Immigration sweep rattles L.A.s Fashion District, deepening fears and slumping sales
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In the Fashion District on Friday morning, workers hoisted up the metal grates protecting storefronts, strung up canopies and set up racks of clothing and signs advertising sales for $1 accessories, $2 shirts.Browsing lacy stockings and harnesses at Wendy’s Lingerie on Maple Avenue, Faith Avila, 24, and her friend had no idea that a mere 24 hours before, the intersection a few yards away had been locked down by federal agents.Or that the store she was browsing in had shut down the rest of the day as a result.Federal agents had carried out an immigration sweep, unsettling shoppers and distressing business owners who were struggling from last year’s enforcement operations.
The sweep took place late Thursday morning near Maple Avenue and 11th Street.Videos shared on social media show armed agents standing in the middle of the intersection while a procession of unmarked vehicles turned into 11th Street.Witnesses reported seeing the agents visiting vendors and requesting proof of citizenship.
It was not immediately clear if anyone had been taken.In an email response to The Times, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not provide details of the operation but said that federal immigration agents would continue to operate in the city.Thursday’s sweep came less than a year after the Trump administration kicked off its mass deportation campaign at the Fashion District, a popular shopping area covering more than 100 blocks of L.A.’s downtown and home to more than 4,000 independently and minority-owned businesses, many of them with predominantly Latino workers.In June, federal immigration agents targeted four businesses in the shopping district.Those raids were followed by months of protests in the city and clashes with federal immigration agents at the detention center where detainees were being held until release or transfer.
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