"Working Under Threat": Los Angeles Migrants Continue Labor Amidst Immigration Raid Operations
In the gritty parking lots of Home Depot stores across America, migrants have long gathered every morning, in search of temporary work that could pay their bills and send precious remittances back home. Tragically, these places of hope have recently become battlegrounds, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escalated their operations under the Trump administration. This was a harrowing reality faced by 100 undocumented workers in a Los Angeles Home Depot last week, who scattered in a panic, shouting "la migra!", as officials descended in SUVs.
"It was like a movie," recalled Oscar Mendía, a Guatemalan migrant, who witnessed the raid on Friday. "People were hiding under wood, in the trash, anywhere they could find a little space." The operation was part of the controversial immigration crackdown that the administration of Republican Donald Trump initiated that day, targeting factories and workplaces in America's second-largest city.
"It all started here," said Mendía, pointing to the parking lot where only about 20 people could now be seen. The Guatemalan, who has lived in the United States undocumented for 26 years, had never been a part of the horrifying raids before.
"It's one thing to see it on TV, and another to live it," he said. "You just panic, you get scared when you see a van, like that one," he said, pointing to a white van. But the need to work is stronger than fear, the workers say.
"It's hard, but we have to work, we have families to support," said another 40-year-old migrant from Honduras, who sends money home to care for his six children.
Mendía believes that men like him, who have educated and supported their children in Guatemala through remittances, have less to fear in this tense climate. But for the new generation, the situation is "terrifying," he commented. "They come with dreams, they come hoping for a future."
Next to him, a 21-year-old worker nods nervously. The young man escaped the raid because he had already been picked up to go to a job site. On Monday, he hesitated, but he came back: "We have needs."
These migrant workers with similar stories keep coming, fleeing countries ravaged by economic and political crises, or violence, in search of work to help their families. And in the United States, they find a place in sectors like construction and agriculture, where they play a crucial role not only as labor but also as contributors. In 2023, undocumented immigrants contributed nearly $90 billion in taxes in the United States, according to an analysis by the American Immigration Council.
"Why is Donald Trump doing this?", interrupted a Mexican man who also escaped the raid on Friday. The man, who emigrated in 1997 and asked not to be identified, questioned the operations targeting workers, as well as the deployment of military personnel as protests heat up in the streets.
"How come Trump sends the National Guard to us, and when his own people went crazy at the Capitol (in 2021), he didn't use the National Guard?", he questioned, referring to the assault on the U.S. Congress that year. "Why is he attacking Los Angeles? Because we are a powerhouse, because we are the ones who drive the economy. (...) This country would collapse without the Latinos," he continued. Medina agreed: "This is an immigrant nation," he said, recalling the German roots of Trump himself. "From the president to the one who sweeps the streets. Why us?"
Ironically, this intensified law enforcement seems driven more by politics than by the national interest. According to various sources, Trump's campaign and presidency were heavily focused on immigration issues, often using rhetoric that linked undocumented immigrants to crime and national security threats. This framing helped justify aggressive enforcement actions, as the administration aimed to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants with an ambitious goal of deporting one million immigrants in 2025. While Trump's administration faced legal challenges and public resistance, particularly in immigrant-heavy cities like Los Angeles, they continued to pursue this deportation agenda, even deploying U.S. military personnel in areas with significant migrant communities.
- The Guatemalan migrant, Oscar Mendía, stated, "It's one thing to see it on TV, and another to live it."
- Mendía also commented, "They come with dreams, they come hoping for a future."
- The Mexican man, who escaped the raid on Friday, questioned, "Why is Donald Trump doing this?... This country would collapse without the Latinos," recalling Trump's German roots.
