In South L.A., Black and Latino neighbors unite against ICE as systems fail

This story is part of ICE vs. LA, a collaborative reporting project by LA Public Press, Caló News , Capital & Main , Capital B , LA Taco , and Q Voice .

Four months after nearly 5,000 federal troops descended onto Los Angeles, Marsha Mitchell, a Black organizer in South Central, explained what made it impossible for her not to act: her neighbors.

At the peak of the federal immigration raids this summer — when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was arresting an average of 540 people per week in the city — her neighbor, Erica, and her husband and friend were taken by federal agents while eating breakfast in their home.

All three were placed in a van and driven toward downtown Los Angeles.

But Erica knew she had to get back to her small children,