On Monday, political and school board leaders denounced arrests made by ICE officers in El Sereno, Eagle Rock, and Highland Park.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said members of the Community Rapid Response Network spotted ICE vehicles in the Eagle Rock Plaza parking lot.
“ICE moved throughout the Northeast swiftly from the Eagle Rock parking lot, kidnapping people from our neighborhood off York Boulevard, and went through El Sereno along Huntington Drive North,” she said.
A total of five people were detained in areas near Eagle Rock Elementary and High School and Glassell Park Elementary.
LAUSD Board Member Dr. Rocío Rivas said parents and schools seemed to be targeted.
“On the first day of the spring semester, as students returned to school seeking safety, stability, a fresh start, looking forward to being with their classmates and their teachers and immigration enforcement agents reportedly targeted our families on this special day for our students,” she said. “Parents were detained while their children were in class. Now our children, these children were returned to homes without a parent.”
Juardo said she was skeptical that the raids were random in nature.
“First day of school in a predominantly progressive neighborhood that has been vocal about their opposition against federal immigration and primarily communities of color,” she said. “Make no mistake, this was not an accident. This was cruelty by design.”
LAUSD Board Members and various community activists are vowing they will do what they can to make the schools and surrounding areas safe for immigrant parents and their children while continuing to demand that ICE agents stop what they call random arrests on the streets of L.A.
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