A peaceful Monday morning in a Los Angeles area recognized as a center for immigrants was interrupted by an unexpected display of power from U.S. immigration and military personnel.
Footage of the July 7 event depicted armed federal agents converging on MacArthur Park in Los Angeles’ Westlake district. A portion arrived on horseback, while others utilized armored military vehicles.
Federal officials have not clarified the purpose of the operation. However, local authorities suspect its intention was to instill dread as part of an ongoing effort to pressure the “sanctuary city” that has resisted President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Los Angeles City Mayor Karen Bass issued an appeal for these operations to cease. During a news conference later that day, Mayor Bass confirmed that no individuals had been apprehended. She accused the Trump Administration of “escalating disorder” and sustaining a “full-scale attack” on Los Angeles. “You may interpret it however you wish,” she stated, “but I view it as a political strategy designed to incite fear and terror.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has overtly criticized the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement activities and the state’s excessive militarization, declared at a press briefing that the events unfolding in MacArthur Park constituted a “disgrace.”
In an interview with a local Fox News affiliate, Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino asserted that “the federal government is not departing L.A.” and that the city “should grow accustomed to” their presence, predicting that “this will become standard very soon.”
National Guard remains deployed
Approximately 90 California National Guard personnel were dispatched to the Westlake neighborhood park, yet they found a largely deserted area due to prior notification of the raid, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Trump had federalized 4,000 National Guard members and other federal agents in response to demonstrations opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Newsom and Bass have criticized Trump’s deployment of military personnel for law enforcement roles in the city, but the Administration has maintained that the deployment was crucial for aiding ICE officials in conducting operations.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, has since recalled some of these troops to help with the state’s efforts to combat wildfires.
ICE operations instill fear in immigrant communities
ICE operations have persisted in the city, even through the Fourth of July holiday. Officers apprehended an individual at a car wash in West Hollywood, an act the city condemned in a statement, asserting: “On a day intended to celebrate the principles of liberty, democracy, and liberation from oppression, we instead face a profoundly disturbing demonstration of federal encroachment. Independence Day ought to be a period for contemplation and respect, not apprehension and persecution.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that some workers have vanished—adversely affecting employment and output at a time when the city’s economic performance is already pressured. Reuters also reported that farms have lost their immigrant laborers amidst the increased enforcement, resulting in unharvested crops vulnerable to spoilage.
Legal challenges persist
Two lawsuits have recently been initiated contesting immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles.
Five individuals and three organizations filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in federal court on July 1, asserting that the department unlawfully apprehended and held individuals to fulfill arbitrary “arrest quotas.” The legal action further contended that the raids specifically targeted people based on “their skin color and occupation” and claimed that detained individuals are confined in “dungeon-like” facilities, frequently for several days.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the assertions in the complaint as “garbage” and disputed the alleged substandard conditions in those detention centers.
Meanwhile, a U.S. citizen who was apprehended and held while documenting ICE raids is seeking $1 million in compensation from the federal government. McLaughlin, in remarks to NBC News, stated that the individual had assaulted and verbally harassed a federal agent, resulting in his apprehension.
A lawsuit Newsom initiated against Trump concerning the President’s deployment of the National Guard also continues.
