Federal agents conducted a series of immigration sweeps across Los Angeles on Friday, prompting anger and resistance from onlookers and immigrant rights groups that have braced for this type of action for months.
About 44 people were arrested in the raids, according to a statement from a spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement obtained by LAist’s media partner KCAL News.
“ICE officers and agents alongside partner law enforcement agencies, executed four federal search warrants at three locations in central Los Angeles,” ICE spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe said in the statement. “Approximately 44 people were administratively arrested and one arrest for obstruction. The investigation remains ongoing, updates will follow as appropriate.”
Confrontations between what appeared to be ICE officers and people in the streets of downtown L.A. could be seen in video aired on local television and shared on social media.
At times, uniformed agents or officers could be seen physically moving people who appeared to be blocking the officers and their vehicles.
Reports shared via the social media platform X said ICE was seen in the Garment District area of L.A. Another video showed federal agents in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Westlake, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Angelica Salas, executive director of The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, known as CHIRLA, said her organization estimated there were at least 45 detentions.
Among them was Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta, according to union authorities. They said Huerta had been injured and was receiving medical attention while in custody.
“What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger,” Huerta said in a statement released by the union. “This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”
Several immigrant rights leaders and activists, along with some city elected officials, attended a large rally Friday evening to share their reactions to the federal operations and call for a stop to them. Later, more than 300 people marched a few blocks toward the federal detention center.
Protesters march after federal immigration authorities conducted an operation on Friday, June 6, 2025, in Los Angeles.
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Jae C. Hong
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AP
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Reaction from city officials
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement Friday afternoon condemning the raids.
“This morning we received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in multiple locations in Los Angeles,” the statement read. “As a Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place. These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.
“My Office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations,” the mayor continued. “We will not stand for this.”
All 15 members of the City Council released a joint statement that echoed some of the same points the Bass made.
“We condemn this in no uncertain terms: Los Angeles was built by immigrants and it thrives because of immigrants,” the statement read. “We will not abide by fear tactics to support extreme political agendas that aim to stoke fear and spread discord in our city.
“To every immigrant living in our city: we see you, we stand with you, and we will fight for you,” the statement continued. “Los Angeles will continue to be a place that values and dignifies every human being, no matter who they are or where they come from.”
Listen: Immigration sweeps in LA
Agents were met with anger and resistance from onlookers and immigrant rights groups that have braced for this type of action for months.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said his department was not involved in the raids.
“While the LAPD will continue to have a visible presence in all our communities to ensure public safety, we will not assist or participate in any sort of mass deportations, nor will the LAPD try to determine an individual’s immigration status,” he said.
After the sweeps, photographers captured several protesters being detained by officers. Addressing a crowd at a rally, L.A. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez pushed back against previous statements by the Trump administration that ICE would focus their efforts on dangerous criminals.
“It’s never, ever, ever been the case,” Hernandez said. “Because when they come for one of us, they come for all of us. And we have to remember that.”
Dozens of immigration activists gathered in downtown Los Angeles to protest a series of federal immigration operations Friday, June 6, that resulted in several detentions.
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Frank Stoltze
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LAist
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Councilmember Isabel Jurado noted the timing of the ICE operations, stressing that they happened at a time when families and students are celebrating graduations and the LGBTQ+ community is celebrating Pride Month.
“What kind of government plans this during our most sacred moments of joy?” Jurado asked. “The footage speaks for itself. This is cruelty disguised as policy.”
Mass deportations
Since President Donald Trump was elected, immigrant rights groups in Southern California have been on edge. Trump has promised “mass deportations” of unauthorized immigrants. There have been protests that have shut down freeways and high school walkouts by students protesting the administration.
“Los Angeles immigrant communities and allies have been preparing,” Andres Kwon of the American Civil Liberties Union told LAist in February.
The ACLU is part of the L.A. Rapid Response Network, a group of immigrant rights, legal, and faith-based groups that has a hotline for people to report ICE activity and to seek help after a raid.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and other groups have hosted workshops that teach undocumented immigrants how to assert their constitutional rights, as well as how to prepare for worst-case scenarios. They’ve been telling people they don’t have to allow a federal agent into their home without a warrant and don’t have to reveal their immigration status.
The Los Angeles Unified School District began distributing “red cards,” also known as “Know Your Rights” cards, to help people assert their rights and defend themselves if they encounter federal immigration agents.
The effort came as the Trump administration announced it would allow ICE to conduct arrests in sensitive areas such as schools and churches, dismantling policies dating back to 2011.
Before L.A., ICE conducted high-profile enforcement actions in Chicago and Boston. Last week, an ICE raid on a restaurant in San Diego’s South Park neighborhood resulted in multiple arrests. While the raid was taking place, crowds gathered outside the restaurant where many people protested the action, filming the officers on their cellphones and surrounding their vehicles.
Detentions under Biden
Removals of immigrants by ICE and Customs and Border Patrol in the L.A. area were on the rise before Trump came into office. But the Washington Post reported earlier this year that ICE had struggled to boost arrest numbers despite an infusion of resources.
ICE/CBP removals in the L.A. Area of Operations, which includes much of Southern California, increased by more than 180% between the 2022 and 2024 fiscal years, according to ICE data. More than 3,551 people were removed in fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30.
Detentions also rose, according to the data.
While national detentions remained fairly constant over the past four years, L.A. area detentions increased by 155% from 2022 to 2024, when 3,857 people were detained.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Chris Newman, legal director and general counsel for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said earlier this year.
While in office, former President Joe Biden was under increasing political pressure to address illegal immigration.
“The Biden administration was focused on recent arrivals and people with criminal history,” Newman said.
From 2023 to 2024, the L.A. area had significant increases in detentions (432% increase from 217 to 1,154) and removals (547% increase from 223 to 1,443) of people who had not been convicted of crimes.
LAist reporter Jordan Rynning contributed to this report.
