Nearly twenty people were being held in the parking lot of the Westlake District Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard, close to MacArthur Park. At the same time, federal agents were seen going into two downtown LA Ambience Apparel stores, one on Towne Avenue and the other on East 15th Street.
People in tactical gear and helmets were also seen going through the Fashion District while armoured trucks rode behind them.
According to U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the search warrants were served at the companies on Friday because “there’s probable cause that they are using fake documents to hire people.”
Pitts O’Keefe also said that 44 people were arrested “administratively,” and one person was taken for obstruction.
The FBI office in Los Angeles also revealed that its agents were asked to help Homeland Security Investigations with “immigration operations” by giving them technical and investigative help.
As ordered by the Attorney General, Laura Eimiller of the FBI said, “The FBI is supporting our partners at the Department of Homeland Security in their immigration operations all over the country.” She also said that FBI special agents are working with the Department of Homeland Security on operational teams.
“Our help may be different depending on what DHS needs,” Eimiller said. “For example, we can provide SWAT operators to help with high-risk arrest operations, as well as intelligence analysts and technical support staff who work from command posts.”
Los Angeles leaders and immigrant rights activists were upset and angry about the immigration raids. On Friday evening, a number of immigration groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, held protests.
A lot of people marched through downtown Los Angeles after one of the protests. On at least one occasion, protesters wrote bad things on the government building with spray paint.
