An abandoned ice cream cart belonging to a vendor who disappeared has become a symbol of resistance to residents of a west Los Angeles neighborhood who oppose President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.
If you’re wondering what state-sanctioned terror looks like, this is it. . . . LA Times
The cart belonged to an ice cream vendor who was arrested by federal agents Monday afternoon while walking his usual route through Culver City. The sudden disappearance of Ambrocio “Enrique” Lozano stunned residents who said the vendor was a welcome fixture in their neighborhood for more than 20 years.
A photo of Lozano’s lone ice cream cart spread quickly across social media, triggering a tidal wave of responses from immigration advocates, residents and lawmakers.
The response to Lozano’s arrest highlights a new strategy emerging after large-scale protests overtook downtown Los Angeles earlier this month. Instead of focusing on marches outside federal buildings, residents of sprawling L.A. County are zeroing in on their own blocks and neighborhoods to show their opposition to Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Lozano is among more than 1,618 people in Los Angeles who have been arrested by the federal government since it began clamping down on residents without citizenship earlier this month, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The detentions have spread fear across Southern California, where some 1.4 million people are estimated to live without full legal authorization, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
From the LA Times: “If you’re wondering what state-sanctioned terror looks like, this is it. Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet would be so proud.
“It is an attack, not just on our immigrant community, but [on] people of color,” L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis recently said in an interview. “I know there are many people, including folks I’m associated with, friends, colleagues, who have families who are mixed status, and people are petrified to even show up to work, to send their kids to school. And this is harming our economy.”
As of June 14, ICE had booked into detention 204,297 individuals (since October 1, 2024, the start of fiscal year 2025). Of those book-ins, 65 percent, or 133,687 individuals, had no criminal convictions. Moreover, more than 93 percent of ICE book-ins were never convicted of any violent offenses. About nine in ten had no convictions for violent or property offenses. Most convictions (53 percent) fell into three main categories: immigration, traffic, or nonviolent vice crimes. CATO.org
