LOS ANGELES: For over a month, Alberto has barely left the small room he rents in a backyard, terrified of encountering masked police conducting immigration raids across Los Angeles.
“It’s terrible,“ said the 60-year-old Salvadoran, who lacks legal status. “It’s a confinement I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.”
To survive, Alberto relies on food deliveries from a local aid group twice a week. “It helps me a lot, because if I don’t have this... how will I eat?” he said, having stopped working at a car wash for weeks.
The recent surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids has led to mass arrests at workplaces and public spaces, sparking protests and fear among the city’s undocumented population.
Videos circulating online show masked, armed officers detaining individuals accused of being criminals.
Critics argue that many arrested were simply working low-wage jobs unwanted by Americans.
The raids, described as brutal and indiscriminate, have triggered demonstrations, some turning violent.
Alberto went into hiding after friends were arrested and deported in a car wash raid. Despite needing medical care for pre-diabetes, he hesitates to leave home.
“I’m very stressed. I have headaches and body pain because I was used to working,“ he admitted.
Trump’s aggressive immigration policies, a key re-election pledge, have shocked Los Angeles, home to hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers.
Public transport use dropped 13.5% in June as migrants avoid movement.
“Certain neighborhoods look like ghost towns,“ said Norma Fajardo of the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, which now delivers food to those too afraid to leave home.
ICE arrested over 2,200 people in Los Angeles in June, with 60% having no criminal record.
With Congress approving $30 billion to expand ICE operations, including hiring 10,000 more agents, Fajardo expects no relief. “This seems like the new normal,“ she said.
Marisol, a Honduran woman, has confined herself and 12 family members to their home for weeks.
“We thank God for the food deliveries,“ she said, too scared to attend church. Her family, who fled gang violence in Honduras, now questions staying in the U.S.
“My sons say they’d prefer to go to Europe,“ she revealed. - AFP
