'We’re not going away': DHS vows to stay in LA as ICE arrests spread to churches, schools

LOS ANGELES - Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reaffirmed the federal government's presence in Los Angeles, saying agents are working hard to take "bad actors" and "criminals" off the street. Despite the Trump administration's claims that only "the worst of the worst" are being targeted, ICE arrests across Southern California have also targeted workers and families with no violent criminal records.

Her comments come after several days of protests across Southern California in response to the ICE raids.

While the federal government insists that ICE agents are going after criminals, images shared online and local witness accounts from people show a stark difference… with raids reportedly occurring at churches, hospitals, schools, agricultural fields, even during court check-ins.

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Feds say they are just doing their job

What they're saying:

Secretary Noem was in Los Angeles on Thursday addressing the recent raids and protests that broke out Friday, June 6. 

"As you know, we've seen two under this last week, some operations that have been working to bring in criminals that have been out on our streets for far too long. Our DHS and ICE individuals have been out conducting operations with our government partners to make sure that these criminals, bad actors, murderers, rapists, pedophiles, traffickers and drug traffickers are brought in and brought to justice," Noem said. 

Noem said the department will continue to sustain and increase their operations. "We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city."

Officials with border patrol and ICE confirmed her statements by saying they would remain in Los Angeles until their work is done. 

"That's why we're here right now, is to remove those bad people and bad things, whether illegal aliens, drugs or otherwise. We're here. We're not going away. Border patrol officers, field operations and air and Marine. You'll see us in Los Angeles. You'll continue to see us in Los Angeles. Not going anywhere soon," stated Greg Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of El Centro Border Patrol Sector.

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In addition to detailing their goal in LA, federal officials condemned the violent protests, saying attacks on officers and violence of any kind won't be tolerated. 

"On this past Friday, you saw the men and women of ICE and these DOJ partners executing a criminal warrant on a criminal immigration enforcement case. Yet the city turned against us, and we had violent protesters. And that just won't happen because the men and women of ICE won't be deterred by this. We're going to be out there every day conducting our law enforcement mission," said acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. 

While it's unclear how long the raids might officially go on for, LA Mayor Karen Bass said it was rumored to last 30 days, however, that has not been confirmed by the government. 

During Thursday's press conference, a reporter asked Noem to clarify some rhetoric that some of the people who have been detained or arrested are not criminals. Noem responded by saying, "If you come into this country illegally, you have committed a crime."

DHS is urging immigrants to "self-deport," offering $1,000 and a plane ticket—but warning that anyone arrested "will never get the chance to live in the United States again."

Community outraged over raids 

The other side:

While many in Los Angeles said they supported Trump's plan to deport violent criminals, residents and lawmakers now say that plan isn't happening and people are getting picked up at gas stations, car washes, churches, and other community places. 

Community organizations said due to the raids, many people are afraid to leave their houses, get food, or visit their doctor.

"What our community has said again and again is that they just feel hunted, and they feel kidnaped. They feel sequestered. and they are hunting people that might end up in a church parking lot or might end up in another parking lot. But we also know that organizations are receiving specific letters that seem to threaten them," said Fr. Brendan Busse with Dolores Mission Church.

Angelica Salas, Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said the raids are cruel and a violation of human, civil, and constitutional rights. During a press conference Thursday afternoon alongside Mayor Bass, Salas said people in the city are being racially profiled in an unprecedented way. 

"The pain that we are witnessing when we talk to the family members is unbearable, of children being left behind. And I want this president to know that this city is tough. It is organized, it is disciplined and will not tolerate what is happening at this moment. What was very clear to me this year was at the beginning of the year, they were not just going after the immigrant community, but they were going to go after all the immigrant rights organizations that supported them and they did. They began by defunding us, by making sure that organizations here next to me wouldn't have the resources to be able to go represent children and vulnerable adults and disabled individuals in detention that took away legal services from those who are still trying to find their parents and their children from the first Trump administration," Salas said. 

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