(Los Angeles) Dozens of American federal agents in tactical clothes and around 90 members of the California National Guard were deployed for about an hour in an almost deserted park in a Los Angeles district with a large immigrant population. It was unclear if arrests had taken place.
Defense officials said the troops and more than a dozen military vehicles would contribute to the protection of immigration agents during their descent into MacArthur park.
“What I saw in the park today looked like a besieged city, under an armed occupation,” said mayor Karen Bass, who described the “political blow” operation.
She indicated that children attending a day camp in the park had been quickly driven inside to avoid seeing the troops. Mme Bass nevertheless indicated that an 8 -year -old boy had told him that he had “afraid of the Ice”.
Photo Patrick T. Fallon, Agency France-Presse
Federal agents of border services rise aboard a armored vehicle near the MacArthur park in Los Angeles, California, on July 7, 2025.
Mme Bass showed a video showing horse agents sweeping a deserted football field.
The operation took place in a park in a district with a large population of immigrants, mainly of Mexican and Central American origin. The streets are lined with shops displaying brands in Spanish and other languages. This district was nicknamed by the local authorities “Ellis Island of the west coast”.
Explanations were requested from the immigration and customs (ICE) services to obtain details.
Jeannette Zanipatin, of the coalition for the rights of immigrants, went on the spot to note the brief, but important presence of federal soldiers and agents. “I really think it’s a source of intimidation,” she said. We know that the Trump administration is looking to make Los Angeles an example. »»
The operation carried out in this large park, located about 3 kilometers west of downtown Los Angeles, involved 17 humve, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances and armed soldiers, defense officials said.
This decision follows the deployment by President Donald Trump of thousands of members of the National Guard and Marines in active service in the city last month to respond to demonstrations against previous police descents.
Photo Patrick T. Fallon, Agency France-Presse
The operation carried out in this large park, located about 3 kilometers west of downtown Los Angeles, involved 17 humve, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances and armed soldiers.
The American president has intensified his efforts to make his campaign promise to illegally expel millions of immigrants from the United States and have been ready to use the country’s military power, which other American presidents have generally avoided.
Defense officials told journalists that it was not a military operation, but recognized that the extent and scope of the national guard participation could make it pass as such in the eyes of the public.
This is why the officials requested anonymity to provide details on the RAID, which have not been publicly revealed.
“It will simply be more visible and larger than what we usually participate in,” said one of them before the raid ends abruptly, without explanation.
A filmed operation?
The main role of the military was to protect immigration agents in the event of a rally of a hostile crowd, said the official. They do not participate in any activity of maintaining order, such as arrests, but the soldiers can temporarily hold citizens if necessary before putting them back to the police, the official said.
“This morning, it looked like a staging for a Tiktok video,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of the Los Angeles municipal council, adding that if the border police wish to film in Los Angeles, she should “ask for a shooting permit like everyone else. And stop trying to scare the inhabitants of this big city and disturb our economy on a daily basis. »»
Photo Patrick T. Fallon, Agency France-Presse
Federal agents during the raid.
Chris Newman, Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing NetWork, said that he had received credible information regarding Monday operation.
It was a show of strength. It was much more a reality TV show than a real repression operation.
Chris Newman, Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Since federal agents have made arrests in Home Depot parking lots and elsewhere in Los Angeles, Mr. Newman found that fewer people have frequent the park and the neighborhoods of immigrants close to the city center.
“The transformation of Los Angeles into a ghost town is disturbing to say the least,” he added.
More than 4,000 California national guards and hundreds of American navies have been deployed in Los Angeles since June, against the will of the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. Last week, the army announced that around 200 of these soldiers would be reinstated in their units to fight forest fires.
