Immigrant rights advocates were scheduled to begin a “community stoppage” on Monday night with a 24-hour boycott of several businesses and rallies opposing federal immigration enforcement operations.
The action was being organized by several groups including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Service Employees International Union Local 721, Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles and the Garment Worker Center. Participants were being urged to join events scheduled for Tuesday and to support individuals and families affected by immigration raids.
The coalition also called for a boycott of Home Depot, Target, Walmart and fast food restaurants.
“These corporations whether implicitly or not have allowed their facilities to be used as places where federal agents violated workers’ rights and have inflicted pain and terror in our community and families,” Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for CHIRLA, said in an email to City News Service.
“These corporations benefit on a daily basis from our hard-earned dollars and yet remain silent in light of the attacks against Angelenos and workers,” he added.
Organizers say the boycott aims to show the economic influence of immigrant communities and to demand an end to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and the expansion of private detention centers.
“This is an action that will involve supporters or our community who dislike the way the federal government is overreaching and violating workers’ due process and rights,” Cabrera said. “This community stoppage is the precursor of more actions to come later in the year calling on the federal government to stop these racist raids.”
The day of action is scheduled to begin with a midnight fast-food workers strike at a restaurant near MacArthur Park, followed by a second walkout at 5 a.m. Other events include:
— 6 a.m.: “Take Back Our Park” coffee and breakfast at Park View and Wilshire Boulevard;
— 10 a.m.: Rally at MacArthur Park;
— Noon: SEIU 721-led caravan from MacArthur Park to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Hall of Administration; and
— 5 p.m.: Rally at Placita Olvera (Olvera Street), followed by a 5:30 p.m. program, a 6 p.m. march to the federal detention center and a 7:15 p.m. vigil.
“Immigration enforcement agencies are the best sources if you have questions,” a spokesman for Home Depot said in a statement. “We aren’t notified that these activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”
Target and Walmart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last week, the groups announced their plans for the community stoppage at a news conference at MacArthur Park. The announcement came a day after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security conducted a raid at a Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard, where agents hid in a Penske truck and descended on day laborers at the site. ICE arrested approximately 16 individuals as a result of the raid.
Aggressive and mass ICE raids began June 6, resulting in the arrest of 2,792 immigrants in seven counties in and around L.A., who are suspected of living in the United States without legal permission.
Homeland Security previously announced that fewer than 1,400 immigrants were arrested in the region last month.
Some immigration experts suggested that decrease was due to a federal court order limiting the scope of immigration-enforcement operations in the area.
A federal judge last month issued a temporary restraining order 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 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 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.”
Essayli defended the raid as being within the scope of reasonable suspicion.
CHIRLA was among groups who sued the federal government for their “roving patrols” and enforcement tactics.
“We’re so proud of the work we did to document all of the abuses that led our courts to say you do need a temporary restraining from the federal agents as they are conducting immigration enforcement throughout the Los Angeles region,” Angelica Salas, executive director for CHIRLA, previously said.
“We believe in the courts, and we believe in the Constitution, and we’re going to continue to fight in the courts because we have rights, and we’re going to affirm those rights in every way possible,” she added.
Additionally, participants are encouraged to purchase from local street vendors and, if possible, buy them out.
“There’s so many street vendors who feel terrorized, so if you can go to your local street vendor to buy their flowers, buy their food and buy the things that they’re selling because they deserve to have an opportunity in this moment that they are suffering,” Salas said.
Street vendors must apply with the city and county for permits to ensure compliance with local regulations. Last year, the city decreased the cost of its street vendor permit from hundreds of dollars to nearly $30. The L.A. County Department of Public Health distributes various food permits that range from approximately $130 to $1,160 depending on the food operation.
Street vendors must also adhere to various rules regarding vending locations and placement of their operation.