Los Angeles Immigration Raids One Year Later Result in Thousands of Arrests and Removals Alongside Community Impacts

One year after federal immigration agents carried out large-scale raids across Los Angeles, residents continue to report lasting changes to daily life and local economies. The operations, which began in June 2025, produced thousands of arrests and several deaths during pursuits.

Mass protests followed, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement rapidly transferred many detainees out of state or removed them from the country.

U.S. citizenship. Gavidia’s account formed part of a class-action lawsuit alleging racial profiling.

A federal court ordered agents to stop indiscriminate raids and profiling in July 2025, but the Supreme Court overturned that order in September 2025. The ACLU and allied groups filed an amended complaint challenging the reversal. On 6 June 2025, masked agents arrived at the MacArthur Park Home Depot in white vans and arrested nearly two dozen workers.

In August, despite the federal court order, border patrol agents returned in a yellow rental truck and conducted further arrests at the same location. Stephen Miller had directed agents to target Home Depots citywide. Donald Trump signed a $70 billion funding package for immigration enforcement.

The same day, agents arrested dozens of workers, many from the Indigenous Zapotec community, at Ambiance Apparel in the fashion district. Fourteen members of Citlali Fermin’s family were detained; eleven were later released after the Lucha Zapoteca campaign, one was deported after signing documents under disputed circumstances, and two others left detention—one citing inhumane conditions and one after six months.

Antonio, co-owner of a fabric shop in the fashion district, said a client canceled a $4,000–$6,000 order the day of the Ambiance Apparel raid.

Sales at his store have since fallen about 85 percent. Before the raids, fewer than 1,000 people were held daily in ICE’s Los Angeles area of responsibility; that figure has doubled since June 2025. Judges now frequently set immigration bonds at $15,000 or $20,000, well above the $1,500 minimum.

5 million to cover bonds for 150 people; only three bonds have been returned. Melissa Shepard of ImmDef said detention conditions have prompted some detainees to abandon cases to secure release. Gavidia closed his business after repeated patrols reduced foot traffic and safety.

He told his nine-year-old daughter she could not visit from Portland last summer. He testified at the People’s Hearing on Immigration Enforcement and said he plans to reopen his used-car lot. Frederico, a 62-year-old day laborer at MacArthur Park Home Depot, said fewer workers now gather there and fewer jobs are available.