(NewsNation) — Bell Gardens Mayor Jorgel Chavez has called recent ICE raids happening throughout the state of California “extremely shameful and un-American.”
Chavez said he and city officials made the decision to cancel Independence Day celebrations due to community fears of ICE agents coming to the area to make arrests, accusing the agency of racially profiling the residents.
“We’re being targeted,” Chavez said. “Communities like mine that are predominantly Latino, we’ve seen agents showing up in unmarked cars, wearing masks, refusing to identify themselves. We want to talk about enforcing the law; instead, it’s creating fear.”
Other communities throughout Southern California, like Cudahy and El Sereno, have also decided to cancel their Independence Day celebrations and other community events due to the raids. Chavez said trust must be built between communities and police amid immigration policies.
“We saw what happened five years ago with the George Floyd protests, and it’s taken years to build that trust back with our community,” Chavez said. “But what we’re seeing now is a complete attack on that trust between our police agencies and the residents, so our residents are afraid.”