Emma de Paz was selling breakfast to day laborers outside a Los Angeles Home Depot on June 19 when immigration agents arrived with a heavy-handed approach. She was handcuffed, forced onto her knees, and taken to a federal detention center downtown. Her brother, Carlos Barrera, described the chaotic scene, stating, ‘They didn’t ask if she had papers or not. They just grabbed her and put her into one of the vans.’ De Paz, who is undocumented, was among 30 individuals detained that day in what many are calling a blatant act of racial profiling.
Reports from immigrant advocates and civil rights lawyers indicate that immigration agents under the Trump administration’s deportation strategy are intensifying their operations in Southern California, often in areas frequented by Latino workers. Known hubs for these workers, such as hardware store parking lots, car washes, and street vendor locations, have been the focus of these aggressive immigration raids. Eyewitnesses have captured videos showing agents arresting individuals who appear Latino, further fueling claims of racial discrimination.
This trend has led the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other legal organizations to file a federal class action lawsuit seeking to declare these raids unconstitutional. Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights at the ACLU of Southern California, stated, ‘There is a real sense that it is open season on anyone who appears to be an immigrant.’ She emphasized that agents often detain individuals based solely on their location and appearance, without even confirming their immigration status first.
In response to these allegations, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), vehemently denied any claims of racial profiling, calling them ‘disgusting and categorically FALSE.’ She asserted that DHS operations are highly targeted, stating that agents know who they are looking for ahead of time and are trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to ascertain an individual’s immigration status.
Despite these assertions, legal experts maintain that the current practices of immigration agents likely breach established guidelines regarding their authority to arrest individuals in public. Jean Reisz, an immigration law professor at the University of Southern California, explained that agents must possess ‘reasonable suspicion’ based on concrete facts before detaining someone without a warrant. She cautioned that mere appearance or assumptions based on ethnicity do not satisfy legal criteria for reasonable suspicion.
Advocates have voiced concerns that the ambitious quotas set by the Trump administration are leading immigration agents to rely on flimsy justifications for their actions. Bitran elaborated, ‘If you’re asking these law enforcement agencies to arrest 3,000 people a day, they cannot form reasonable suspicion for each specific person. So they have to be cutting corners.’ These pressures may increase the likelihood of unjustified detentions of individuals, including U.S. citizens.
On June 12th, a separate incident highlighted the dangers of these operations when Javier Ramirez was detained at his uncle’s auto junkyard in Montebello, a city predominantly populated by Latinos. Ramirez’s detainment was captured on video, showing Border Patrol agents overpowering him as he protested his U.S. citizenship, shouting, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen! I’ve got my passport!’ Despite being confirmed as a U.S. citizen later, Ramirez was charged with resisting arrest.
His brother, Abimael Dominguez, observed the whole ordeal and expressed disbelief, stating, ‘There’s a lot of Hispanic brothers right here, but everyone working in the yard that day was a U.S. citizen. Racial profiling is the way I look at it.’ The fallout from these raids has left many families feeling unsafe and targeted simply because of their ethnicity.
Dominguez highlighted the emotional toll on his brother, noting, ‘He’s traumatized. That sucks, to be a U.S. citizen and not be able to walk in the country of freedom.’ This sentiment resonates with many impacted by the recent wave of immigration enforcement, contributing to a growing fear in communities across Los Angeles.
As the ACLU’s lawsuit unfolds, it remains to be seen how courts will address these heavy-handed immigration operations and the claims of racial profiling that continue to surface in the wake of the Trump administration’s stringent policies. Advocates for immigrants’ rights hope that the judicial system will act to protect the civil liberties of all, regardless of their appearance or perceived immigration status.
image source from：opb
