ICE Raids in Los Angeles:
A First-Gen Latina’s Perspective on Immigration, Protest, and Resistance

When the Fear Comes Home

I wasn’t planning to write this. But I’d be lying if I said I could focus on music right now.

ICE raids are happening again — across cities, across neighborhoods like mine. For those of us who grew up knowing never to open the door, who watched our parents panic at the sound of a knock, this isn’t just news. It’s a trigger. A memory. A warning.

So no, this isn’t just politics. This is our people. Our families. Our husbands, wives, primos, comadres. And I refuse to act like what’s happening isn’t terrifying just because it doesn’t “fit” the niche of my blog.

La cultura I write about — reggaetón, resilience, joy — doesn’t exist without us. Without our stories. Without our survival.

So today, I’m holding space. For every undocumented person living in fear. For every child worried their parents won’t come home. For every partner scanning headlines and praying for time.

Immigration Protest in 2006: The First Time I Felt It in My Bones

2006. That was the year the first protests in my life truly mattered. I couldn’t join — I had just been in a car accident and was in the hospital with a fractured hip.

But even from my hospital bed, watching the news and hearing about students walking out of Fremont, Locke, and other high schools across South Central the rest of Los Angeles told me one thing: our communities know how to stand up when it counts.

This was before TikTok. Before livestreams. Before hashtags.

Still, LA high schoolers organized walkouts in protest of H.R. 4437, a bill that would’ve made it a felony to be undocumented and would’ve criminalized anyone who helped them.

They didn’t do it for clout. They did it for their families. Their undocumented parents. Their cousins. Themselves.

It was evil then. And what’s happening now — ICE raids in LA in 2025 — is just as violent.

Fast forward almost 20 years, and the attacks are louder, more visible, more traumatic — and now we’re watching them unfold in real time.

June 2025: ICE Raids in LA Return with Brutality

June is supposed to be a month of joy:

• 🏳️‍🌈 Pride
• 🎓 Graduations
• 👔 Father’s Day

But what happens when you’re queer and undocumented? When you’re a father who doesn’t leave for work because he’s scared ICE will snatch him up — and his kids will never see him again?

What happens when a child is left crying at a graduation ceremony because their parent is on the run — clinging to their teacher, in fear, in confusion, in desperation — just praying for them to come back?

This country says it values family. But it destroys Brown families on purpose — in real time — and calls it law.

A First-Gen Nicaraguan-American Speaks

This isn’t performative. This is real life.

I’m a proud daughter of immigrants. I’m married to one.
(And sure, maybe he’s only technically an immigrant because he came here for me — but this still hits home.)

I was lucky. My parents came here on work permits. I never had to fear for their lives as a kid. But that didn’t protect them from the racism. The judgment. The humiliation.

Their thick Nicaraguan accents. Their broken English. The way they were treated like they didn’t belong — even when they were just trying to survive.

We were never “safe” — we just learned how to survive.

🎥 Watch the Scene

“I’m tired of sharing all the good things I have done in this country.
To make you feel bad for me? ¿Pa qué? To convince you? That I am a person?
*laughs* Look at me. I am a person. I have done good things, I have done bad things — like everyone.
¿Y qué? Y ahora me quieren… porque no tengo un pinche papelito quieren destruir a mi familia? Why?
Why would this country do that to millions of people? To be treated like animals. Ni siquiera eso.
A los perros los tratan mejor que a un pinche indocumentado.
This country promised the American Dream, but you lied.
I work hard. Pero tú me arrancas mi sueño.
I’m done begging. I am not a perfect immigrant — but I know I’m not a criminal. No digan mentiras.
This is my home. This is where I belong. Whether you like it or not.”

— from the Netflix series Gentefied

Immigration Isn’t Red or Blue — It’s Human

Let’s be clear:
It’s not just “the system.”
It’s this administration — Trump’s administration — launching ICE raids like it’s a war. (his 2025 agenda reinstated mass enforcement, flooded communities with fear, and revoked humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands)

But we’re not letting Democrats off the hook either.

Obama built the deportation machine (he deported more people than any president in U.S. history — over 3 million — and expanded ICE’s reach through programs like Secure Communities).

Biden promised reform and delivered more trauma (record-high deportations, thousands of kids deported without legal counsel).

Trump is doubling down on fascist cruelty. (his 2025 policies target undocumented families with workplace raids, street-level sweeps, and National Guard cooperation in sanctuary cities)

This blog doesn’t hold back for any party.
Red or blue, conservative or liberal — inhumane is inhumane.

We don’t care what your flag says if your actions harm immigrants.
If you flood our communities with fear,
If you deploy fascist, authoritarian tactics under the name of “safety,”
you are the enemy.

El Pueblo Will Not Stay Silent

We can’t forget where we come from.
We can’t forget the sacrifices made before us.

And now it’s our turn:
To resist.
To organize.
To protect each other from ICE, state violence, and silence.

The National Guard has no place in Los Angeles.
Protesting is a First Amendment right — and that right applies to everyone, regardless of immigration status.

Our name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles.
Did the U.S. government really think we were gonna take this shit sitting down?

LA GUARDIA Y LA MIGRA SON LA MISMA PORQUERÍA.

🧢 Protest Safety Tips for LA Demonstrations

If you’re protesting in the next 30 days in Los Angeles or anywhere under ICE surveillance:

• 🥽 Lab goggles (NOT swim goggles)
• 🎒 Bring a backpack: water, snacks, an extra shirt
• 📞 Memorize key phone numbers in case you’re detained
• 😷 Wear an N95 mask to protect from tear gas or smoke
• 🧤 Heat-resistant gloves (for tear gas canisters)
• 🛡 Elbow and knee pads
• 👁 Don’t wear contacts
• 🕶 Wear plain clothes with no logos
• 📵 Don’t tag individuals on social media (orgs only)
• 💍 Remove all jewelry
• 🪮 Tie hair high and tight
• 💧 Stay hydrated
• ⚠️ Stay alert — always

📚 Resources for Undocumented Immigrants in California

• CHIRLA – Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
• Immigrant Defense Project
• United We Dream
• National Immigration Law Center

✊🏽 We Deserve to Be Here

We love this city.
We built this city.
We protect this city.

I don’t have all the answers. I just know we deserve better than silence.

We should never have to prove we’re worthy.
As immigrants — and families of immigrants —
We are worthy of safety, dignity, and a future.

💼 Support for Undocumented Workers

Facing wage theft, retaliation, or abuse on the job because of your status?

➡️ Elevated HR provides confidential, trauma-informed HR support for undocumented workers and immigrant families.

You’re not alone.
And you’re not powerless.
I see you.
I stand with you.
And I’ll keep using my voice — even when it shakes.