LOS ANGELES (CNS) – In spite of a federal court order limiting the scope of immigration-enforcement operations in the area, federal agents made multiple arrests Wednesday during a raid near a Home Depot in the MacArthur Park area.
The operation occurred around 7 a.m. near The Home Depot at The Home Depot at 1675 Wilshire Blvd., about three blocks west of MacArthur Park. The agents arrived at the scene in the rear of a yellow Penske moving box truck.
According to video taken by Fox News Channel, which had a crew embedded with U.S. Border Patrol, the agents burst from the rear of the truck then ran toward a group of people amassed near a sidewalk food stand. The crowd scattered when they spotted the federal agents.
According to Fox News, a total of 16 people were ultimately taken into custody, with many of them being placed in the rear of the moving van.
Department of Homeland Security officials told Fox News that the notorious MS-13 gang has a “chokehold” on the area, necessitating such enforcement operations. Federal officials made similar claims last month when about 100 agents amassed and then swept through MacArthur Park — a raid that brought Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to the scene to ask that the agents leave.
Noting the use of the truck to bring agents to the scene, U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino told the Los Angeles Times the raid was dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse.”
Penske Truck Rental issued a statement Thursday saying the company “strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances.”
“The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this,” according to the company. “Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”
In response to that statement, DHS posted on its page on X a 2023 Fox News story about 58 migrants being found inside a Penske truck during a human smuggling operation.
“The brave agents of (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and (Customs and Border Protection) will continue carrying out their mission to protect Americans,” DHS stated.
Wednesday’s enforcement operation was the most publicized raid to occur in the area since a federal judge last month issued temporary restraining orders preventing the government from stopping individuals in violation of the Fourth Amendment and requiring the government to provide detained individuals with access to counsel. The judge said federal agents were conducting “roving” patrols that rounded up people without reasonable suspicion that they were actually in the country illegally, but were detained based on their ethnicity or occupation.
The federal government appealed the ruling, but last week, a three- judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put a stay on the ruling. The federal government is likely to appeal to the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The restraining order, however, did not prevent Wednesday’s operation. On X, U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles Bill Essayli acknowledged the operation, writing, “For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again. The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.”
Bass, speaking at a previously scheduled news conference with area community leaders to discuss the impacts of the immigration operations, condemned the Wednesday morning raid as an apparent violation of the court order.
“A few days ago we celebrated the court decision and we’re going to continue to celebrate that court decision,” she said. “But we have to fight to make sure that court decision is actually implemented and followed. Because this morning when I woke up I saw pictures of a raid that actually happened … at a Home Depot and it is hard for me to believe that that raid was consistent with the court order. It said you cannot racially profile, you cannot racially discriminate. What i saw on the video, what I saw on the pictures that were sent to me, looked like the same guys chasing people through a Home Depot.”
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, also condemned the federal operation.
“Just days after a federal court ordered Trump to stop racially profiling and disappearing our neighbors off the street without cause, he’s doing it again,” Chu wrote on X. “This is political terror against the immigrant communities who strengthen our city.”
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