Southland Immigration Raids Continue, Including At Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet

LOS ANGELES, CA — Protesters returned to the streets of downtown Los Angeles Sunday, one day after a nationwide series of demonstrations against President Donald Trump's illegal immigration policy saw massive crowds in the Civic Center and other cities throughout Southern California and the nation.

The size of the gathering was not immediately apparent, but transportation officials said shortly before 3 p.m. that downtown's DASH bus system would not be serving the following stops until further notice:

-- Temple and Alameda Street
-- Temple and Los Angeles Street
-- Temple and Main Street
-- Temple and Spring Street.

Also this weekend, several people were detained in an apparent immigration raid at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, according to multiple media reports. Video from the scene at 13963 Alondra Blvd. showed masked federal agents apprehending several people on Saturday, accompanied by armed U.S. Marines. It was unclear what further actions were taken.

Witnesses told reporters people were gathering for a concert at the Swap Meet that was later canceled following the raid.

The Trump administration has continued widespread immigration enforcement activities -- with a reported goal of up to 3,000 deportations per day -- even as it scales back raids and arrests at agricultural sites, hotels and restaurants in response to complaints from employers.

The revised plans were put in place Friday, but the details were not made public.

"President Trump has always stood up for our farmers, who were a major part of his November victory, by working to negotiate fairer trade deals and cut red tape," Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement to The New York Times. "He will continue to strengthen our agricultural industry and boost exports while keeping his promise to enforce our immigration laws and remove the millions of unvetted illegals who flooded into the United States under Joe Biden."

Trump said the following in a post Thursday on Truth Social:

"Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!"

The Trump administration began conducting immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles on June 6, prompting daily demonstrations in the street that have often turned violent and resulted in widespread graffiti and other property damage in the downtown area.

The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested 561 people related to protest activity since then, police said Sunday. That includes 38 arrests during Saturday's "No Kings" demonstration downtown.

Police said 35 people were arrested for curfew violations, one for failure to disperse, one for resisting, obstructing or delaying a police officer, and one for resisting arrest, according to the department.

Three officers were injured, police added.

Los Angeles Controller Kenneth Mejia said Sunday that the city had spent over $11.4 million through Friday on activities related to ICE protests, and that was before Saturday's massive demonstration, which caused officials to deploy extra resources.

Also Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identified two more of the people detained in the recent raids who allegedly had criminal records. Alfredo Vasquez-Petronilo was described as a Mexican national with prior convictions for battery, assault and DUI, while Jose Jonathan Delgado was described as a Mexican national who's been previously deported and was convicted of battery with serious bodily injury.

Officials said Vasquez-Petronilo would stay in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings, and Delgado would stay in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Last week, President Donald Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines to tamp down the disruptive demonstrations while the immigration raids continue.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 -- the contingent of troops ordered into the city by Trump -- said Friday morning the deployment of Marines in the Los Angeles area will frees up the National Guard, who have been primarily protecting federal property, to serve a more protective role for federal agents conducting enforcement operations in the field.

"I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities," Sherman told reporters. "Rather, they'll be focused on protecting federal law enforcement personnel."

A federal court hearing is set for Tuesday to determine whether Trump or California Gov. Gavin Newsom will control future National Guard activity going forward. Newsom challenged Trump's decision to federalize the Guard, an action U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said in a ruling last week did not follow congressionally mandated procedure.

His ruling was stayed by a three-judge appellate panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in response to a Trump administration notice of appeal, temporarily keeping the National Guard troops under federal control, at least through Tuesday.

— City News Service