With its stately homes and bustling business districts, Downey has long been known to some as the “Mexican Beverly Hills.”
But the Southeast L.A. County city of more than 110,000 people has been roiled this week by Trump immigration raids in Southern California, sparking both fear and outrage.
Downey Councilman Mario Trujillo said the raids are “creating a culture of fear” that’s prompting people, even with documents, to stay home out of concern they could be targeted by federal agents simply for being Latino.
The downtown Downey area, which had already been hurting amid a tenuous economy, is now a ghost town, Trujillo said. While he understands that immigration agents have a job to do, Trujillo questions the necessity of grabbing workers trying to support their families and people just trying to go about their daily lives.
“We’re supposed to be made to feel safe by this agency because they’re removing bad people,” he said. “That’s what they’re supposed to be doing.”
On Wednesday, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from businesses in Downey, but community members were able to discourage them from taking one man without proper documents.
Downey has long been a landing spot for upwardly mobile Latinos, who make up 75% of the population. The median income is $97,000, above the California average. The Times reported in December that support for Donald Trump increased during the last election. While Democrats still dominated, The Times found Trump gained 18.8 percentage points in November compared with the 2020 presidential election.
Paula Mejia, a Downey resident in her 50s who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. more than 45 years ago, said that fewer people have been going to restaurants and to other businesses in Downey ever since the ICE raids began.
“I’ve been scared and I have to carry my passport,” she said. “I have never done before and we are out of words. Even my kids, they were born here. Now, they’re carrying…