Federal agents detained several people in the Los Angeles area; however, a few days ago a federal judge announced a temporary restriction on arrests without reasonable suspicion and based on race, ethnicity, or language.

“As required by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, agents will be prohibited from making arrests in this District unless the officer has reasonable suspicion that the person to be detained is in the United States in violation of immigration law,” wrote District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong.

She emphasized that federal agents cannot rely on factors such as race or ethnicity, whether Spanish or English is spoken with an accent, presence at specific locations (bus stops, car washes, tow yards, day labor centers, agricultural sites, etc.), or the type of work one does to form reasonable suspicion to detain people, except as permitted by law.

Ron Gochez, an organizer and activist with Union del Barrio, noted on Friday (after the judge’s announcement) a dramatic reduction in federal agents detaining people in the Montebello, El Monte, South Gate, Pasadena, and Cypress Park areas.

“We don’t know if this was a coincidence or if it was due to the temporary order. In any case, we’re not going to “Let’s let our guard down,” the community organizer said. “We knew this was going to continue, and this morning, sure enough, we saw raids starting to happen again in different parts of Southern California, in the greater Los Angeles area.” The activist has no confidence that Trump will follow the judge’s order to end the racial profiling that the activist says is very obvious. “I don’t know how the Trump administration and its representatives can have the audacity to say that they haven’t been practicing racial profiling… They’ve even arrested a group of American citizens who are all brown, so we know it was happening and the world knows it’s happening.”

Gochez estimated that Monday saw a 70% reduction in activity compared to the previous 35 days.

Last weekend, the activist shared that hundreds of people of diverse ethnicities have attended community patrol trainings and he seeks to grow the movement to protect the Latino community.

“I guess if there's one positive thing to come out of all of this, it's that it's uniting our community,” he explained. “It’s making people understand that only the people save the people. We can’t depend on politicians, the police, or anyone else to truly defend our community. We will have to organize ourselves.”

Due to the continuous raids that have been broadcast by the media, a large portion of the migrant workforce is still afraid to leave their homes in the current situation.

A day laborer in the city of Garden Grove, whom we call Alberto to protect his identity, shared that one day after an interview with La Opinion two weeks ago, he saw at least four day laborers who were detained by federal agents.

While he was eating inside his truck with the windows down, Alberto heard immigration agents shouting at the day laborers looking for work.

“Stand up, stand up!” the federal officers told the day laborers before detaining at least six people.

Since that day, Alberto hasn't returned to the Home Depot to look for work. He adds that on that day when he got home, his hands were shaking.

“The day I was present when the immigration officers arrived, I had an anxiety attack,” said the day laborer. “It doesn't seem like it, but you're left a little traumatized by the situation.”

Thanks to his contacts, Alberto has worked a few days a week, which he says has helped him combat the stress of being locked up all day.

He also shared that last week, other day laborers told him that around 10 federal agent trucks arrived at the Home Depot with rifles.

“This situation is getting worse and worse, and more than anything, it's becoming more violent. That's precisely what being locked up does to us,” said Alberto. “It seems our authorities are already taking action on this matter. We hope there is a prompt response because the situation is getting even more out of control, and it’s impossible to keep you locked up for… 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, or the rest of the year.”