A coalition of immigrant rights advocates, faith-based leaders and organized labor have come together to counter the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration, launching LARRN — the Los Angeles Rapid Response Network, which will focus on documenting ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) activities throughout Los Angeles and informing the community. The network has set up a hotline to field calls on immigration enforcement and provide immigration services and support referrals. Local groups will be called upon to investigate the reported ICE activity and verify the operations.
Pedro Trujillo, organizing director at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), one of the network’s organizers said, “We are coming together through the LARRN to ensure Angelenos know there are resources available to them to report ICE operations, get referrals and access vital services available to them.” Trujillo said the network’s message is “together we will stand strong against the Trump administration’s cruel and unjust policies targeting working immigrant families in the U.S.”
SEIU Local 721, with 95,000 members throughout Southern California, is also part of the LARRN network. Martin Manteca, the union’s organizing director, said the network intends to “protect the rights of our brothers and sisters who work hard to make their dreams come true and keep our economy strong.”
Laura Urias, program director at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said defense attorneys are ready to work with the network to assist those in need.
Jose Rojas Duran, 58, was taking his usual Sunday morning stroll with his wife through Lincoln Park on the Eastside of Los Angeles on Jan. 26 when he was arrested by ICE.
In 2020, ICE arrested Rojas, and he was detained at a facility in Adelanto, California. In May of 2021, he was released on his own recognizance. In early February 2024, ICE issued a deportation order for him. Rojas was one of the 1,179 arrests made by ICE throughout the country on Jan. 26.
Rojas’ family called the hotline immediately after the arrest, and within an hour and a half, network lawyers contacted ICE on Rojas’ behalf. But Rojas had signed a voluntary deportation order while in custody and was deported back to Mexico hours after the arrest.
On Jan. 28, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “If you are an individual, a foreign national who illegally enters the United States, you are, by definition, a criminal and, therefore, subject to deportation.” Leavitt congratulated the Trump administration for its recent nationwide ICE arrests. Only 52% of those arrested faced criminal charges.
According to Title 8 of the U.S. Code, “Illegal Entry”/8 U.S.C. § 1325 is a misdemeanor offense, carrying a fine or six-month prison term, or both. Some immigrant rights advocates have stated that these types of immigration laws are rooted in eugenics and anti-immigrant sentiment going as far back as the 1920s. White supremacist South Carolina Sen. Coleman Livingston Blease pushed the bill to codify Section 1325, which was passed by Congress in 1929. Enforcement of the law led to 44,000 arrests in just 10 years after the bill’s passing. During the first Trump administration, the Department of Justice charged 27,630 people under Section 1325 in fiscal year 2020, while under the Biden administration, 5,550 people were charged in fiscal 2024.
Rojas had been in the process of applying for a visa to remain in the United States because his adult children are U.S. citizens. One day after Rojas’ deportation, his son received a notice from the Department of Homeland Security that said his visa application was approved for consideration. Applicants are not granted any immigration status.
The Immigrant Assistance Hotline to report ICE enforcement activity is (888) 624-4752.
