Los Angeles City Council members and community nonprofit leaders told the council on June 27 that recent immigration-enforcement activity has prompted residents to avoid clinics, food distributions and small businesses — deepening food insecurity in affected neighborhoods. Council Member Monica Park said her office has documented increased fear in communities after multiple enforcement actions, and she introduced a motion asking city departments to review protocols and reporting around immigration enforcement operations.

"We have passed through communities handing out red cards, visited businesses, clinics, schools, markets and communities where our immigrants live, work and visit," Council Member Monica Park said during the presentations portion of the council meeting. "These families are afraid to come get the resources they need."

The Westside Food Bank told the council its client counts have fallen in some neighborhoods since enforcement actions increased. "For more than 40 years West Side Food Bank has provided nutritious food to anyone who needs it," Ashley Bridgward said. "We saw a drop — in one neighborhood we served 150 families before and now only 100 — because people are afraid to leave their homes, even when they need food."

Bridgward said the organization has shifted to emergency fairs and mobile markets, and volunteers are delivering groceries to homes to reduce household economic strain. "Giving food free can save a family about $300 a month," she said, adding that the savings can be the difference between paying rent and losing a home.

Speakers representing Filipino and other immigrant-worker organizations described raids at worksites and small businesses. "We've had 38 car-wash sites raided since June 6 and 74 workers detained," said Angelina Soriano Verzosa, identified in the meeting as executive director of the Filipino Workers Center. She described cases in which agents wore masks and lacked visible identification, and she and other speakers said families are having trouble locating detained relatives and accessing legal assistance.

Council Member Rodrigo Soto Martínez spoke of communities experiencing large-scale enforcement operations and said those actions are eroding residents' ability to access services. Several speakers urged the city to insist that local contractors and city facilities not permit federal agents unfettered access and to require identification and written orders when enforcement is sought on city property.

Council Member Imelda Padilla told colleagues she intended to introduce a motion asking for clarification of protocols, including how city departments — from airport operations to police — should respond when unmarked vehicles or personnel operate near city facilities. "Nobody wants to answer how they are operating," Padilla said. "We have to determine what we are doing and what we can do to ensure rules are followed at all places, including the airport."

Padilla said her office had documented an incident at the airport involving multiple unmarked vehicles and agents who did not identify themselves, and that community leaders requested a motion to clarify what city departments may do to protect residents and to confirm whether contractors are authorizing access.

Council members and several community leaders invoked a long-standing city policy, Special Order 40, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement; speakers said they want city departments and the police to ensure that policy is followed. "We are asking police to do their work and follow Special Order 40," Park said.

No formal council vote on Padilla's motion was recorded in the meeting minutes; Padilla asked for colleagues' support and said she would circulate the language. Council staff and community advocates said they would provide names, dates and any documentation gathered so departments can investigate and respond.

Council members asked city staff to track detained individuals' families and to bring back information on what city departments can and cannot do in these circumstances. Padilla asked for support for her planned motion and said she would circulate the language to colleagues.

The presentations portion of the meeting included multiple speakers from affected neighborhoods and organizations, and several attendees asked the council to expand funding and support for food banks and legal-assistance programs as an immediate step to reduce harm while the council considers policy responses.

What happens next: Padilla said she would introduce formal motion language and seek co-sponsors. The council did not take a motion vote on this item during the June 27 meeting.