Oakland’s immigrant communities are on high alert after raids across Southern California.
by Natalie Orenstein June 10, 2025 (Oaklandside.com)
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In the wake of federal raids on Home Depots, car washes, and warehouses in Los Angeles and Orange County, Oakland’s immigrant communities are preparing for potential Alameda County roundups.
Protests erupted in LA last week after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested over 100 immigrant workers and day laborers. Some of the protests quickly turned into clashes, with federal agents using pepper spray and batons and demonstrators throwing rocks at federal vehicles, according to news reports. President Donald Trump responded by deploying thousands of National Guard troops and Marines.
Alameda County hotline for reporting ICE activity: 510-241-4011
The president’s unilateral moves were met with pushback by Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. The state has since filed a lawsuit arguing that the deployment is unconstitutional. Meanwhile, San Francisco police took over 200 people into custody on Sunday and Monday who were protesting local ICE arrests.
Local groups have organized events in response this week:
- Tuesday, June 10, 6 p.m.: “The Bay Stands with LA,” a community interfaith vigil organized by Faith in Action East Bay, Bay Resistance, and others, at Fruitvale Plaza in Oakland
- Wednesday, June 11, 6-8 p.m.: Emergency response training for Alameda County residents sponsored by Faith in Action East Bay, at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, 703 C. St. in Union City
- Saturday, June 14, 12:45 p.m.: “No Kings” rally, a march organized by Indivisible and others as part of a national mobilization in support of democracy, from Wilma Chan Park to Frank Ogawa Plaza
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Valeria Ochoa, organizer with Faith in Action East Bay, said the wave of Southern California arrests have stoked fear among immigrant communities in Oakland. She said her organization has received an influx of unconfirmed reports of ICE agent sightings in the city since then which her team is looking into. Speaking with The Oaklandside on Tuesday morning, Ochoa said a colleague was just then driving to check out the latest report.
“A bunch of us got together and said, OK, we have to do something in solidarity,” she said, and quickly pulled together plans for the Tuesday evening vigil, which she said will include interfaith prayer and community speakers.
“We’re angry,” she said, “with folks going after our communities.” Ochoa said the organizers were committed to planning a peaceful, nonviolent event, given the escalating crackdowns and provocations. They chose Fruitvale Plaza for the vigil because so many immigrants in Oakland spend time there. She said the organizers wanted to send a clear message: “We’re there to fight for you.”
Local officials, day-laborer groups speak out
Oakland is among dozens of cities across the country where “No Kings” rallies are planned for Saturday. These protests, organized by Indivisible and other groups, take aim at the president’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants and other executive actions they describe as “authoritarian excesses.”
Speakers at Oakland’s march will include Rep. Lateefah Simon, who represents Oakland in Congress.
Several local elected officials have also criticized Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.
“I will not stay silent as our families are targeted and traumatized by ICE’s cruel tactics and the federal administration’s relentless attacks on our community,” Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez said in a statement Tuesday.
“I know firsthand the fear and heartbreak that spreads when loved ones are threatened with detention or deportation,” said Márquez, who is the daughter of immigrants. “No one should have to live in constant fear of being torn from their family, their home, or their dreams.”
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors recently approved $3.5 million for immigration services, including legal defense and know-your-rights training. The allocation was made in the wake of threats from President Trump to cut federal funding to “sanctuary” jurisdictions such as LA, Oakland, and Alameda County, where local law enforcement agencies are prohibited from cooperating with ICE.
“There are a lot of very real fears right now,” said City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran in a social media video in February, which she reshared Monday. But she assured viewers that local leaders are dedicated to keeping Oakland’s sanctuary status.
Local grassroots organizations that support immigrants are also ramping up their activities. The Street Level Health Project, an Oakland organization that supports day laborers and other immigrants who lack health insurance, recently held a staff training to better prepare for potential ICE raids.
“Day laborers are very much a target right now and very vulnerable at this time because they’re so visible,” said Gabriela Galicia, the project’s executive director. Recent raids have targeted day laborers at Home Depots in Pomona, Los Angeles, and Santa Ana, in Orange County.
Street Level Health is planning to launch an “Adopt a Day Laborer Corner” program where volunteers can sign up, at info@streetlevelhealthproject.org, to monitor a corner where day laborers gather to seek work.
“Right now we need manpower, we need more eyes,” Galicia said, but she advised people not to show up to Home Depots or other gathering places unannounced, as it could heighten tensions.
Esther Kaplan contributed reporting
NATALIE ORENSTEIN
Natalie Orenstein is a senior reporter covering City Hall, housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. Her reporting on a flood of eviction cases following the end of the Alameda County pandemic moratorium won recognition from the Society of Professional Reporters NorCal in 2024. Natalie was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where she covered education, including extensive, award-winning reporting on the legacy of school desegregation in Berkeley Unified. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.More by Natalie Orenstein
