On August 6th, Border Patrol agents converged on a Home Depot location in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westlake, in what has been dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse” by Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino. According to reports, as many as 16 suspected illegal immigrants were detained after an undercover agent driving a Penske rental truck approached a group waiting outside the Home Depot and asked if they were interested in doing some day labor.
Witnesses claim that after the interaction between the driver of the Penske truck and the group outside the Home Depot, several Border Patrol agents hopped out of the cargo area of the truck and began apprehending the fleeing suspects. A spokesperson for the rental truck company noted they were oblivious to how their truck would be used, adding that Penske has a standing policy which “strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances.”
Needless to say, the immigration enforcement operation has stirred outrage among critics of the current administration, reiterating assertions linked to an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration that enforcing standing immigration laws is somehow illegal.
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, communications director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), which is party to the ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration, called the operation “disturbing” and “lawless,” seemingly in reference to 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent ruling to uphold a stay on federal agents engaging in perceived racial profiling when conducting immigration operations.
“It is deeply disturbing that the federal government will stoop to these levels to continue their campaign of terror against working Angelenos,” Cabrera said in response to the raid, adding, “These are Angelenos looking for an honest day’s living …What we see in the video looks like an assault on people’s liberties, an assault on individuals that were standing there looking for a job, and a targeted operation that was in fact lawless.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department made their stance clear following the backlash to the August 6th operation, with acting U.S. attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California plainly stating that vague and ostensibly impossible to enforce prohibitions imposed by various state courts will not stop the federal government from enforcing immigration law.
“For those who thought Immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again,” Essayli stated on social media, further adding, “The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.”
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