Family testifies after ICE raid at Ambiance warehouse; councilmember urges protection for sanctuary policies

Councilmember Isabel Jurado told the Los Angeles City Council on June 25 that 14 garment workers, many indigenous Zapotec, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a workplace raid on June 6, and she introduced a family member to describe conditions and ask officials to defend the city’s sanctuary practices.

The councilmember read the detainees’ names and said the raid left families “without answers.” Jurado introduced Uriel (identified in public comment as the daughter of detainee Mario) to speak to the council about her father’s treatment and to press elected leaders to “step up” to protect sanctuary-city limits on local cooperation with immigration enforcement.

Uriel said her father and other detained workers were taken without explanation and that her family could not locate him for a week. She described conditions she said her father faced in custody, including being chained and receiving “no medicine and little to no food.” “As I speak to you right now, my father is caged with over 80 people and I don't even know if he has eaten today,” Uriel told the council during public comment. She also said her family has young children at home, including a 4-year-old with a disability who asks for his father.

Jurado said the detained workers “are beloved members of their communities and vital threads in the fabric of Los Angeles” and asked local leaders — from the mayor’s office to state and federal elected officials — to defend the city’s sanctuary stance and prohibit local collaboration with immigration enforcement that would harm families.

Advocates outside the council chambers, including representatives from SEIU (named in remarks) and other community groups, had organized at the warehouse and assisted families after the raid, Jurado said. Jurado and the family urged the city to continue legal and community support for those affected and to resist measures that would expand local participation in immigration enforcement.

The council did not adopt a new ordinance during the meeting on this subject; the item was presented as a public comment and policy appeal to city leaders. Speakers and advocates asked city officials to ensure detained people have prompt access to counsel and to preserve policies that limit local law-enforcement cooperation with ICE.

Council President and other members acknowledged the public comments during the meeting and the council moved on to other agenda business. The testimony and Jurado’s remarks were recorded as part of the meeting’s public-comment record.