It has been a week of riots in the American city of Los Angeles. They were sparked by raids conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE. On Friday, June 6, ICE agents went to establishments known to employ undocumented immigrants. They picked up 44 people without providing arrest warrants.
People in LA took to the streets in support of their community. They clashed with ICE agents at a detention facility, to try and free the people who had been abducted. But the clashes escalated into carnage.
The protests have spread to other American cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and even Dallas and Austin in Texas, among many others. But nowhere have the demonstrations matched the intensity seen in Los Angeles.
LA is a city of immigrants. More than a third of the city’s residents were born outside of the US. Close to a million people are said to be undocumented immigrants. So, a large number of people in Los Angeles and LA county have direct ties to undocumented immigrants. That is why they have taken to the streets. Because they feel they are protecting their community.
But US President Donald Trump has used the chaos as an excuse to send in the Marines and the National Guard. They have been told to protect ICE agents. A curfew has been imposed in downtown Los Angeles. That’s the part of town affected by the worst violence and vandalism. While the riots seem to be in check, peaceful protests are expected to continue. The immigrant character of Los Angeles means that the city will continue to resist Trump’s mass deportation drive.
