(NewsNation) — Undocumented immigrants living in the Los Angeles area are trying to avoid being captured and removed from the country amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been conducting raids across the area, including at stores like Home Depot.
Usually, such stores would be packed with hundreds of day laborers looking for work, but are now essentially empty.
The people who would usually show up are in hiding, fearing that ICE might show up at a moment’s notice and take them away.
Workers told NewsNation there would typically be around 200 lining the parking lot, but there were fewer than 20 on Tuesday.
Raiding stores like Home Depot has become a common strategy for ICE, with stores across Southern California reporting raids.
One Cuban immigrant who asked to remain anonymous told NewsNation he’s seen men get snatched up in parking lots.
“[It’s like] you’re catching animals, it’s like they’re not considering these people to be human because you take their freedom and they have committed no crime,” he said. “Some of them don’t even hear their Fifth Amendment right, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in law.”
Protesters have been fighting back against federal agents for nearly two weeks, with civil disobedience beginning after ICE agents were spotted near a Home Depot, leading to protests, tear gas and burning cars.
Police were outnumbered and President Donald Trump decided to send in the National Guard and U.S. Marines, over the objection of California officials who said the protests were under control.
Immigrants who spoke to NewsNation said they are not criminals, they’re just honest people looking for work, trying to feed their families and support themselves.
However, they are still in the country illegally, and for that reason, ICE is targeting areas where immigrants are known to look for work.
The White House has set a quota of 3,000 arrests per day as the administration works to fulfill campaign promises to deport immigrants in the country illegally.
There has also been confusion over the number of National Guard troops in LA after a recent release saying that the Department of Defense deployed 2,000 National Guard troops.
The release came amid a court battle over the legality of Trump’s decision to federalize the National Guard. The administration recently clarified that the release referred to another activation of the troops already present, not the deployment of additional troops.