There is a lot of political unrest in our country right now. With so many important issues up for debate, it’s easy to start to get defensive when we look at how these issues are unfolding in our country.
With that being said, let’s look at what happened in LA last month with the abrupt closing of several taco trucks due to ICE raids.
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In case you haven’t been keeping up with the news, ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to Homeland Security, the purpose of ICE is “smart immigration enforcement, humane detention, preventing terrorism, and combating the illegal movement of people and goods”.
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After President Trump took office earlier this year, he began the process of mass deportations. With the passing of the recent spending bill, $45 billion is allocated to immigration detention centers. In addition, around $30 billion will go towards hiring more ICE personnel to assist in mass deportations.
These deportations were never more obvious than on the streets of Los Angeles, impacting local taco truck owners and even customers.
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One of the most prominent food trucks in downtown LA was targeted by a sudden ICE raid. Jason’s Tacos, a popular food truck with a 4.4-star rating out of 655 Google Reviews, was raided so abruptly that witnesses say food was still left cooking as employees were taken away.
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Not only were the employees at Jason’s Tacos apprehended, but some customers were also taken into custody based on their immigration status.
This ICE tactic is known as collateral arrests, which means people who were never the original targets of the investigation were taken into custody because they happened to be in the same area where the intended targets were.
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It’s no surprise that this swift raid of the employees and even customers caused shock and fear within the food truck community. Many food trucks closed as their workers feared being detained similarly to Jason’s Tacos. With customers afraid to frequent these businesses and owners afraid to open their food trucks, the streets are quieter with significantly less traffic.
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Some food vendors with legal work permits are fearful of an ICE raid after witnessing what happened at Jason’s Tacos.
As a result, some of these workers have closed their food trucks or have otherwise changed their typical work routines while they’re feeling anxious about the mass deportations.
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According to a study by the University of Southern California Dornsife in 2020, there were about 900,000 undocumented immigrants in the city of Los Angeles.
Many of these immigrants are food truck workers, owners, and customers, as well as in other areas of employment. Food truck workers are closing down or limiting their hours, and some customers are afraid to frequent food trucks due to fear of collateral arrests, similar to what happened at Jason’s Tacos.
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Families of people affected by ICE raids (such as food truck workers and owners) face a lot of uncertainty and anxiety right now. Do they risk going to work and being detained, or stay home and forfeit their much-needed income?
No matter where you stand on the immigration issue, these food truck workers are people with families, money concerns, and other day-to-day life stressors that most of us have.
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Many businesses are being impacted by ICE raids in Los Angeles. The L.A. City Council President addressed the media today regarding another attempted ICE raid, saying that these raids are negatively disrupting the economy. People are afraid to leave their houses and go anywhere, which results in lost business.
Many immigrants also work in agriculture as farm workers. A loss of agricultural workers can lead to food supply issues down the line.
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A sanctuary city adopts policies that limit its cooperation with the federal government’s immigration enforcement, like ICE. In other words, it means that sanctuary cities try to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation by offering them support and protection.
With Trump’s mass deportations in LA, though, it appears that being a sanctuary city isn’t making much of a difference anymore.
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The raid on Jason’s Food Truck ignited fear among the food vendor community in L.A., which is impacting other workers, their families, and the local economy.
With ICE raids (and subsequent protests) persisting in LA for over a month now, these types of stories are likely to continue as more communities are targeted.
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