The Los Angeles Times is pushing back on misinformation circulating on the internet about a raid at a local swap meet back in June.
In the article What social media got wrong about the ICE raids of the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet the writers took a deep dive behind the federal enforcement action that has caused many of the regular vendors to stay away.
The swap meet isn’t just a place where vendors sell their wares, but also a place where regulars congregate to listen to live music, socialize and have a good time. But that has drastically changed after federal officers targeted the popular gathering place this summer.
In June, nearly 100 federal immigration enforcement officers descended upon the swap meet which yielded the arrest of two Colombian nationals.
According to the article, the enforcement action resulted in a drop in patrons and the loss of about 66 of its 306 vendors, which has forced a reduction in staffing from 111 employees to 67.
“Much of the fury that followed the raid was fueled by speculation and rumors that spread through social media. The posts included videos and news reports describing the operation as chaotic, hours long and suggested that dozens of vendors and customers may have been detained, including some who were dragged out of bathrooms. Some posts claimed the Marines and National Guard took part in the raid,” wrote Jasmine Mendez and Ruben Vives.
According to the swap meets owner, “…misinformation spread across social media that created a false narrative that eroded the public’s trust and worsened the economic hardship experienced by the business and its vendors.”
“To be clear, the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, and its personnel did not coordinate with ICE or participate in any preplanning of immigration enforcement with federal officials,” swap meet officials said in the statement. “These actions were completely out of our control.”
“The raid itself was brief, limited in scope and yielded only two arrests — far from the rumors of mass detentions,” the officials said in their statement.
Videos circulating around social media, from various enforcement actions around the nation, tend to appear chaotic given that members of the public will descend upon the scene and, at times, confront officers conducting the enforcement.
In a written statement to The Times, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection were at the swap meet that day. They said two Colombian nationals were arrested for being in the country illegally.
The same sentiment about not knowing about the federal government’s plans for immigration enforcement was echoed by Inglewood City Council members after videos circulated about enforcement action at an Inglewood car wash.
Inglewood Councilman Alex Padilla has publicly said how his people are being tormented by federal officers who do not alert local law enforcement agencies to their activities.
“It’s not right the way it’s happening, and unfortunately at the federal level, which is what ICE is, they don’t notify any police department of where they are going,” said Inglewood Councilman AlexPadilla.
Because of the continued immigration enforcement, some Inglewood residents are finding it increasingly difficult to leave their homes to go to work, take their children to school and shop for basic necessities.
In a time where the public is invested in documenting social injustices, it becomes an increasing and disturbing scene when federal agents are hopping out of unmarked vehicles, in masks, and are haranguing people they believe to be immigrants which creates increased tensions for them and prevent them from moving about freely to conduct their daily business.
Read the full L.A. Times article here.