Protesters in Boyle Heights peacefully gathered at Mariachi Plaza on Sunday to stand against the immigration raids, before marching to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. where National Guard troops were lined up outside.
Once demonstrators arrived near the detention center on Alameda Street, the sight of tear gas near Aliso Street was enough to spur many of the protesters to retreat and head back. The L.A. Times reported that officers outside the federal detention center were firing tear gas and less-lethal rounds at protesters.
“Keep this peaceful!” demonstrators yelled, urging each other to get on the sidewalk on Alameda Street.
Using a megaphone, Gabriel Quiroz, of the social justice group Centro CSO, urged protesters to head back to Boyle Heights.
“Those masks don’t do much against tear gas. Let’s get the f*** out of here! We’re going to continue to fight and organize,” Quiroz shouted.
The rally began at Mariachi Plaza hours earlier around 11 a.m. where civil rights activist Dolores Huerta urged demonstrators to take a pledge of nonviolence, while highlighting the advocacy of the United Farm Workers.
“We don’t want anybody to be killed in this struggle,” Huerta said.
“I think in our lifetime we never thought that we would see what’s happening now, the total disrespect,” Huerta added. “They’re doing this on purpose because they want to do shock and awe. … They want to make all of us afraid. I don’t think they’re making us afraid, they’re just making us mad.”
The march was organized by Centro CSO to stand against ICE enforcement in L.A. It began on 1st Street with demonstrators chanting, “ICE out of L.A.” and “Aquí el delincuente, es el presidente!” (“The president is the criminal!”) They waved Mexican, Salvadoran, and U.S. flags and held banners and signs reading, “Legalization, Not Deportation” and “Con Nuestra Familia No se Metan” (“Don’t mess with our family”).
Protesters were greeted with tear gas after reaching Alameda Street, where National Guard troops stood outside the detention center. Some protesters remained and many marched back to Mariachi Plaza, where their demonstration ended.
Carlos Montes with Centro CSO said the plan was to rally outside the detention center, but they decided to leave to keep protesters safe.
“We were not ready to deal with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets,” Montes said. “We didn’t want to expose our community.”
Yesenia Castro, owner of Pink and Boujee in Boyle Heights, attended the demonstration at Mariachi Plaza and urged the public to support small business owners amid the raids taking place across the region.
“I have definitely seen a lot of businesses affected. With everything going on, there’s not that many people on the streets. As small business owners, it’s very important to advocate and keep our communities safe, but at the same time we have to have our doors open,” Castro told Boyle Heights Beat.
“It’s been very difficult. Not many of us can afford to keep our places closed, but I feel if we all look out for each other… we can make a difference,” she added.
Sammy Carrera, 33, of Boyle Heights addressed demonstrators at Mariachi Plaza before the march and spoke of his father who immigrated to the U.S. about four decades ago.
“This is the first time that he has been genuinely worried and scared and been in a state of panic. It breaks my heart to have these conversations with my father where he’s contemplating self deportation,” said Carrera, a member of Centro CSO.
To Carrera, who was born and raised in Boyle Heights, being a U.S. citizen is a privilege he plans to use to fight for his father and for his neighbors.
“I have a message for all the hard immigrant working class community members of Boyle Heights, we’re not going to back down. My father put his life and his body on the line when he came to this country, and now it’s my turn to put myself on the line for him and for the others that are here fighting for a better life,” Carrera told the crowd.
“It’s our time to show up for them and fight back,” he said.