An apparent immigration raid involving federal agents and military vehicles at MacArthur Park on Monday morning triggered swift backlash from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who condemned the operation as politically motivated and disruptive to the city’s most vulnerable communities.
KTLA reporter Rich Prickett, who was at the scene Monday morning, reported spotting Department of Homeland Security vehicles and military transport trucks positioned around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles’ Westlake district. He also noted the presence of at least four unmarked white vans resembling those commonly used by federal agents for detainee transport.
“What a disgrace, what’s happening in MacArthur Park,” said Newsom during a press conference later that day. “Those National Guard men and women that were out there protecting people [during wildfires] are now being used as political pawns out there on horseback, running through soccer fields in the middle of the day.”
Newsom made the remarks on the six-month anniversary of the California wildfires, which devastated communities across the state. He emphasized his administration’s support for immigrant communities in the face of federal enforcement actions that he described as acts of “cruelty perpetuated by the President of the United States.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was en route to a separate news conference in Pasadena when she was notified of the raid, rushed to MacArthur Park herself and shared video of the incident on social media. The footage showed mounted officers riding across a soccer field that had moments earlier been filled with children attending a city-run summer camp.
“Minutes before, there were more than 20 kids playing — then, the MILITARY comes through,” Bass wrote. “The SECOND I heard about this, I went to the park to speak to the person in charge to tell them it needed to end NOW. Absolutely outrageous.”
The summer camp, hosted by the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, serves children between the ages of 5 and 12. As agents entered the area, the children were quickly ushered into a nearby building for safety, according to Bass.
“It looked like a city under siege. Under armed occupation,” she said at a subsequent press conference. “To me, this is another example of the administration ratcheting up chaos. It’s a political agenda of provoking fear and terror.”
An official involved in the raid told the Associated Press the operation was intended to be “more overt and larger than we usually participate in.” However, the effort was cut short with no official explanation. It remains unclear whether any arrests or detentions were made.
The incident comes amid heightened immigration enforcement across Los Angeles County in recent weeks, part of a broader crackdown spearheaded by the Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have been reported not only in residential neighborhoods but also at businesses including car washes, retail stores, and restaurants. The visibility and frequency of these actions have prompted widespread protests across Southern California.
Last week, the Trump administration escalated tensions further by filing a lawsuit accusing Los Angeles of obstructing immigration enforcement efforts due to its sanctuary city policies. Mayor Bass reaffirmed the city’s commitment to those policies, stating that Los Angeles would continue to defend its ordinances against federal overreach.
In response to ongoing protests and criticism, Marines and National Guard troops were deployed by the federal administration to Los Angeles over the objections of local and state officials.
The incident at MacArthur Park highlights the intensity of federal immigration enforcement in California, the state with the largest immigrant population in the United States. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 10.6 million immigrants live in the state, with 55% of them documented. Los Angeles alone has approximately 3.6 million immigrant residents, according to research from the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute.
As of June 15, ICE has detained 56,397 individuals nationwide, more than 71% of whom have no criminal record, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
Despite the show of force in MacArthur Park, federal officials have offered no formal statement regarding the purpose, outcome, or necessity of Monday’s operation. Meanwhile, both Newsom and Bass have made clear their intent to resist what they characterize as politically driven efforts to intimidate immigrant communities.
“We have your back,” Newsom said, “and will continue to do what we can to protect our diverse communities, to protect the spirit that defines the best of this city and our state.”
When reached for comment by KTLA, a senior official with the Department of Homeland Security responded briefly: “We don’t comment on ongoing enforcement operations.”