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INGLEWOOD, Calif. () — When immigration raids started in Los Angeles County last year, among the first locations targeted were dozens of neighborhood car washes.
Federal agents surrounded the car washes with vehicles and chased down the workers, detaining hundreds of them.
The raids disrupted the businesses and the lives of the many people they employed.
One year ago, Alma Ramirez’s worst fears came true. She received a call telling her that her partner, Jose, the father of her two young children, had been detained by ICE at his job at a Southern California car wash.
“My life shattered right in front of my eyes,” Ramirez told Eyewitness News. “Just seeing him there, knowing that my kids were at school, coming back home, they were not going to see their dad. It’s been a tough journey, and I just pray, and I hope to God that he’s going to come back soon to us.”
Ramirez’s husband is now being held at a detention center in California City. His next court date is later this month.
Jose was not alone. Last year, Eyewitness News covered dozens of raids at Home Depots and car washes across our region. Some of them were violent, and others saw American citizens detained.
SEE ALSO: ICE agents target well-known Studio City car wash, taking several workers into custody
Angry community members confronted federal agents as they stormed a car wash in Studio City on Friday. “They literally just stole somebody!” a witness said.
Eva Bittan, an attorney with ACLU SoCal, described what the region faced in those early days and months.
“Masked agents, armed to the teeth, roaming the streets, kidnapping our community members, sowing terror in our communities, racially profiling Latinos, carwasheros, day laborers, and other wage workers,” Bittan said.
The CLEAN Carwash Worker Center is the first organization in the country dedicated to helping one of the most exploited groups of workers, and one of the most targeted by ICE. According to CLEAN, more than 100 car washes in the Los Angeles region have been raided in the last year, with nearly 400 workers taken.
“These numbers represent people,” said Flor Melendez, Executive Director of CLEAN Carwash Workers Center. “Workers, parents, family members and community leaders.”
RELATED: Southern California car wash owner files $50M claim over injuries sustained during immigration raid
A 79-year-old U.S. citizen has filed a $50 million civil rights claim after being arrested and injured during an immigration raid at his business in Van Nuys.
Nohemi Cruz’s husband was detained at Westchester Hand Wash and was deported to Mexico.
“One year ago, my husband was taken, and my family’s nightmare began,” Cruz said.
She said her husband was injured, denied healthcare, denied legal representation and was forced to sign his own deportation order.
“Only after signing those documents, he was allowed to shower and make a three-minute phone call. The very next day, he was deported to Mexico,” Cruz said. “The hardest part is waiting. Current processing times can take anywhere from eight to 10 years.
The Cruz family’s story is only one of tens of thousands across the region. It could be up to a decade before the process begins to try to get their family members back in the country.
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