Meet the Asians ‘on the front lines’ of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles
LA’s Asian communities, including the largest Filipino population in the US, are mobilising against the ‘military-style raids’ and anxiety

“What we’ve witnessed are military-style raids where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), along with other federal agencies and the military, are going to the communities with their faces covered, armed and taking people from their homes and workplaces,” an activist using the alias Paul Duque from the US-based Filipino labour advocacy group Tanggol Migrante (Defend Migrants) Network, told This Week in Asia.
Nearly 500 people have been arrested in Los Angeles since protests started on June 6 after a series of ICE raids on migrants swept the city.
Close to 10 million people live in Los Angeles county – which includes Los Angeles and 87 other cities. Of these, 48.6 per cent are of Latino or Hispanic heritage – believed to be the primary target of the immigration raids.
Trump’s administration has heightened security measures at the US-Mexico border, amid his pledge to “finish the wall” shortly after taking office for his second presidential term in January.