Los Angeles Neighbors Support Fund Helps Families Impacted By Raids
More than 4,100 people have been detained in LA County since June 6th, when federal authorities began a campaign of immigration raids . They are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, children – valued members of our community. Most are workers – contributing vital services and earning the money their families need for rent, food, clothing and diapers.
Now, the children and families of those taken are left without what they need for basic necessities. Many more cannot work, go to school, or get medical care out of fear of becoming a target. The raids have created a humanitarian crisis – a human-made disaster.
The LA Neighbors Support Fund is our community coming together to help each other through this crisis by providing food and cash assistance for basic necessities to those who need it most. We are #LAStrong, and we stand together.
RELATED POSTS
ICE Detained Their Children, Siblings, Partners and Parents. Now, Families Are Building Power to Bring Them Home.
“Miriam and Edgar fled to Los Angeles last year, seeking protection from persecution they say they faced in their home country of Colombia. But when their asylum petition was denied at a court hearing in July, immigration agents were waiting outside to detain them.” Read more
South Los Angeles Grassroots Network Doubles Its Food Delivery Following ICE Raids
“For years, Iretha Warmsley has volunteered with Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), packaging bags filled with bread, corn, chili, spaghetti sauce, and other essentials for neighbors in need. Since the ICE raids swept through Los Angeles County in June, much of that food has gone to immigrants who are too afraid to shop for groceries, pick up prescriptions, or even go to work.” Read more
Food, Smiles and Solace: Neighbors in Need Lifted by the Pasadena Community Job Center
“They began lining up at 6 a.m., waiting on a Pasadena street corner to receive food that would sustain them for a week amid heightened community need triggered by the recent wildfires and immigration raids. At 9:30 a.m., dozens of volunteers with the Pasadena Community Job Center waved them forward and began the weekly Friday distribution with cheerful greetings and big smiles.” Read more
Immigration raids and the fear they inflict across our communities affect us all. Our neighbors, healthcare workers, childcare providers, small business owners, the people rebuilding our neighborhoods after the fires, are all targets.
One in three undocumented immigrants in California have been living, working, and supporting their families here for more than a decade, often making their way through the slow process for legal status. One in five children in California live in mixed-status families, meaning they are undocumented themselves or live with someone who is. And immigrants power LA County’s economy, making up more than half of the region’s self-employed entrepreneurs. Get more facts about the economic impact of immigrants in California at ca4us.org.
The LA Neighbors Support Fund is LA standing together, taking care of each other, and defending our community’s values and future.
For more information, reach us at LANeighbors@calfund.org.
RELATED NEWS STORIES
LAist: Federal agents detain people at a Westlake Home Depot after jumping out of rented Penske moving van
“The operation comes after months of aggressive immigration enforcement across the L.A. area. Agents have descended on car washes, parking lots and other public places, prompting accusations of racial profiling.” Click here to learn more at LAist
LA Times: Agents detain student at gunpoint near school
“Los Angeles school district police, staff and community volunteers will form protective perimeters around at least 100 schools when classes begin Thursday to help ensure the safe passage of children — an announcement that came on a day that immigration agents reportedly handcuffed, detained and drew their guns on a student outside Arleta High School in a case of mistaken identity.” Click here to learn more at LA Times
The Guardian: Raids have left residents of LA’s MacArthur Park scared to go to trusted local businesses – and outside in general
“The ubiquitous presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents, and the threat of arrest, have become a part of daily life for immigrants across the city and broader region. The raids have also taken an economic toll on neighborhoods like MacArthur Park, where business owners say trade has slowed to a crawl as people choose to stay home.” Click here to learn more at The Guardian
The Guardian: US citizens jailed in LA Ice raids speak out: ‘They came ready to attack’
As two masked men dragged her into an unmarked SUV, Andrea Velez tried to focus on details she might later remember – one man’s red shirt, the car’s leather seats, a black backpack inside … Suddenly, she recalled, one of the men slammed her to the ground and placed her into his car. The men had “Police” vests, but otherwise were in plainclothes and didn’t identify themselves. She didn’t know why they had taken her.
The men, it turned out, were Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) deportation officers. They were looking to question people about “whether they were lawfully present” in the US, an agent later wrote. Velez is a US citizen who grew up in downtown, not far from the incident.
“They just came out ready to attack anyone,” said Velez, in her first interview since her arrest. “I thought they were kidnapping me.” Click here to learn more at The Guardian