What really occurred at swap meet swarm

Social media posts suggest ICE detained 'dozens.' Interviews paint different picture.

- BY JASMINE MENDEZ AND RUBEN VIVES

“IT’S BEEN a sad scene,” Juan Romano said of the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet.

(GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times)

The beer was flowing and the scent of churros and Mexican food hung in the air as Mexican bandas performed at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet.

"All the women who think men are useless, let me hear you," the singer of Banda Valle Verde Del Pacifico shouted into the microphone. A wave of screams and laughs filled the venue as people bounced and twirled to the popular Mexican music.

On this recent Saturday afternoon, more than 3,000 people enjoyed the festivities, the largest turnout since nearly 100 federal immigration agents raided the predominantly Latino shopping center in June.

But the boisterous gathering represented a break from recent trends at the swap meet. Since the raid, the crowds have shrunk and some vendors have abandoned the location, fearful of another immigration action.

"Ever since these [raids] started, it's been a sad scene," said Juan Romano, 76, who waited two hours in the scorching heat to attend the concert. "I feel for those [vendors] who sell, who are trying to make a living."

The June 14 operation sparked public outrage against the federal government, the swap meet owners and the city. Immigrant rights activists accused the swap meet of failing to stop the agents from entering the grounds and not alerting vendors and customers, giving the appearance that they cooperated with immigration officials. Some called for a boycott of the shopping center.

The result has been a drop in patrons and the loss of about 66 of its 306 vendors, which has forced a reduction in staffing from III employees to 67. The raid came as the swap meet - along with many others - struggles to recover from the COVID pandemic, the growing popularity of e-commerce and rising inflation. The operators have gone so far as to drop rental fees to keep from losing more vendors.