In a striking display of force, dozens of immigration agents, some mounted on horseback and others equipped with rifles in armored vehicles, descended upon MacArthur Park on Monday. This operation took place in the heart of Los Angeles’ immigrant community and has raised significant concerns among local residents and activists.
Heavily armored Border Patrol officers positioned a fleet of white minibuses to partially block off streets surrounding MacArthur Park, which has seen a troubling rise in crime and drug-related incidents in recent years. Activists armed with megaphones managed to alert locals in the park about the impending operation, according to police sources. This enforcement sweep follows President Trump's recent budget signing, which allocates substantial funds to the Department of Homeland Security to bolster immigration enforcement to unprecedented levels in the United States.
Los Angeles has become emblematic of Trump’s mass deportation plan, with more than 1,600 arrests reported between June 6 and June 22 alone. The agents arrived at MacArthur Park around 10:30 a.m., having gathered from nearby locations. Upon their arrival, they were met with an outcry from the crowd, with protesters chanting “get the f— out!” and “get out!” Mayor Karen Bass also made an appearance at the park, located just west of downtown Los Angeles.
With heightened awareness over the past few weeks, activists were prepared to deploy legal support to the scene. At one point, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Kim handed his cellphone to Mayor Bass, who was heard urging the person on the other end to leave the area “ASAP.” Demonstrators began chanting loudly, interrupting her conversation. In a statement to the press, Bass declared that the federal immigration agents needed “to leave and they need to leave right now, they need to leave because this is unacceptable.” When asked about the conversation, she revealed she was speaking with “the head of customs” before returning the phone to a U.S. Border Patrol agent and subsequently departing in a black SUV.
It remains unclear whether any arrests were made during the operation. Ron Gochez, a member of Unión del Barrio, an independent political organization advocating for immigrant rights and social justice, characterized the event as “one big, perverse publicity stunt,” stating, “It was just to show force, it was just to take pictures.” By 11:30 a.m., the chaos around Wilshire Boulevard and MacArthur Park had mostly subsided, although a few protesters and members of the media lingered in the area.
Mikema Nahmir, 28, shared his experience of witnessing the event unfold during his morning walk. He saw two women running and shouting that “la migra” was present at MacArthur Park. Joined by a group of protesters, Nahmir chased after the military-style trucks, recounting that someone from the truck discharged an irritant towards him and another protester. “L.A. is ours, this is our city,” Nahmir expressed, reflecting on how his routine morning walk had turned into a chaotic scene. “They’re terrorizing our neighborhood.”
Live social media broadcasts from the scene showcased a line of white vans designed to transport arrested individuals, alongside several agents on horseback. By 11:20 a.m., agents had cleared the area, but the exact number of arrests remained uncertain. U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, who has been overseeing operations in Los Angeles, was present during the enforcement action. Bovino, along with other officials from the Trump administration, has recently faced legal challenges from immigrant rights groups, who are pushing back against what they describe as an “ongoing pattern and practice of flouting the Constitution and federal law” during immigration raids.
These groups argue that the raids disproportionately target individuals based on race, deny due process, and employ tactics that resemble kidnapping rather than lawful enforcement. A federal court hearing regarding these concerns is scheduled for later this week. When approached for comments about the number of arrests made during the operation, a senior DHS official stated, “We don’t comment on ongoing enforcement operations.”
