Trump immigration raids “Beverly Hills, Mexico” scroll, forcing some people to carry their passports

Downey has long been known as “Beverly Hills, Mexico” for its stately homes and bustling commercial district.

But this week's Trump immigrant attack in Southern California caused more than 110,000 people to attack southeast Los Angeles County, causing fear and anger.

Downey MP Mario Trujillo said the raids were “creating a culture of fear” that even with documents prompted people to stay home out of concern because federal agents may be simply because they are Latino.

Trujillo said Downey’s downtown area has been damaged in economically fragile areas and is now a ghost town. While he knew there was a job to do in immigration agents, Trujillo questioned the need to catch the workers trying to support their families and people just trying to work hard to enjoy their daily lives.

“This agency should make us feel safe because they are evacuating bad people,” he said. “That's what they should do.”

On Wednesday, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from Downey’s business, but community members were able to prevent them from bringing one without proper documents.

Downey has long been a landing place for moving upward Latino, accounting for 75% of the population. Median income was $97,000, higher than the California average. The Times reported in December that support for Donald Trump increased during the last election. Although Democrats still dominate, Trump scored 18.8 percentage points in November compared to the 2020 presidential election.

Paula Mejia, a Downey resident in her fifties, immigrated from Mexico to 45 years ago, said more and more people have gone to restaurants and other Downey businesses since the start of the ice attack.

“I'm scared, I have to carry my passport,” she said. “I've never done it, we're not good at speaking. Even my children, they were born here. Now, they're holding their passports.” Mejia, wearing a green coat with a “Mexican” badge sewn on it, said she was a U.S. citizen and was disappointed with the way Mexicans accepted it in the Trump administration.

“They are just looking at our colors, our nationality, they are just analyzing people,” she said. “Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians. They are just calling them Mexicans. They are denying us, wanting to use the term “Mexicans” and we have no support. We are working very hard in this country and let them treat us like criminals, we are not criminals, we are not criminals. We work hard.”

In the video of the encounter, an unidentified person can be seen sitting on the ground, surrounded by masked agents, who chase him. ABC7 reported that the man found immigration and customs enforcement at work and was riding on a bicycle, but one of the masked men grabbed the tire and caused him to fall.

Melyssa Rivas recorded community members, causing the Federal Agents to question why they were chasing men. It is not clear what prompted the agent to leave the scene.

“It looks like a full-scale kidnapping scene in the movie; it's horrible,” Rivas told the media.

Jose, 26, refused to provide his last name due to security concerns, the son of Downey's Galaxy Auto details owner, targeted by federal agents on Wednesday.

Two agents arrived shortly after 9 a.m. and tried to quickly surround an employee in an obvious attempt to stop him from running away. But workers saw what was going on and rushed to the nearby train tracks. He was later detained with another man. Jose told The Times that there was only one person who had no proof.

Jose said he tried to ask agents if there was a warrant but was told he would be arrested for still asking questions.

Only five workers remained, and the car wash was closed on Thursday, and Jose said he didn't know when it would reopen. Jose's mother was a Mexican immigrant and worked for 12 years with a car wash. She and her son said they believed federal agents were targeting Mexican-owned businesses.

Jose said: “I have my citizenship.

“We started to feel like we were the only targeted game because it was easy to choose because our skin color was easy,” Trujillo said. “That’s what it felt like to start – the genealogy.”

The Downey Memorial Church is a group of armed men wearing facial covers who were completely empty on Wednesday afternoon. All doors were locked and the lights were turned off.

Estevan Phillipy, 22, works at the World Learning Center in a kindergarten next to the church. Phillipy, a teacher, saw the whole incident when the man was detained Wednesday with the children, but his father had preschool age.

“Suddenly, a bunch of vans and cars drove into the parking lot and they just jumped on him,” he said. “Some people in the church tried to stop it or talk, but the guy was taken and taken away.”

Phillipy is half white and half Mexican, born in the United States, but he said his Mexican relatives have been afraid to go out since the raid began.

“My family is scared right now,” he said. “We're all on record, but we're just looking at part of it. I know a lot of race profiles are going on.”

Alex Cruz, 43, a Downey resident who has worked for Papa John Car Wash over the past year, said the raiders have been disturbing and many have stopped working. Cruz said seven or eight undocumented workers who worked on the car wash two weeks ago no longer showed up.

“Everyone was scared,” he said. “Everyone was afraid to leave home. Everyone was afraid to go to work.”

Cruz, the son of an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, came to the United States in the 1970s and said he was angry at the federal government's description that people who did not have any documents living in the United States were criminals.

“That's how they categorize every Hispanic or Latino,” he said. “The president should have more humanity. No one would have done that if it weren't for immigrants washing dishes.”

“It's not right,” he added. “Everyone should have the opportunity to work and raise a family. Many of these guys missed their salary or salary because of what's happening right now.”

Although they leave their home every day, some people are still working.

A man who only identified himself as Francesco, who had no documents and feared deportation, said he had been working Tacro I spent more than a year in the city suburbs. He said he had never been more worried than he is now in the shadow of this week's ice raid.

“We can't go out and work on the street right now,” the 23-year-old said in Spanish. “We've heard from some colleagues who work in other positions that they've even arrested a few of them. We went to work and were afraid that they might arrest us.”

To stay safe, Francisco said he restricted his exercise, turning to Uber delivery of essentials like groceries and medicine. But he continued to work.

“How do we pay for us if we don't go out to work?” he asked.

Staff worker Karla Marie Sanford contributed to this article.