Mayor La says Trump will “take” Gavin Newsom’s authority
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is asking Trump administrators to stop the immigrant raids in order to curb responses from protesters.
- Protests occur every night outside hotel activists. I believe the ice agents are staying.
- Protests include pots, pans and loud music.
- In some cases, the protest will last until 3am.
- An ICE spokesperson said the demonstrations were “fueled by a disinformation campaign.”
The cry of pots and pans. A stable sound that beats the drums. A cry of passing a car with a flag waving protruding out the window. A band that plays traditional Mexican songs. Speakers screaming at the megaphone. Chants come from dozens of people.
It unfolds in the middle of the night outside Home2 Suites in Hilton, Montebello, California in late June.
The goal of this latest protest? Make as much noise as possible so that we can prevent immigrants and customs enforcers from sleeping and not force them elsewhere.
“They were just making noise, they were playing music, some people were dancing,” said Verita Topete, leader of the Centro CSO immigration committee, who participated in the protest. “Many people had signs saying, ‘Ice isn’t welcome here.’ ”
She said she had arrived by 8:30pm on June 20th and before she knew it, the crowds began to appear on the sidewalk outside the hotel.
By 10pm, dozens more protesters had joined the group. Toppett, at 3am, did not break up until the next day, blocking people from entering the front of the hotel with enough people to take over the two-lane streets.
The protests are part of a nightly “no sleep for ice” campaign in and around Los Angeles County, where protesters gather outside the hotel, ice agents stay, kick out the ice and fuss to push the agents out of their sleep.
Topete said the protest was “crucial to put pressure on and informing city and state officials that they disagree with this.”
On the second night at Montebello, Toppett said the band appeared along with drums and guitar, with many dancing to traditional Mexican songs such as “Caballo Dorado” and “Lachona.” Others who attended went with their family. While most people were walking, others waving Mexican flags and squealing horns, passing through the car.
“It was a very peaceful protest, but it was very loud,” she said.
An ICE spokesman pushed back the protest when asked to comment on the non-hotel demonstrations.
“This violence is supported by disinformation campaigns that include dangerous rhetoric by local elected officials,” an ICE spokesperson said. “Our brave officers implement laws set by Congress every day to remove the threat of public safety from our communities.”
A spokesman for the Hilton Hotel did not reply to a request for comment.
Noise protests will begin in early June
Other noise protests include one on June 8th, two days after the ice began the attack in Los Angeles. Community members gathered outside the AC hotel in Pasadena, about 10 miles from Los Angeles, protesting that ice agents would stay there. Hundreds of people appeared outside the hotel after photos of ice cars parked outside the hotel went viral on local group chats and social media pages.
When some of the first protesters arrived, they learned that many of the hotel workers had been terrified. They chanted “Chinga La Migra” and “Fuera Ice” and by the evening the agents had been kicked out of the hotel. Since then, protesters have been gathering outside the hotel every night.
“The point is to drive ice out of these hotels and make it impossible to exist here,” said Andrew Guerrero, a candidate for UCLA and doctoral programs at Harvard University. “We don’t want them to have access to these amenities. We don’t want our local community to embrace what the temptants are considering.”
Guerrero said he took part in multiple protests outside hotels in Los Angeles County, including those in Hacienda Heights, Downey, Long Beach and Montebello. He said the protests “please let them know that when they are in our neighborhood they cannot sleep peacefully.”
He attended a protest outside the Hilton in Montebello the day before Toppett. When he got there around 11pm, he said there were already dozens of people. He said he brought a case of pots and pots, speakers and water for protesters.
“It’s like a small community around us,” Guerrero said. “People are making multiple protests overnight, sharing resources and knowledge about what’s going on, and trying to inform each other.”
Guerrero said the protest has also gained support from people staying at the hotel. He said one man who came out of the hotel nodded to the protesters, and another family member who went to the hotel gave them a thumbs up. He said he sympathizes with others who may feel “creating a hostile environment,” but he believes that “it’s justified and merely because this confusion is happening.”
“We feel like we’re under the profession. We just listen to the story behind us, like, ‘They took this person, they took this person,'” Guerrero said. “They literally disappear people.”
Law enforcement pushback
Some protests are filled with resistance from law enforcement.
When Indigenous organizer and artist Quali Aleman arrived at a protest outside the DoubleTree in Hilton in Whittier, California on June 11, she saw many people marching up and down the street with flags and signs. Other protesters stood huddled at the entrance to the hotel, chanting “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “remove F from LA.” People were also blowing up music through speakers and cars and spinning motorcycles.
But shortly afterwards, Aleman said Whittier police had come out of the hotel and began to emit deadly weapons into the crowd. She said the protesters ran in hiding, but soon after, they returned and resumed their protests.
“We kept speaking out in protest because we didn’t like what was going on,” Aleman said. “Our friends and their relatives, neighbors, children, adults, everyone of all ages, everyone of all backgrounds is being accused of, so we ask for an answer.”
The Whittier Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Aleman said the decision to send federal agents to a hotel in Los Angeles was a waste of resources that could have otherwise been put into community resources.
“It makes no sense to focus all the resources and talent and people, to join forces on hardworking people, those trying to survive, to sell fruit on the streets, to work in construction and fields, to work everywhere, to not commit crimes,” Aleman said.
Topete said, “It’s crazy to see how many cities allow ice agents.” But she said she was proud to see people take them on the streets to protest peacefully.
“I love seeing the community come out and talk for the undocumented community members who are being kidnapped,” Toppett said. “If we are all united, they are fearless and don’t be afraid to stand up for our people.”
