A shadow over Long Beach

The Bixby Knolls Car Wash in Long Beach opened at 8 a.m. like always on Saturday, Sept. 13. For a little over two hours, staff worked as they always have, hand washing cars and detailing interiors.

Then, around 10:30 a.m., about 12 unmarked vehicles surrounded the car wash from Linden to Atlantic Avenue.

Approximately 14 people exited the vehicles. 

Many wore plain clothes and had no visible badge. All wore vests saying ‘police’ and face masks. 

They were federal immigration officers.

“They attacked right away,” Ramon Paz, the car wash’s general manager said, “We tried to stop them. Five people had papers, but they didn’t care. They said, ‘This is only a [work] permit. That’s the law. That’s what Donald Trump wants.’”

Federal officers took seven employees, witnesses said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, over 5,000 arrests have been made in Los Angeles alone since June. 

The raid on the car wash came five days after the Supreme Court emergency ruling, filed by the Trump administration, Noem vs Vasquez Perdomo. The ruling lifted restrictions preventing federal immigration officers from making investigative stops based on factors such as “presence at particular locations such as bus stops, car washes, day laborer pickup sites, agricultural sites, and the like; the type of work one does; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent and apparent race or ethnicity.”

Raids such as these across Long Beach and Southern California are casting a shadow of fear not just for immigrants but the Latino community in general. Even though Long Beach officials are not supposed to work with ICE, that isn’t stopping the federal government from arresting and detaining immigrants.

Fernando, a community lawyer for Órale, a Long Beach organization focused on ending the criminalization of immigrants, who’s asked not to use his last name for safety reasons, called the move unconstitutional.

“It’s sad to see, but unsurprising. Historically, these raids don’t follow laws. They’re inherently racist and discriminatory,” he said.

In 2018, California enacted Senate Bill 54, The California Value Act, that prohibits local law enforcement including school police and security departments from cooperating with federal immigration officers. Later that year, Long Beach enacted its own Values Act which was expanded in early 2025 and protects city employees and citizens from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, protects against the data collection of vulnerable community members and expands funding for legal defense through the Long Beach Justice Fund. 

“Long Beach has dedicated resources to protect immigrant families and small businesses during this difficult time,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement on Facebook addressing the Bixby Knolls raid. “Earlier this week, we adopted a budget that expands legal and educational support for workers and entrepreneurs.We continue to explore every legal avenue available to combat ICE’s harmful actions.”

While the Órale lawyer welcomes a lot of Long Beach’s actions, there’s still a lot that can be done.

“There needs to be robust structural funding for defense attorneys, data protections can be stronger and there needs to be an enforcement mechanism to ensure Long Beach complies [to the Long Beach Value Act] and that people can sue if they don’t,” Fernando said.

But others are not so hopeful local officials can stop ICE.

“Long Beach can’t do anything,” Paz said. “The governor, the mayor, they can’t do anything because Donald Trump is doing anything he wants.”

Paz said the raids are taking an emotional toll.

“I cry all the time seeing them [immigrants being arrested] on tv. It hurts. I’m a citizen and I’m scared too. They don’t care,” Paz said.

Local residents of all races and ethnicities have come out to support the car wash and immigrants in Long Beach. After the raid, a small crowd gathered in an empty lot near the car wash  to form a prayer circle for those taken.

Shell Grossman, president of Bixby Knolls Car Wash said, “They work hard, they’re loyal, wonderful employees, they support their families and pay taxes-we’re like a family here. We’re all immigrants from somewhere.”