Immigrant rights advocates lead day of rallies, marches, and boycotts over recent raids

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Immigrant rights advocates took to the streets of Los Angeles on Tuesday for what they called "24 hours of community stoppage," which included rallies and boycotts of various businesses over the recent immigration raids.

The action, which began at midnight, was 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 urged to join events scheduled throughout the day and to support individuals and families affected by immigration raids. The coalition also called for a boycott of The Home Depot, Target, Walmart and fast food restaurants.

Immigrant rights advocates took to the streets of Los Angeles for what they're calling "24 hours of community stoppage," which includes boycotting various businesses over the recent immigration raids.

"We're sending an economic message that we have power, that we can also impact the economy," said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for CHIRLA. "We want to make sure they also stand by the side of their consumers, which is immigrants, and immigrants right now are suffering, they're being terrorized by the racist, anti-immigrant policies of this government."

Hundreds of participants marched from MacArthur Park to the county Hall of Administration on Tuesday afternoon. At 5 p.m., a rally took place at Placita Olvera (Olvera Street), followed by a march to the downtown federal detention center for a vigil.

"We're here united to say, 'Hey, we're not longer going to stand for these big corporations that won't speak out against what's going on with this administration," said Simboa Wright, a member of SEIU 721.

Some demonstrators gathered outside the federal detention center late Tuesday. Los Angeles police later declared an unlawful assembly in the area.

Plans for the community stoppage were announced last week at a news conference at MacArthur Park. The announcement came a day after ICE 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.

Several people were reportedly taken into custody after federal agents stormed a Home Depot parking lot in the Westlake area of Los Angeles Wednesday morning.

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 has appealed the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The restraining order, however, did not prevent last Wednesday's operation involving the Penske truck. 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 the groups that sued the federal government for its "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 order 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 in Tuesday's community stoppage were 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.

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.