As immigration raids ripple across cities nationwide, activists and elected officials from around the country gathered this week in Los Angeles to compare notes, share strategy and brace for what comes next.
According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, members of the leadership circle for Mijente, a national grassroots organization focused on Latino and Chicano communities, met Friday in MacArthur Park. Organizers from Florida, Georgia, Chicago, and beyond came together as immigration raids were unfolding simultaneously in their home cities, many tied to stepped-up enforcement under the Trump administration.
The park sits in the heart of Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’s district, one of the neighborhoods hit hard by federal immigration activity. Hernandez, who also serves on Mijente’s steering committee, described a July incident when federal agents and National Guard troops swept into the park, forcing out families and summer campers. While no arrests were made, the show of force sparked fear across a dense, working-class neighborhood already dealing with homelessness, crime and drug use, the Times reported.
Organizers toured several community sites, including UCLA’s James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center and the Central American Resource Center, or CARECEN, where leaders described funding cuts, staff layoffs and mounting pressure from federal officials. CARECEN Director Martha Arevalo told the group the past year has been especially difficult for nonprofits serving immigrant communities in Los Angeles County, where nearly half the population is Latino, according to census data cited by the Times.
The meetings wrapped up at Los Angeles City Hall, where discussions ranged from immigration policy to homelessness and public safety. Leaders from Chicago, Florida and Georgia said local conditions vary widely — from ICE cooperation with local police to state troopers taking the lead — making a one-size-fits-all response impossible. Mijente Executive Director Marisa Franco said the goal now is coordination, not a silver bullet.
As the group left City Hall, demonstrators filled nearby streets calling for an end to immigration raids — one of many protests held nationwide, underscoring just how local this national issue has become.
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