U.S. immigration authorities expanded their activities in the Los Angeles area on Saturday after protests in federal detention centers and responded to police responses including tear gas, lightning bombings and arresting union leaders.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and refueling masks stood at the rear guard outside an industrial park in Paramount, California, deployed tear gas, with bystanders and protesters gathering in the median and across the street, mocking some as authorities recorded their smartphone activities.
A woman announced through a megaphone, “Ice on Ice. “It’s not popular here.” ”
A hand-held sign says, “No one is illegal.”
Boulevard was closed due to traffic when the U.S. Border Patrol spread through the area. ICE representatives did not immediately respond to email inquiries about weekend law enforcement activities. ”
The arrests by the immigration authorities in Los Angeles were a result of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration’s efforts to fulfill their commitments to mass deportations nationwide.
ICE officials executed search warrants at multiple locations on Friday, including outside warehouses, and arrested more than 40 people as crowds tried to stop agents from moving.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the campaign aims to “sow horror” in the second largest city in the United States.
In a statement Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons mocked the bass in response to the city's reaction to the protests.
“Mayor Bass occupies a side of chaos and illegality in law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “There is no doubt that ICE will continue to enforce our country's immigration laws and arrest criminally illegal foreigners.”
Protesters gathered outside the federal detention center in Los Angeles on Friday night, and attorneys said the arrested were arrested, calling for “let them free and let them stay!”
Other protesters held signs that read “Ice in Los Angeles!” and led the singing and shouted out from the megaphone. Some people scratched the facades of buildings.
Federal agents executed search warrants at three locations in the Los Angeles fashion area after the judge discovered that the employer was using virtual files for certain workers, according to a representative from the Homeland Security Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Advocates’ immigration rights said people detained immigration authorities outside family warehouse stores and a donut shop on Friday.
