As immigration enforcement operations continue daily in Southern California, a growing list of planned Fourth of July celebrations are being canceled, or postponed, including Los Angeles County’s Gloria Molina Grand Park Summer Block Party.
“Out of an abundance of caution and in light of ongoing events across L.A. County, we have made the difficult decision to postpone Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Summer Block Party,” an update on the event’s Instagram page stated. “We know this is disappointing news. We were so looking forward to celebrating with all of you at #TheParkforEveryone. Please know that your safety is our absolute first priority.
“We are committed to bringing this beloved celebration back later this summer and will provide an unforgettable experience that uplifts L.A.’s resilience. We appreciate your patience and understanding more than words can express.”
The Block Party was scheduled for 4 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at the downtown venue. No new date has been announced.
ponement comes amid others in recent days including the cities of Bell Gardens and Cudahy and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado’s District 14 — all of which are majority Hispanic communities.
Independence Day events in Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, and Northeast Los Angeles are also being postponed, according to the Boyle Heights Beat website.
“We’re responding to the crisis with the presence of federal agents in the community,” Jurado spokeswoman Alejandra Alarcon told the media outlet.
In canceling its 66th Annual Independence Day Parade, the El Sereno Bicentennial Committee noted that “our participation is usually robust with over 1,200 people marching in the parade. The people who participate in the parade are some of the most patriotic people you would meet. They believe in the promise of this land, of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“This year we will have to cancel our celebrations. We stand with our community. The safety of our participants, spectators, and volunteers is at the forefront.”
One notable exception is the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce, which told Boyle Heights Beat they plan to go ahead with pre-holiday concert set for 5 p.m. Sunday.
“I will not cancel it, and we never have canceled it,” chamber president Michael Nogueira told the website. “There’s no reason to be canceling this event. There’s no widespread curfew. It’s one square mile of downtown [ongoing protests]. It’s not affecting us.”
Meanwhile in Culver City, elected officials and community members plan to gather at 12:30 p.m. Sunday to hold a rally and fundraiser for a popular street vendor who was “reportedly taken near Resurrection Church (at 11137 Culver Blvd.) by a masked individual driving an unmarked SUV,” organizers said. “His cart was left behind, and he was later confirmed to be in ICE custody under inhumane conditions: denied food, exposed to extreme cold, and restricted from visitation.”
Community leaders said the vendor, Ambrocio “Enrique” Lozano, has been a “beloved Culver City street vendor” who has sold paletas in the community for more than 20 years.
“Enrique’s disappearance has shaken the Culver City community,” officials said. “Known for his warmth and generosity, Enrique would often give away paletas to those in need. This event is a call to action — demanding transparency, compassion, and his immediate release.”
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis plans to introduce a motion “directing county counsel to explore potential legal action against unconstitutional immigration enforcement practices, including illegal search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
Solis particularly criticized the recent arrest of a man in unincorporated Valinda, which borders the city of La Puente, claiming videos by witnesses show the man bleeding while being detained.
Southland officials have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the tactics used by federal immigration officials and questioned the legality of ongoing raids in Los Angeles County.
Solis’ motion addresses actions such as stopping, questioning, or detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion and arresting people without probable cause or a valid warrant.
“The county may initiate or join existing legal actions to hold federal agencies accountable and safeguard the constitutional rights of all community members,” Solis said.
Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores slammed federal agents for blowing off the door of a home in that city early Friday to search for a man suspected of ramming a federal vehicle during immigration raids last week in the Bell/Maywood area.
Suspect Jorge Sierra-Hernandez was not home at the time, but his girlfriend and two young children were left shaken by the violent tactics at the home in the 3500 block of Flower Street. Sierra-Hernandez later turned himself in and was free on bail, according to multiple reports.
“What happened here this morning is hard to put into words,” Flores told ABC7. “This family did nothing wrong. They were involved in a minor traffic accident and this is the level of violence and the response that we get.”
Local officials have also assailed the practice of federal agents wearing masks, traveling in often-unmarked vehicles and making arrests without showing identification or producing warrants.
“They are federal agents from Homeland Security or ICE, but the truth is, unless these individuals provide proper identification, we don’t know,” said state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena. “And when we receive reports of these individuals using excessive force, without identification, we have no way to provide oversight and accountability.”
Federal officials have defended agents’ efforts to maintain anonymity during immigration operations, saying it is essential to maintain their safety from protesters who could publicize their names and other information, potentially endangering their lives and their families.
Democratic politicians, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, have assailed the federal raids since they began in the Southland on June 6. Federal officials continue to defend their actions, insisting that they are carrying out lawful enforcement of immigration laws in line with President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to restore border security and deport those in the United States illegally.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli also took issue with California’s so-called “sanctuary” status, in which local law enforcement officials refuse to assist immigration enforcement efforts.
“In every other state, we can go into a county jail, we can screen criminals for their immigration status, and we can take them directly from jail and deport them,” Essayli told KTLA5 on Friday. “We can train police officers to do immigration screening so when they run into people committing criminal activities, we can focus on those people and get them deported. We can’t do any of that in the state of California. So we have to go out into the community and we have to do broad immigration enforcement operations.”
” … We are doing our job,” Essayli continued. “We are enforcing the law as written by Congress. And if Karen Bass, who was in Congress, doesn’t like the law, she should have changed it when she was in Congress.”
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