In Los Angeles, residents live with fear in their stomachs: “It’s terrifying, what they’re doing”
In Los Angeles neighborhoods with large immigrant populations, residents are trying to anticipate and thwart police raids, using apps on their phones or changing the timing of events, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Hundreds of 13- and 14-year-old high school seniors, in crisply ironed shirts and frilly dresses, joyfully paraded Tuesday morning [June 10] with family members through the halls of Andrew Carnegie Middle School in Carson, a suburb of Los Angeles. The ceremony, which was supposed to be festive, took place under a vague threat, with rumors announcing a possible raid by agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Clearly worried, parents and teachers frantically checked apps tracking ICE's movements, regularly updated their social media accounts, and nervously exchanged the latest information. Some students expected on stage never showed up when their names were called: for fear of being arrested or that their loved ones would be, they preferred to stay home.
The scene has been repeated in recent days across Los Angeles County, where the Trump administration has stepped up crackdowns on immigrants. In neighborhoods with a large foreign population, every trip between home
Courrier International
