ICE Raids Across Southern California Prompt Protests

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A group of immigrant rights activists protested recent raids across Southern California by briefly blocking a Homeland Security van from leaving a downtown Los Angeles jail.

A crowd gathered at about 7 p.m. in the area of Aliso and Alameda streets, later surrounding a van trying to leave the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The protest eventually dispersed and no arrests were made.

The protest was in response to raids across Southern California this week. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents arrested 212 undocumented immigrants in a five-day operation that ended Thursday.

Federal officials say of those arrested 195 were either convicted criminals, had been issued a final order of removal but had still not left the country, or had already been deported and returned illegally. More than 55 percent had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, including child sex crimes, weapons charges and assault, according to ICE.

The operation also included the delivery of 122 notices of inspection to Los Angeles-area business, alerting them that ICE is going to audit their hiring records to determine whether employers had verified the identity and employment eligibility of their workers.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)