Friday morning in the Fashion District, workers removed metal gates protecting storefronts, hung awnings and installed clothing displays and signs advertising sales of $1 accessories and $2 shirts.
Perusing lace stockings and harnesses at Wendy’s Lingerie on Maple Avenue, Faith Avila, 24, and her friend had no idea that just 24 hours before, the intersection just yards away had been locked down by federal agents. Or that the store she was browsing in had closed its doors for the rest of the day.
Federal agents carried out an immigration operation, destabilizing buyers and distressing business owners who were experiencing difficulties following last year’s enforcement operations.
The sweep took place Thursday morning near Maple Avenue and 11th Street. Videos shared on social media showed armed officers standing in the middle of the intersection as a procession of unmarked vehicles entered 11th Street.
Displays are set up Friday during store openings in the Fashion District of Los Angeles.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Witnesses reported seeing the agents visit sellers and ask for proof of citizenship. It was not immediately clear if anyone had been taken.
In an email response to The Times, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not provide details about the operation but said federal immigration agents would continue to operate in the city.
Thursday’s surge comes less than a year after the Trump administration launched its mass eviction campaign in the Fashion District, a popular shopping district covering more than 100 blocks of downtown Los Angeles and home to more than 4,000 independent and minority-owned businesses, many with predominantly Latino workers.
In June, Federal immigration agents targeted four businesses in the shopping district.
Those raids were followed by months of protests in the city and clashes with federal immigration agents at the detention center where detainees were being held until their release or transfer. Hundreds of Marines and active-duty National Guard members were sent to the city in response, sparking a legal standoff between California and the Trump administration.
But that month’s operations turned the bustling shopping district into a ghost town. Foot traffic fell and business sales declined.
Dulce Ramirez works at a clothing store in the Fashion District on Friday. She said it was difficult to recruit workers. Many workers in the region, she said, are undocumented.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
At the Isabella Blush women’s clothing store, located a block from the scene of the operation, Dulce Ramirez said she was inside the store when she first heard screams. Then she saw people running in the street; some got into cars and sped away while others took out their phones and began filming the officers.
Ramirez said her boss, the store owner, suggested closing for the day, but she told him she didn’t mind staying open.
“But he was just dead,” she said.
Magaly Hoffman, 45, an employee at a nearby bridal and quinceañera dress store who asked that the business not be named, said a mother took shelter in the store and then frantically called her sons on the phone. Hoffman said some people were laughing out of nervousness.
She said the sweeps caused two hot dog and fruit vendors to flee. They never came back. She said a perfume store across the street had not reopened as of the morning. There was also no window selling Italian shoes.
“Yesterday afternoon I had no customers,” Hoffman said. “I’ll be honest. I was expecting a good day.
Anthony Rodriguez, president and director of the LA Fashion District Business Improvement District, a private group of area real estate owners, said last summer’s operation led to a 37 percent drop in visits to the neighborhood. Although businesses continued to struggle, the summer season helped soften the blow.
“Historically, this post-holiday period is slower for retail,” he said. “So the timing is what complicates things and concerns us a little bit more.”
Businesses are struggling more than the pandemic, he said, when they received government support during the recession.
“That’s not the case right now,” Rodriguez said. “These people are left to their own devices. They live from sale to sale, from dollar to dollar, day to day, and no help comes to them.”
Rodriguez urged Angelenos to shop in the neighborhood to support business owners.
On social networks, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denounced Thursday’s operation.
“ICE was seen today in the Fashion District, an area still struggling months after earlier raids chased away customers and left workers afraid to return,” she said. wrote on X. “This administration has used Los Angeles as a model for its policies of racial profiling and illegal takeover of our cities. »
Before the searches, Ramirez said the women’s clothing store would bring in about $1,800 in sales per day. These days, it’s down to $200. And Ramirez said she no longer has to fight with people on the street for parking. Many meters are free every morning.
About a block away from Ramirez, a man who owns a business selling electronics and appliances, as well as a cart selling cold drinks, said he is trying every strategy imaginable to revive sales. He said he had seen an 80% drop in business since the June raids.
The man, who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation from federal agents, has operated one business or another — usually several — in the area for about 37 years.
“You have to do a lot of different things. No single item works anymore. Before, I could just sell speakers. Now I have all this,” he said, pointing to a nearby table with game consoles and brightly lit screens displaying Super Mario Bros. and Captain America games.
Next to the video games, he carefully arranged dozens of Hello Kitty plush dolls on a rack above rows of smiling Lafufus — an off-brand version of Labubus — and stacks of incense sticks and tennis shoes.
“Times are tough,” he said. “We still have three years left with this government (the Trump administration). We don’t know how we’re going to end up.”
Source | domain www.latimes.com
