Many Americans are witnessing immigration arrests for the first time and reacting

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Adam Greenfield was home nursing a cold when his girlfriend raced in to tell him Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles were pulling up in their trendy San Diego neighborhood. The author and podcast producer grabbed his iPhone and bolted out the door barefoot, joining a handful of neighbors recording masked agents raiding a popular Italian restaurant nearby, as they yelled at the officers to leave. An hour later, the crowd had grown to nearly 75 people, with many in front of the agents’ vehicles. “I couldn’t stay silent,” Greenfield said. “It was literally outside of my front door.” More Americans are witnessing people being hauled off as they shop, exercise at the gym, dine out and otherwise go about their daily lives as President Donald Trump’s administration aggressively works to increase immigration arrests. As the raids touch the lives of people who aren’t immigrants themselves, many Americans who rarely, if ever, participated in civil disobedience are rushing out to record the actions on their phones and launch impromptu protests. Arrests are being made outside gyms, busy restaurants Greenfield said on the evening of the May 30 raid, the crowd included grandparents, retired military members, hippies, and restaurant patrons arriving for date night. Authorities threw flash bangs to force the crowd back and then drove off with four detained workers, he said. “To do this, at 5 o’clock, right at the dinner rush, right on a busy intersection with multiple restaurants, they were trying to make a statement,” Greenfield said. “But I don’t know if their intended point is getting across the way they want it to. I think it is sparking more backlash.” Previously, many arrests happened late at night or in the pre-dawn hours by agents waiting outside people’s homes as they left for work or outside their work sites when they finished their day. When ICE raided another popular restaurant in San Diego in 2008, agents did it in the early morning without incident. White House border czar Tom Homan has said agents are being forced to make more arrests in communities because of sanctuary policies that limit cooperation with ICE in certain cities and states. ICE enforces immigration laws nationwide but seeks state and local help in alerting federal authorities of immigrants wanted for deportation and holding that person until federal officers take custody. Vice President JD Vance, during a visit to Los Angeles on Friday, said those policies have given agents “a bit of a morale problem because they’ve had the local government in this community tell them that they’re not allowed to do their job.” “When that Border Patrol agent goes out to do their job, they said within 15 minutes they have protesters, sometimes violent protesters who are in their face obstructing them,” he said. ‘It was like a scene out of a movie’ Melyssa Rivas had just arrived at her office in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California one morning last week when she heard the frightened screams of young women. She went outside to find the women confronting nearly a dozen masked federal agents who had surrounded a man kneeling on the pavement. “It was like a scene out of a movie,” Rivas said. “They all had their faces covered and were standing over this man who was clearly traumatized. And there are these young girls screaming at the top of their lungs.” As Rivas began recording the interaction, a growing group of neighbors shouted at the agents to leave the man alone. They eventually drove off in vehicles, without detaining him, video shows. Rivas spoke to the man afterward, who told her the agents had arrived at the car wash where he worked that morning, then pursued him as he fled on his bicycle. It was one of several recent workplace raids in the majority-Latino city. The same day, federal agents were seen at a Home Depot, a construction site and an LA Fitness gym. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people had been detained. “Everyone is just rattled,” said Alex Frayde, an employee at LA Fitness who said he saw the agents outside the gym and stood at the entrance, ready to turn them away as another employee warned customers about the sighting. In the end, the agents never came in. Communities protest around ICE buildings Arrests at immigration courts and other ICE buildings have also prompted emotional scenes as masked agents have turned up to detain people going to routine appointments and hearings. In the city of Spokane in eastern Washington state, hundreds of people rushed to protest outside an ICE building June 11 after former city councilor Ben Stuckart posted on Facebook. Stuckart wrote that he was a legal guardian of a Venezuelan asylum seeker who went to check in at the ICE building, only to be detained. His Venezuelan roommate was also detained. Both men had permission to live and work in the U.S. temporarily under humanitarian parole, Stuckart told The Associated Press. “I am going to sit in front of the bus,” Stuckart wrote, referring to the van that was set to transport the two men to an ICE detention center in Tacoma. “The Latino community needs the rest of our community now. Not tonight, not Saturday, but right now!!!!” The city of roughly 230,000 is the seat of Spokane County, where just over half of voters cast ballots for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Stuckart was touched to see his mother’s caregiver