The first spark came not in the streets, but at work.
When a wave of ICE raids hit job sites across Los Angeles—including Home Depot warehouses and the Ambiance Apparel garment factory—workers were arrested in front of coworkers, families, and even children. The city lit up. By the weekend, the streets around a federal detention center were filled with protesters demanding the release of more than 40 people taken during Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
This wasn’t a sweep for violent criminals. It was a coordinated campaign targeting working-class immigrant communities—tailors, stockroom workers, warehouse crews. People with deep ties to Los Angeles, many of whom had lived in the U.S. for years, some with asylum claims or legal protections that suddenly meant nothing.
And for those watching, it didn’t feel like law enforcement. It felt like punishment.
Inside Operation At Large: How ICE Raids Became a Weapon of Fear
According to NBC News, the raids were part of “Operation At Large,” a federal campaign that included thousands of ICE agents, up to 21,000 National Guard troops, and an internal mandate from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller: detain 3,000 people a day or be fired.
Footage from across California showed ICE arresting people outside courthouses, snatching them from restaurants, and dragging parents into unmarked vans in front of their children. In San Diego, a surprise raid at a family-owned Italian restaurant ended with flash bang grenades and a standoff with protesters. In Chicago, ICE was confronted by demonstrators after detaining migrants during scheduled immigration check-ins.
But in Los Angeles, the fire caught.
The raids at Ambiance Apparel and Home Depot—two iconic sites of immigrant labor—weren’t just ICE flexing. They were calculated acts of intimidation in the places where undocumented people survive and support their families. Trump didn’t just weaponize deportation. He made it performative.
The City Responded. Trump Doubled Down.
When crowds began gathering at a downtown federal detention center, Trump sent in 1,000 National Guard troops, despite explicit objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.
Then, on Monday, 700 Marines were mobilized to support the Guard, according to U.S. Northern Command.
“Trump didn’t inherit a crisis—he created one,” Mayor Bass posted on X.
“Donald Trump… is the sponsor of these conditions,” Newsom added.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the administration for federalizing the state’s Guard without consent. Civil rights groups including the NAACP, National Action Network, and Legal Defense Fund released a joint statement condemning the militarized response.
“The people’s right to peacefully exercise their collective power and challenge this administration’s unjust policies must be protected.”
See also: Trump Thinks the Real Problem Isn’t Gaza or Blockades—It’s Greta Thunberg’s Attitude
Why the Raids Hit Harder in Los Angeles
These weren’t isolated incidents. They happened in a city that runs on immigrant labor—especially in its garment district and logistics corridors. Factories like Ambiance Apparel have long been criticized for low wages and labor violations. But for many immigrant workers, it’s one of the few places they can find steady employment.
Home Depot, too, has a long history as a magnet for day laborers and undocumented workers.
So when ICE showed up with zip ties and buses, it wasn’t just legal—it was symbolic. They raided the very workplaces that survive off undocumented labor, and then acted surprised when the community fought back.
See also: The Legal Loophole That Let Trump Send Troops Into California Without Newsom’s Consent
This Wasn’t About Safety. It Was About Spectacle.
Trump claimed he was “addressing lawlessness.” But there was no riot, no emergency. Just people demanding dignity and refusing to disappear quietly.
If the workplace raids were meant to break spirits, they did the opposite. They woke up a city that’s seen this story before—and is tired of watching it end the same way.
The ICE raids weren’t just a policy decision. They were the match.
See also: What Happened the Last Time a U.S. President Overrode a State to Deploy the National Guard
