Ongoing Immigration Raids Prompt LA Cities To Cancel Independence Day Celebrations

LOS ANGELES, CA — Officials at two predominantly Hispanic cities in Los Angeles County have announced they will be canceling their planned Independence Day events due to growing safety concerns prompted by ongoing immigration raids throughout Southern California.

Bell Gardens, where 96% of residents are Hispanic, announced on social media that its Independence Day celebration on Thursday, July 3, would be canceled "out of an abundance of caution regarding concerns for residents over federal immigration enforcement activities."

A Latin music performance from Gabrielito y La Verdad was expected to take place during the celebration. The city is also canceling two movie nights out of caution.

Cudahy also said in a statement Wednesday on social media that its Independence Day celebration, scheduled for Thursday, July 3, would be postponed "due to recent events and concerns regarding the safety of our residents."

Parks across the city, where the Hispanic population also makes up about 96% of its residents, will remain open, and regular programming will continue, according to Cudahy officials.

The city of Cudahy made headlines earlier this week after its Vice Mayor, in a since-deleted video, called for local street gangs to protect their neighborhoods from federal agents conducting raids.

"You guys tag everything up, claiming hood, and now that your hood is being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain't a peep out of you," Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez says in the video.

The Los Angeles police union has since called for Gonzalez's resignation, calling her video "shameful" and accusing her of promoting violence against peace officers.

"What Ms. Gonzalez urged and taunted these specific gangs to do in her social media post puts police officers and other law enforcement professionals at greater risk," the Los Angeles Police Protective League said in a statement on X. "Her actions are deplorable and potentially illegal. She should resign and she should be prosecuted if what she called for broke the law.⁠"

Gonzalez may now be the target of a federal investigation as a result of her post. Her attorney issued a statement to the Los Angeles Times, saying her words are being misconstrued.

"In her post, Dr. Gonzalez issued a challenge to the Latino community: join the thousands of Angelenos already peacefully organizing in response to ongoing enforcement actions... Importantly, Dr. Gonzalez in no way encouraged anyone to engage in violence."

Since immigration raids began in Los Angeles on June 6, federal agents have arrested more than 1,600 immigrants, most of them men with no criminal convictions, according to reports from the Los Angeles Times.

Although protests have waned following a large-scale "No Kings" demonstration across the country, immigration raids targeting workers have continued across the Southland.

In videos published on social media, Border Patrol, ICE and other federal agencies can be seen chasing day laborers down, raiding car washes and arresting U.S. citizens trying to intervene on behalf of people being detained.

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