Immigration raids in Southern California set off clashes in Orange County

Los Angeles: A protest against immigration raids Monday night in Santa Ana, 50 km east of downtown Los Angeles, resulted in several injuries and arrests after demonstrators clashed with federal authorities and local police.

The protest was triggered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s raids during the day across Santa Ana, the capital of Orange County, with a population of over 300,000.

Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento told the Orange County Register newspaper that the immigration officials appeared to have targetted day labourers waiting for work.

At least 200 protesters, waving flags and carrying signs, gathered outside a federal building in downtown Santa Ana, which houses ICE offices and other federal department offices, to protest the raids that occurred earlier in the evening.

However, the situation escalated after law enforcement members shot at the crowd, Xinhua news agency cited the Orange County Register as reporting.

Dylan Carranca, 23, of Fullerton, told the newspaper that he was standing in front of the agents near the federal building when he saw three tear gas canisters get thrown into the crowd standing in the street.

“We were just standing there. I didn’t see anything get thrown by our side, and then all of a sudden, we saw three get thrown. One on the right, one in the middle and one on the left. I saw one land and I took off running,” Carranca said, whose eyes had turned red from the gas.

A woman who said she was a nurse volunteering at the scene told City News Service that multiple people were treated for injuries suffered when law enforcement fired rubber bullets at the crowd.

Santa Ana Police Department confirmed that federal agents used tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets on the crowds, saying that US Attorney Bill Essayli personally contacted the city to request assistance, “because federal agents were being overrun at the federal building.”

Yet Santa Ana City Councilmember Jessie Lopez, who was at the protest on Monday, told Voice of OC: “Overrun? That’s a lie.”

Lopez disclosed that the city’s jails were being used over the weekend to house those arrested in the Los Angeles protests. The city has a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service to hold defendants scheduled for federal court hearings.

Local media reported that several people were arrested during Monday night’s clash. Their alleged crimes included setting off fireworks and throwing objects at officers.

IANS