On a sunny, late winter afternoon on February 26, 1931, La Placita Park in downtown Los Angeles buzzed with activity.
Hundreds of Angelenos, many of them Mexican Americans, gathered to relax and connect with friends in the historical park, located just steps from where the Pueblo of Los Angeles was founded in 1781.
The park was alive with laughter and conversation as vendors sold food, musicians played lively tunes, and soapbox speakers animatedly addressed the crowd.
A breezy calm enveloped the atmosphere.
But at precisely 3 p.m., everything changed.
Immigration officials, police officers, and agents from LAPD’s anti-communist “Red Squad” suddenly stormed the park, sealing off both entrances to prevent anyone from escaping.
They lined up park-goers against benches, interrogating everyone present as panic swiftly consumed the crowd.
Eyewitness accounts reported that those who attempted to flee were met with violence, being beaten by the police.
According to La Opinión, a Spanish-language newspaper in Los Angeles, immigration officials began their invasive questioning, asking detainees for their name, age, length of residence in the United States, entry point into the country, employment status, and passports.
While most individuals could prove their legal residency, those who could not were harshly treated and dragged off to Central Police Station for further interrogation.
The raids resulted in the detention of 11 Mexican individuals, five Chinese individuals, and one Japanese individual, highlighting a troubling trend in immigration enforcement.
The La Placita raid was one of the first public immigration blitzes in the United States.
It marked a dangerous new era where individuals could be detained without due process based solely on their appearance.
The raid occurred during a time when the U.S. government sought to remove immigrants and their children as part of an agenda to clear jobs for “real Americans” amid the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.
William N. Doak, the Secretary of Labor under President Herbert Hoover, was one of the key figures advocating for the deportation of immigrant communities.
In a radio broadcast in January 1931, Doak expressed his desire for North American public opinion to support the expulsion of all foreigners who had allegedly entered the U.S. illegally or held “dangerous radical ideas.”
He stated, “Once the crisis is over, only those foreigners who will actually come to make this country great through its industries and political institutions will be allowed to enter.”
Mexican immigrants, in particular, became significant targets for officials at both local and national levels.
In Los Angeles, Charles P. Visel, the County Coordinator for Unemployment Relief, collaborated with Doak and other government figures to facilitate the deportation, or “repatriation,” of immigrants through fear tactics and intimidation.
Visel publicly asserted in January 1931 that scaring immigrants out of the city could alleviate the unemployment crisis.
Using a media blitz, Visel and Walter E. Carr, the district director of Immigration in Los Angeles, worked to encourage fear among immigrants, specifically Mexicans or those of Mexican descent.
Their approach included announcing impending raids by immigration officials over radio stations and promoting the arrests of prominent deportable aliens.
This strategy created a cycle of fear and insecurity in immigrant communities.
Los Angeles newspapers amplified the anti-immigrant sentiment, with Carr denouncing charitable organizations that aimed to assist those he deemed illegal immigrants.
He dismissed their humanitarian efforts, suggesting that strong enforcement would be necessary to control crime conditions tied to immigrants.
Carr reassured the public that deportations would be fair and focus on those with criminal backgrounds.
Yet, this assurance did little to quell the growing apprehension among immigrants.
An atmosphere of fear took hold in immigrant neighborhoods, causing children to skip school and families to avoid going out after dark.
In late January, La Opinión warned readers of the planned raids and advised those lacking passports to obtain copies at the Mexican consulate as a precaution.
Mexican Consul Rafael de la Colina attempted to reassure the community, emphasizing that legal residents should not fear the announced levies, as immigration laws protected them.
However, his belief in government adherence to the rule of law was fundamentally flawed.
Prior to the La Placita raid, there had already been large-scale raids targeting Mexican communities.
On February 15, officials conducted a major operation in El Monte, detaining 13 Mexican men, and subsequently swept ranches and agricultural fields across Los Angeles County.
These raids disrupted lives, with reports of individuals in hospitals being forcibly taken to the Mexican border.
By the time La Placita was raided, 200 immigrants had already been taken into custody since January 1, and 57 had self-deported.
However, Carr sought larger numbers and carefully orchestrated the La Placita raid several days in advance, recruiting law enforcement from as far as Arizona.
La Placita was strategically chosen for psychological impact, intended to instill fear within the local Mexican community.
When the operation commenced at 3 p.m., agents swiftly detained individuals, including three Chinese men and a Mexican man passing by.
Moises Gonzales, a long-time department store employee, was caught in the crackdown and detained despite showing proof of his legal residency in the U.S. since 1923.
Immigration agents displayed a callous disregard for his documentation, stuffing it into his pocket as bystanders attempted to rally support for him.
The park became a focal point of panic, with a crowd gathering to witness the unfolding events.
Two vice consuls from the Mexican consulate sought to intervene but were initially rebuffed until they revealed their rank.
Most of the approximately 400 individuals interrogated were released after proving their residency, while a handful, including Gonzales, were taken away in police vehicles.
La Opinión reported that those detained received the news of their potential deportation with an eerie calm, limiting themselves to excuses rather than protests.
Immigration officers executed the raid with a smiling demeanor, claiming they were following orders from higher authorities, fully believing their actions were legal.
When Joel Quinones from the Mexican consulate protested to immigration official William Carr, Carr feigned ignorance and directed Quinones to speak with W. F. Watkins, who was responsible for the raids.
The fallout from the La Placita raid extended well beyond that fateful day.
La Opinión described the lasting panic instilled by the operation, noting how Main Street became deserted in mere minutes and remained quiet for hours after the raid ended.
Ultimately, Gonzales was released, but not before facing insinuations from an immigration officer that he could be imprisoned for his alleged involvement in communist activities.
The ongoing wave of enforcement resulted in further raids throughout Los Angeles, indicating that the U.S. government’s focus on immigrants extended beyond just Mexicans.
On February 28, La Opinión noted that authorities had conducted operations in Japanese neighborhoods and Russian shantytowns, often apprehending individuals who were legally immigrated.
These initial raids were only the beginning of what would evolve into the “Mexican Repatriation Program.”
The first train of repatriates departed from Los Angeles on March 23, 1931, marking the start of a formal effort that by April 5, 1934, saw over 13,000 Mexicans deported from the area.
The La Placita raid stands as a historical reminder of the troubling patterns of immigration enforcement and the systemic targeting of specific ethnic communities during periods of economic despair.
Its legacy persists in contemporary discussions regarding immigration policy and community relations across the United States.
image source from：laist
