U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested three people in San Pedro on Wednesday, Oct. 8 — and apparently threatened to arrest staff from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation who responded to the scene, according to Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office.
A local community group and San Pedro’s representative on the Los Angeles City Council also said several others were arrested elsewhere in the port town on Wednesday.
“Today has been a difficult day in the Harbor Area,” Councilmember Tim McOsker, whose 15th District includes San Pedro, said in a Wednesday statement. “We’re hearing reports that ten people at different spots in San Pedro were taken by what appear to be federal immigration enforcement agents.”
Representatives from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the immigration agency, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The raid took place at San Pedro’s Deane Dana Friendship Park and Nature Center, 1805 W. Ninth St., on Wednesday. Hahn — who represents the Fourth District, including San Pedro, on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors — confirmed that three people were detained by ICE.
There were no details about the identities of those who were detained, according to Hahn’s office, but people who responded to the scene described them as San Pedro residents who often walk in the park daily.
“I am disgusted that even our parks are not safe,” Hahn said in a statement on social media after the incident. “ICE informed staff they will be in the area all week.”
Several ICE agents appeared at the park on Wednesday in unmarked vehicles, a representative from Hahn’s office said, donning sunglasses and hats. When county parks staffers asked the agents to identify themselves, they showed their IDs — but covered their names and photos, Hahn’s office said.
The agents also threatened to arrest the county parks department staffers, according to Hahn’s office, and said they would be in the San Pedro area for at least the rest of the week.
In response, the parks department is cancelling all programming in San Pedro through at least Sunday, Oct. 12, and staffers are calling program participants to let them know about the situation, Hahn’s office said.
ICE began ramping up its operations in Los Angeles County in early June, arresting people at Home Depots, car washes and other places around the region, from Paramount to Pasadena. The increased activity — which has also spread to other major population centers nationwide, such as Chicago — has happened at the behest of President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the operations, saying they are necessary to make the nation safe, characterizing the people ICE arrests as dangerous criminals.
“While Americans enjoyed their weekends, DHS law enforcement officers continued to arrest and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” Assistant Secretary of DHS Tricia McLaughlin said in a Monday, Oct. 6, statement, “including violent child predators, gang members, drug traffickers, robbers, rapists, and reckless drunk drivers.”
But immigration advocates and officials across Los Angeles County have decried such characterizations, saying ICE is detaining hard-working members of the community — and, in some cases, U.S. citizens.
ICE’s increased presence in the region also resulted in weeks of protests, while community groups have sought to patrol neighborhoods to warn people when federal agents are present. And elected officials have taken steps to protect immigrant communities. Earlier this week, for example, the Board of Supervisors voted to pursue a state of emergency for LA County as a result of ICE arresting breadwinners during raids, leaving families unable to pay rent, buy food and clothing for their children, and causing many to stay home and not report to work because of fear.
“These ICE raids are putting people in extreme peril for their safety and for their children’s safety,” Hahn said on Tuesday. “I think it is important to tell our immigrant community we are in this emergency with you.”
Besides ICE’s operation at the Friendship Park and Nature Center, meanwhile, there were also several other reports of federal immigration activity in San Pedro on Wednesday morning, primarily along Gaffey Street.
A local community group, Harbor Area Peace Patrol, said on social media that at least 10 people were detained by ICE in various parts of San Pedro as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
In statement posted online later Wednesday afternoon, the group said that ICE also detained one person in front of Louie’s Chinese Restaurant on Pacific Avenue and 20th Street; a tamale vendor from in front of the 7-Eleven on Gaffey and First streets; three to four people from the Home Depot on Gaffey Street; and two people from the Arco gas station on Channel and Gaffey Streets.
“I’m grateful to the Harbor Area Peace Patrol for keeping our community informed and for their tireless work since these raids began,” McOsker said. “My office has been in communication with the Peace Patrol and businesses at the affected sites, doing everything we can to help where we’re needed.”
Workers at El Pollo Loco on Gaffey Street also confirmed that ICE conducted an operation at that location on Wednesday morning, but declined to provide additional details about the situation, including whether there were any arrests.
“Anyone living here knows the destructive impacts their (ICE’s) presence has in our city,” Harbor Area Peace Patrol said in a statement. “An absence of our beloved street vendors, closed car washes, empty parks and quiet restaurants are not a part of the city we love.
“We aren’t afraid or overwhelmed; we know who we are and why we do this work,” the group added. “We will continue to patrol our neighborhoods because we know that patience, discipline, and commitment are the keys to victory.”
Staff writer Donna Littlejohn contributed to this report.