Henry Brady<\/b>, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n\u201cPeople Are Vanishing\u201d<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
Jeanette Zanipatin said the scale and tactics of the Trump administration\u2019s latest immigration enforcement efforts are unlike anything she has seen in nearly 30 years as an immigration attorney.<\/p>\n
According to Zanipatin, ICE officers have been detaining immigrants immediately after immigration court hearings \u2014 often with no prior notice or warrants \u2014 cutting off communication between detainees and their lawyers. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing people arrested outside courthouses and USCIS interviews,\u201d she said. \u201cSome leave with representation and still disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawyers attempting to gain access to detention facilities in Los Angeles and Adelanto have been denied entry, including members of Congress such as Rep. Judy Chu. \u201cThat\u2019s unprecedented,\u201d Zanipatin noted. \u201cEven congressional oversight has been stonewalled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMasked Men, No Badges\u201d<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
Perhaps most disturbing are growing reports of masked agents operating without identification. CHIRLA\u2019s rapid response teams have documented agents switching license plates on unmarked vehicles \u2014 many with out-of-state tags \u2014 raising fears that deputized officers or even private contractors could be involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have a right to know who\u2019s arresting them,\u201d Zanipatin said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about plainclothes officers, refusing to show badges, behaving violently in broad daylight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two state bills have been introduced to prohibit these anonymous raids, and CHIRLA is pushing for additional legislation requiring law enforcement to identify themselves and ban mask-wearing during immigration operations.<\/p>\n
Targeting the Innocent<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
Data suggests the administration\u2019s justification \u2014 that it is targeting violent offenders \u2014 does not hold. Roughly 93% of those detained so far have no record of serious or violent crime, and 63\u201365% have no criminal convictions at all, according to CHIRLA and data cited from the Cato Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s racial profiling,\u201d said Zanipatin. \u201cWe\u2019ve even seen U.S. citizens arrested and held in federal custody for days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unprecedented Times<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
Antonio Villaraigosa, who is running for governor, called the raids \u201ca despicable abuse of power.\u201d Having fought against Proposition 187 and Operation Wetback, Villaraigosa said the scale and methods of today\u2019s actions are more militarized than anything in California\u2019s past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen flashbangs used on gardeners, Marines showing up at schools, people dragged from courthouses,\u201d he said. \u201cI grew up fighting for civil rights \u2014 but this is a different beast.\u201d<\/p>\n
He praised peaceful protests but stressed the need for legal challenges and community organizing. \u201cYou can\u2019t physically stop federal enforcement, but you can fight it in court and in the streets \u2014 with people power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Economic Fallout<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
Henry Brady warned that the raids, combined with budget cuts and tariffs, could cost California upwards of $275 billion. \u201cThis is not just an immigration issue \u2014 it\u2019s sabotage of the state\u2019s entire economic infrastructure,\u201d Brady said.<\/p>\n
California\u2019s ports, hospitals, farms, and universities are all under strain, he said, noting Trump\u2019s policies also threaten the future of the UC and CSU systems by undermining international student enrollment and research.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federal government is vandalizing the most successful public university system in the world,\u201d Brady said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re doing it under the guise of patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Is Martial Law in Disguise\u201d<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
Community fear is growing rapidly. According to Zanipatin, entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles are eerily quiet. Parents are too afraid to send kids to school or visit grocery stores. Mutual aid groups are delivering food and essentials to those hiding at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had U.S. citizens arrested. We\u2019ve had people disappear without trace. We\u2019ve had families split apart,\u201d she said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about \u2018illegals.\u2019 This is a war on civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attorney General Rob Bonta confirmed that California is preparing legal challenges. \u201cWe\u2019re committed to defending our people,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not just policy overreach. This is a constitutional crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
As California braces for more federal raids and policy rollbacks, state leaders, legal advocates, and community organizers are mobilizing on multiple fronts \u2014 in the courts, in the legislature, and at the grassroots. From legal hotlines and sanctuary trainings to statewide data privacy legislation, the message is clear: California will not stand down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not just about immigrants,\u201d said Villaraigosa. \u201cThis is about the soul of our state \u2014 and how far we\u2019ll go to protect each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the federal government unleashing a battle against immigrants, California is once again at the center of a national clash over immigration \u2014 and this time, the battleground is Los Angeles. Amid a sweeping federal crackdown, reports of masked ICE agents snatching people from courthouses, job sites, and even graduation ceremonies have triggered widespread outrage…<\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":273003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,275,11,72],"tags":[64640,64639,64847,15126,64848,59828,64850,2382,64851,44964,15332,64849,51521,2150,37108,3945],"class_list":["post-273001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","category-community","category-lifestyle","category-politics-current-affairs","tag-acom","tag-american-community-media","tag-antonio-villaraigosa","tag-california-2","tag-california-attorney-general","tag-chirla","tag-coalition-for-humane-immigrant-rights","tag-donald-trump","tag-henry-brady","tag-ice","tag-immigration-2","tag-jeannette-zanipatin","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-rob-bonta","tag-uc-berkeley"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/06-27-25-Immigration-Crackdown-speakers.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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