Here's how SoCal's car washes are learning to operate in the Trump era

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Mario remembers his shift at Harbor Blvd Car Wash on that clear August day.He was in the conveyorized tunnel dealing with an equipment issue when he heard screams.

In a panic, he ran and hid in a dark bathroom stall.Outside, he listened to his co-worker scuffle with a masked man until he heard, “OK, you’ve got me.” Then silence.

He had just begun to think he was safe, when someone grabbed his arm.Mario, who asked to be identified by only his first name because of his pending immigration case, is among seven workers who U.S.Customs and Border Patrol detained at the Santa Ana car wash that day.

The Trump administration’s aggressive and sometimes chaotic immigration sweeps that began last summer have rattled immigrant workforces in major industries such as hospitality, agriculture, construction and food service, causing absenteeism, disruptions in production and workers to risk their lives, including a farmworker who fell to his death during a cannabis greenhouse raid in July.The raids have had sweeping impacts on specific local economies, such as downtown L.A.’s Fashion District and the areas of Lynwood, Bell and Pico Rivera, rendering neighborhoods ghost towns for stretches, with businesses shuttered and customers scarce.Few sites, however, became such frequent battlegrounds as the parking lots of Home Depots, where day laborers congregate, or were hit as persistently and severely as the open air car washes that dot sunny Southern California.More than 370 workers were picked up at some 100 car washes across Los Angeles and Orange counties in the last year, according to CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, a labor advocacy nonprofit that tracks raids through community reports, social media footage, and worker outreach.Mario and a few dozen other car wash workers have been able to secure their release, but most of his peers remain detained or have been deported.

He mostly stays ...