DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
Immigration enforcement agents conducted multiple raids throughout Los Angeles yesterday. Those raids sparked protests with some demonstrators trying to block the transport of detained immigrants. At one point, authorities used pepper spray and flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowds. Steve Futterman joins us this morning from Los Angeles with the latest. Good morning, Steve.
STEVE FUTTERMAN: Good morning, Debbie.
ELLIOTT: So what can you tell us about the raids?
FUTTERMAN: Well, there have been some ICE arrests and detainments in the LA area since the start of the Trump administration in January, but this was the largest and most widespread effort. It involved dozens of ICE agents with weapons and armored vehicles. They focused on several areas where they believed they were likely to find a large number of migrants in the country illegally. Among the targets, LA's large downtown garment district, where they focused on a number of warehouses and mom-and-pop shops.
Other locations that the ICE agents went after included a downtown Home Depot where many day laborers gather looking for work. Now, as the raids took place, many people who work in those areas actually confronted the ICE agents. They were yelling and screaming. Here you can hear them chanting, free them all.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Free them all. Free them all.
FUTTERMAN: Now, some tried to actually block the ICE vehicles, of course, without any success. People threw all sorts of things at the vehicles.
ELLIOTT: What are you hearing from the protesters?
FUTTERMAN: Well, to put it mildly, there's lots of anger. Israel Gotoy (ph) was there. A friend of his was one of those detained. He said there was no need to arrest his friend, that his friend posed no danger.
ISRAEL GOTOY: I worked with him. Yes, I worked with him. He's no criminal. No, nothing. He's nice people. He's working good and nice people. Family - he have two children. Yeah, working every day.
FUTTERMAN: And this was pretty much the feeling of most people there. Now, Debbie, there has been widespread anticipation for several months, as we said earlier, about some possible large effort by ICE. And although there have been some arrests here and there, as we mentioned, there had been nothing on this scale until yesterday. Los Angeles obviously has a large migrant population, which has made it an obvious potential target. We know that at least 44 people were detained yesterday. Many people, though, were left in the dark, unsure if their friends or relatives had been detained. Yliana Johansen-Mendez was working with some of those people yesterday.
YLIANA JOHANSEN-MENDEZ: So there are families waiting to see their family members that were detained earlier today. They have not been able to see their family members.
FUTTERMAN: So in addition to the anger, Debbie, many people were simply unsure overnight as to who actually had been detained.
ELLIOTT: Now, you talked about how some of the protesters had tried to stop agents from transporting detained migrants. What happened next?
FUTTERMAN: Well, in the late afternoon, as word spread quickly through social media about the raids, people showed up around - you know, hundreds of people showed up in the downtown area. There was a large rally held near the federal detention center. We heard lots of speeches. But after the rally broke up, the anger turned into some violence. Rocks and bottles, some concrete blocks, trash cans were thrown, even some spray-painting on the detention center building. There were some confrontations. We saw some people detained, but there's been no official word about any actual arrests.
ELLIOTT: So what has been the reaction from the federal government?
FUTTERMAN: Well, it's worth noting that yesterday's raids in Los Angeles are clearly part of a sharp escalation in immigration detention efforts nationwide. Elsewhere on WEEKEND EDITION, you'll hear about the efforts to deploy 20,000 National Guard troops to help accelerate and expand these detentions.
There was a telling exchange yesterday on social media between LA Mayor Karen Bass and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. The mayor deplored the raids and said, we will not stand for this. I am deeply angered. It will not stand. Stephen Miller responded, you have no say in this at all. Federal law is supreme. And that's pretty much was the exchange between the two. Today, we're not sure. There could be more raids. It's just not clear, Debbie.
ELLIOTT: OK. Well, thank you for your reporting. Steve Futterman in Los Angeles.
FUTTERMAN: Thanks, Debbie.
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