among the demonstrators. “She was just like, ‘I’m here because I love your mom, and I love you, and if you or your friends need help, then I want to help,’” he said through tears. By evening, the Spokane Police Department sent over 180 officers, with some using pepper balls, to disperse protesters. Over 30 people were arrested, including Stuckart who blocked the transport van with others. He was later released. Aysha Mercer, a stay-at-home mother of three, said she is “not political in any way, shape or form.” But many children in her Spokane neighborhood — who play in her yard and jump on her trampoline — come from immigrant families, and the thought of them being affected by deportations was “unacceptable,” she said. She said she wasn’t able to go to Stuckart’s protest. But she marched for the first time in her life on June 14, joining millions in “No Kings” protests across the country. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as strongly as I do right this here second,” she said. _____ Offenhartz reported from Los Angeles and Rush from Portland, Oregon. JAKE OFFENHARTZ JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto CLAIRE RUSH CLAIRE RUSH Rush is an Associated Press reporter covering Oregon state government and general news in the Pacific Northwest more broadly. twitter mailto Paid for by HealthyWallet Retirees Who Collect Under $3,495/mo SS Could Now Be Entitled To These 'Extra' Benefits In June Seniors at Santa Monica Should Claim These Benefits HealthyWallet logo U.S. Privacy Supreme Court allows Trump to restart swift deportation of migrants away from their home countries The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations. AP News Trump says Gabbard was 'wrong' about Iran and Israeli strikes could be 'very hard to stop' President Donald Trump says his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was “wrong” when she previously said that the U.S. believed Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon. AP News Amazon Is Losing Money as California Shoppers Are Canceling Prime for This Clever Hack Online Shopping Tools Advertisement: Seniors Can Now Fly Business Class For the Price Of Economy Insider | Travel Deals Advertisement: Seniors Can Now Fly Business Class For The Price Of Economy Using This Hack Insider | Travel Deals Advertisement: Closing Soon StartEngine Advertisement: How to build faster and increase profits by 43% Buildertrend Advertisement: Co-Founder of Google Brain, Andrew Ng, Recommends: "These 5 Books Will Turn Your Life Around" Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Advertisement: Costco Shoppers Say This Wrinkle Cream Is "Actually Worth It" The Skincare Magazine Advertisement: Neuropathy? When The Burning, Tingling & Numbness Won't Stop Health Insight Journal Advertisement: Cardiologists Recommend: Eat 1 Teaspoon Tonight – Wake Up With a Flatter Stomach Hollywood News | USA Advertisement: The Handmade Painted Book Mug Is Taking California By Storm Sherum Advertisement: Why California Loves This Charcuterie Platter [See] SOLYMALL Advertisement: What to know about debate over protesters and ICE agents wearing masks amid immigration crackdowns People fearful of being arrested for wearing masks while protesting immigration raids in Los Angeles and other cities have voiced anger over Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents covering their faces. AP News Mike Lee's posts about the Minnesota shootings incensed fellow senators. They refused to let it go Sen. Mike Lee posts thousands of times, often late at night, about politics. Colleagues have grown accustomed to the Utah Republican’s online persona, mostly brushing it off. AP News Sherman Oaks: 5 AI Stocks to Watch [See List] Seeking Alpha Advertisement: Outdated Security Software? Stay Protected Advertisement: Harvard Professor Steven Pinker Recommends: 5 Books For Rational Optimism Blinkist: Celebrity Reading Lists Advertisement: Jury awards $2.25 million to Georgia couple in suit over autopsy images of decapitated baby A jury has awarded a Georgia couple $2.25 million in their lawsuit accusing a pathologist of posting graphic videos of an autopsy of their decapitated baby. AP News Democrats are at odds over response as Trump announces the US has entered Israel-Iran war Democrats seem to be at odds once more when it comes to the Mideast. Even before President Donald Trump's announcement Saturday that the U.S. had struck Iranian nuclear sites, progressives demanded unified opposition of any U.S. such move. AP News This Rib Prep Tool is a Game Changer Glosrity Advertisement: Costco Shoppers Say This Drugstore Wrinkle Cream Is "Absolutely" Worth It Top Beauty Trends Advertisement: California: The Truth Behind Overpriced Massage Chairs Relaxe Advertisement: Most read This satellite picture by Planet Labs PBC shows Iran's underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordo after a U.S. airstrike targeted the facility Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) US claims strikes on Iran nuclear sites caused ‘severe damage,’ but full impact is unclear Alarm grows after the US inserts itself into Israel’s war against Iran with strikes on nuclear sites ICE detains Marine Corps veteran’s wife who was still breastfeeding their baby Live updates: Iran says it launched attack on US forces at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base Judge will order Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release before trial, but ICE plans to detain him For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/