Claudia Aragon headed home after dropping off her puppy to the school of obedience when the first text appeared early on Friday, June 6th.

“Ice has appeared at Home Depot in Cypress Park and we want to make sure we can help people,” the immigration service provider texted her. “This is a terrible Claudia.”

Aragon, who oversaw Mayor Karen Bass’ Immigration Office since March 2023, was ill and had planned to stay home that day.

However, she lives just a few miles from the Cypress Park property and decides to drive.

She arrives outside Home Depot in the aftermath of the attack. The environment she described as “serene after a storm” in the wake of a natural disaster.

“Everyone is trying to find their bearings and is looking around like, ‘What happened?’ Some of the food vendors there were like putting things back together,” Aragon said.

I’ve settled a bit in Aragon for the next few days and weeks.

Within an hour of getting home on Friday morning, Aragon’s phone rang out again, and federal authorities said. In a vast warehouse of first fashion In the clothing area.

Rather than a quarantined incident, the attack on Home Depot at Cypress Park and the arrest of Atmosphere was the first explosion of a much wider upheaval as the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement team fell into Los Angeles and military deployment quickly continued.

Through it, Aragon’s phones became bustling as they connected with many activists and immigration service providers.

The next few hours were surreal and overwhelming frenzy as Aragon, immigration advocacy groups and cities all tried to summarise what was happening in communication from the federal government.

Working at Bass’ council office before joining the mayor’s office, Aragon has worked with many community counterparts for years.

These relationships were combat-tested early in the Aragon city’s tenure as Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas. I started sending immigrant buses In 2023, I went to Los Angeles. Aragon was responsible for coordinating responses as it helped city, faith and nonprofit partners occupy new arrival positions.

A day or two after Donald Trump was elected for a second term at the White House, Aragon sat down with the mayor’s senior staff to develop a strategy on how the city could prepare for a potential immigrant raid, as Trump had not kept his intentions a secret during the campaign.

The city’s immigration office is currently a lean team of two people, with Aragon and a language access coordinator. That’s what the department was like First created With Mayor James Hearn After that, it was revived By Eric Garcetti at the time.

Aragon himself was a “very proud immigrant” and came to the United States from El Salvador at the age of seven.

“It’s an incredible and honor to be here with Mayor Bass, and to have the opportunity to raise the immigrant community through policy and provide funding to support providers who advocate for their community (for my community, families like me),” Aragon said.

It also can be painful for this particular moment in history where many seem to live in fear, as the promises of the immigrant American Dream that made her life possible are in existence at existential risk.

“People can’t even go down the street without being detained… I can’t even look at them and say they’re fine,” Aragon said.

The state of play

– Chaos continues: Federal immigrant raids continued throughout LA County this week, reaching Hollywood, Pico Rivera and elsewhere. At LA Councillor San Fernando Monica Rodriguez Deputy Mayor of San Fernando Mary Solorio I went to Instagram On Thursday, they spread the word that residents were being swept from the area around Home Depot in San Fernando and Costco in Pacoima in hoping that families would warn them.

“We only have the first names of some individuals,” Solorio said. “These individuals are Omar, Elmer, Antonio, Saul and Ramilo,” Rodriguez read the contact information for the immigration defense group, saying, “We need to protect each other in these very scary times.”

Hollywood, LA councillor HugoSoto-Martínez He yelled his anger at the attack in his district at Home Depot on Sunset Boulevard.

“The sleazy thing doesn’t start explaining what this is,” he told The Times. “You hear what’s happening in military dictatorships and totalitarian governments. What happens here in the second largest city in America is that I have no words and I just have rage.”

– “Deep harm”: Several people were also detained at a bus stop near Winchell’s Donut House in Pasadena, sparking an angry response from county supervisors. Janice Hahn And the US representative. Judy Chew. Hahn, who chairs the Metro Transportation Committee, was worried that residents were so scared they were going to work that they attended churches and would now jump on public transport. “The fear they are spreading is causing deep harm in our community,” she said. Metro officials highlighted these concerns by saying that bus and rail riding have fallen by 10% to 15% since immigration enforcement activities began.

– Behind the mask: County Supervisor Kathryn Burger This week, some of the masked men pulling Angelenos were voiced that they might not be immigrant agents, but “bad players” impersonating federal law enforcement agencies. “I’m going to talk about this because I don’t know if they’re ice agents,” she told the board meeting Tuesday. Hearn wasn’t convinced. teeth ice. “

– Dogermania: Yet another part of the city caught up in the fuss was Dodger Stadium. Raul Clarosa community organizer running for the Eastside seat of the city council, A press conference was held On Wednesday, the team demands that they do more to help families who have been devastated by the attack. “The biggest economic engine in this sector is silent!” he told ABC7 and other news outlets. “I’ll wake up! I’ll do more!”

