By Ronnette Ramos, AJSOCAL’s Vice President of Programs
The federal administration has launched an unprecedented and aggressive attack on Los Angeles and Orange County – and our immigrant communities are bearing the brunt, including our AAPI communities.
Since Friday, we have received multiple reports of widespread raids throughout Southern California, including neighborhoods like DTLA Garment District, Pasadena, Chinatown, and Koreatown – places where AAPI immigrants live, work, and raise their families.
This surge in enforcement comes on top of recent escalations at courthouses across LA County – targeting legal permanent residents seeking citizenship and survivors of domestic violence trying to get restraining orders.
These are not the so-called “violent criminals” the Administration claims to be pursuing. These are our neighbors. Our elders. Our workers, Our families.
Now, in an alarming move, the Administration has deployed 4,000 National Guards and 700 marines to our streets. This is not protection. It is provocation. This is not about public safety – it is about silencing dissent.
The overwhelming majority of the protesters are law abiding and peaceful. I stood at LAX on Monday to protest the new Travel Ban. Last Friday afternoon, our CEO was at the DTLA protest with her 12-year-old daughter – because protecting our community is a family value.
Like most Los Angelenos, we are simply expressing our views to protect our communities. And for many AAPI’s, this fight is deeply personal: Nearly 6 out of 10 AAPIs are immigrants. That means most of us belong to immigrant households. When immigration is under attack, we are under attack.
These federal agents are not making us safer. They are sowing fear. And we cannot let that fear divide us.
We call on you – our supporters, our funders, and our allies – to stand with us.
Together, we protect our communities. Together, we rise.
👉 If you see ICE in your communities, call the rapid response helplines.
⚪ L.A. Rapid Response Hotline: 888-624-4752
⚪ OC Rapid Response Hotline: 714-881-1558
⚪ Other Parts of CA: https://caimmigrant.org/what-we-do/policy/fighting-mass-detention-deportation/resources-for-immigration-legal-protection/
👉 If your loved ones have been detained, call AJSOCAL’s helplines at ajsocal.org.
👉 Know your rights and find resources for help at ajsocal.org/immigration.
