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The walk was essential along one of the oldest streets in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people sung on each other, placed on air horns and sang with live groups occurring from rolling flat trucks in the middle of the road.
As the crowd moved, people spent business after the cases that had been closed for the day in case the peaceful protest “no kings” against the Trump administration has become uncontrollable. Most windows have been embarked with plywood or barricaded behind steel doors.
But between the 3rd and 4th streets, a tiny restaurant opened its glass door, offering an escape from the heat of 28 ° C. Inside, the owner made his routine alone in silence behind the front counter.
“We are right here to support people. You know, let them use the toilets, cool, take a break,” said Eduardo Vasquez, 39, owner of the third generation of Casa India. “The least we can do for the community here that works and is heard the voice.”
Innumerable demonstrators were in front and in the center outside the town hall of Los Angeles or other federal buildings during the demonstration on Saturday, taunting military troops with the face of stone and the police stationed on the steps.
But some of those who have the deepest understanding of immigration raids have been quietly at tension and cameras. Many had panels or shirts identifying themselves as first, second or third generation immigrants showing solidarity for friends, neighbors and members of the family
Victoria Santibanez, 30, whose mother immigrated to the United States of Chile, was far from the town hall at the back of Grand Park with her husband and some close friends.
“It is simply difficult to see our community in so much pain at the moment,” she said, more and more emotional.
“To see our neighbors, our local businesses, our schools are threatened as they did and to have done so in such a way that was so traumatic for the community … Whatever your reason for being here in Los Angeles, when you are part of the community, the community protects you.”
The roots of Los Angeles immigrants are at the heart of the identity of the city, shaping its economy and culture over the decades. More than a third of its residents were born outside the United States, According to the American census.
Defenders and state representatives criticized the arbitrary nature of the recent American immigration raids and customs’ application (ICE), who have seen people resume in the houses and car washing in hardware stores and church sidewalks.
Those who are undocumented remain away from the demonstrations that took place last week because they hide the authorities, do not look for them.
“Everyone knows someone because it is how tight we are, and you feel it,” said Reverend Gabriel Lopez, 42, including the religious community of Whittier, a city in the County of Los Angeles, was struck by ice raids this week.
“We are cautious and cautious, but we are there for each other and protect our community.”
Late late Saturday, the organizers of the “No Kings” national demonstrations said that millions of people had marched in hundreds of events across the country before the military parade in Washington, DC that evening.
The Los Angeles event was peaceful and without incident for much of the day, more stretch stretch in tone than angry protest. While a night curfew in a small section of the city got closer, the situation was stretched: police officers with armored vehicles, cruisers and horses pushed the demonstrators out of the curfew area with tear gas and flash fringes.
To house pâtés, inside Casa India, the mother of Vasquez, Doris, spent the afternoon preparing the dough for duaus – A salt salvadorian dish stuffed with beans, cheese and pork – in the same way as it does it every day. Her mother, Vasquez’s grandmother, was an undocumented immigrant when she opened the Mexican-Salvadoran restaurant fusion 35 years ago.
It has become a community center for colleagues owners of other neighbors, such as Koreatown, Chinatown and Little Tokyo. Vasquez said that the risk of expulsion has “always been” of life in the County of Los Angeles and in California, but never at the “extreme level” he has seen in recent weeks.
It was not surprised that the city, in all its vibrance, took it personally.
“Everyone gets along. Everyone is working. People from all walks of life … Angelenos, if you don’t play with us, we don’t play with you.” Said Vasquez, who is Salvadoran and Italian-American.
“We are the microcosm of what a city can be. If you accept immigration and culture of people from everywhere, it works. This is why it is so prosperous.”
