Nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants were detained by federal agents last month as an intense ICE offensive kicked off on June 6.
The Department of Homeland Security said 2,792 undocumented immigrants were arrested in the LA area with the most arrests happening between June 6 and June 22
The first two weeks of the operations ended with 1,618 arrests while an additional 1,174 people were taken into federal custody in the last week of June and first week of July.
The figures were unprecedentedly high compared to the month of May when over 850 arrests were made according to federal data obtained by the University of California Berkeley.
Across the country, NBC News reported that 185,000 people were arrested between October and June 2 this year. Of those arrests, 2.2% of immigrants were convicted or arrested for serious crimes like murder and sexual assaults. 42% had no criminal history in the U.S.
“Most immigrants that come here, they don’t come here to commit crimes. They come here to make a better life for themselves and their families,” said State Senator Lena Gonzalez, who wants local leaders to do more to stop the raids, especially in her district, which includes Long Beach.
“I think many of our residents want us to use everything in the tool box to fight back against this administration,” Lena said.
The threat of retaliation may be a reason why some cities are taking a wait-and-see approach, according to Lena.
While Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson repeatedly said ICE has no place in Long Beach, he has not commented further. NBC Los Angeles reached out to Richardon’s office for an interview.
But Richardson called for a meeting this week with the Long Beach City Council to discuss options of potentially joining an ACLU lawsuit that led to the recent federal judge ruling that has already decreased agent sightings over the weekend.
Luckily, since the federal court’s intervention last week, immigration advocates who monitor ICE activity said they have seen a slowdown in recent days.
Advocates’ ICE raids’ tracker map also shows immigration activity since Friday is down, compared to June.
Gonzalez doesn’t think the lull in activity will last and wants political leaders to step up and do more.
“Our residents need to be protected, and we need to be united as much as possible,” she added.