Labor groups ‘take back MacArthur Park’ to protest ICE actions

Hundreds attend rally. ‘It’s a fight against authoritarianism,’ a union leader says.

- By Sunauna Hussain

MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times

"IT'S IMPORTANT to reclaim this space, where ICE staged a show of force" in July, one protester said.

Several hundred workers, organizers and immigrant advocates gathered in palm-tree-dotted MacArthur Park on Tuesday to denounce the Trump administration and immigration raids it has carried out in the city and in other parts of California.

Rows of parked cars clogged a stretch of Park View Street inthe morning, blocking traffic. Scrawled on windshields and bumpers in chalky white and printed on taped signs were slogans “ICE out of LA” and “Stop the Trump terror.”

From atop a truck, Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta addressed the crowd.

“Our fight is for working people. ... It’s a fight against authoritarianism. It’s a fight to restore democracy in this country,” said Huerta, who was injured and detained by law enforcement in early June while documenting the first major immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles this summer. “Everybody wants to know, how is Los Angeles? AndItell them Los Angeles is ready to fight.”