Later the Dodgers signal The organization was happy to help. Before the team could make an announcement, federal law enforcement agents were spotted outside the stadium, creating new protests. “People are here because they don’t want their families torn apart,” councillor said. eunisses hernandez I said in Interview with NBC. Team, a Statement on xsaid he refused to join those agents. (The Dodgers called them ice, federal officials said they were from US customs and border security.)

– Downtown calms down: This week, conflicts between law enforcement and anti-ice protesters tapered, prompting the mayor Karen Base For downtown, Chinatown and the Arts District, to be reduced and removed. However, these showdowns caused shocking legal and financial wages.

– Rising price tag: Example: City Manager Matt Sabo It has been reported On Friday, the costs of the city’s protest jumped to more than $32 million, including a $29.5 million cost to LAPD. The city council voted 12-3 on Wednesday and lended LAPDs from the city’s reserve fund to allow relevant police to work overtime. Councillor Isabel JuradHe, representing Downtown, voted for two of her colleagues, Hernandez and Soto Martinez.

– New gigs: Former mayor Eric Garcetti (He was the US ambassador to India until recently.) It has been named The world climate diplomacy ambassador representing the C40 Climate Leadership Group.

– Heading to the court: Free speech advocates have begun filing lawsuits to stop what is called “continuous abuse” of journalists covering protests in LA federal lawsuits targeting cities.

– Through the roof: The overall cost of legal payments reached a new peak at City Hall this year. This was driven largely by lawsuits over policing and “dangerous situations.”

– Tourist confusion: The fight between tourism workers, airlines and hotel groups intensified this week, with hotel employee unions launching a pair of new voting measures. Uniting here, Local 11 recently proposed an ordinance requiring voters approval for a minimum wage increase of $30 for members and adding more than 80 rooms. Union co-president Cart Petersen The measure was portrayed as a response to the LA Alliance’s continued efforts for the LA Alliance, a business group to eliminate the $30 wage.

– That’s not all: Unity here also announced a vote proposal to raise the minimum wage for employees in the non-tourism industry. Under city law, hotel employees currently receive a minimum wage of $20.32 per hour, compared to the $17.28 for most non-tourism workers. The union’s new proposal took all LA workers to a level, jumping first to $22.50, and ultimately reached $30 in 2028.

– Riding everything: Metropolitan Transportation Agency officials are planning to lease 2,700 buses to bring people in the city for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. The agency needs $2 billion to make it happen and wants to secure federal funding.

– Summer Call: Chief secondary controller Rick Cole He resigned from his job at City Controller on July 11th. Kenneth Meziah. In him Announcements on LinkedInCole called Meziah a “inspired young leader” who “fired a new path for transparency and accountability.” He also acknowledged the demands he has faced since winning a seat on Pasadena City Council. “Kenneth was extremely flexible and supportive, but I recognize that I cannot do justice indefinitely to both jobs,” he writes.

Make a round

In the wake of the protests and a week-long curfew, the LA mayor has supported Downtown’s Little Tokio, the Civic Center and other areas with bandarism, graffiti and theft. The bus spent about 30 minutes on Wednesday and visited the restaurant on 1st Avenue. The window was covered with plywood.

The bus fell into spots such as Faber and Kaminari Gyozabar, chatting with the owner and taking photos with customers. She then retreated Trump to the US Marines and told him things were safe and stable.

“In light of the fact that LA is peaceful, there are no protests. There are no signs of vandalism or violence. I’ll be sure to remove the troops from the administration,” she said.

The bass was interrupted quickly Clemente FrancoEcho Park residents said they were unhappy with the city’s condition.

“A year and a half without light,” he told the vice mayor. Vahid Khorsandattempted to form a buffer between Franco and the base. “The lights have been off for a year and a half. They took the wires. The whole street is black.”

Khorsand asked Franco to provide a list of the places he had trouble with.

Quick Hit

• Where is the inside? Her team said the mayor’s signature program to tackle homelessness did not launch new outreach operations this week.
• At Docket next week: Council’s Transportation Committee It is set to meet on Wednesday and make suggestions Regulate public spaces Around “Ghost Kitchens” in LA, it sparked complaints about unsafe traffic behavior and other neighbourhood distress.

Let’s stay in touch

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