Neighbors are demanding answers after six people were detained during an ICE raid Wednesday in Pasadena, a community that is still recovering from the deadly Eaton Fire.
Some community members say the raids continue to affect businesses like construction, including in Altadena, which is in the early stages of the rebuilding process.
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WATCH HERE"After the Eaton Fire, it was day laborers, the migrant community that raised their hand to help with the cleanup. To help with the recovery," said Jose Madera, director of the Pasadena Community Job Center.
Madera has been hosting workers off of Lake Avenue since the end of the Eaton Fire.
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SIGN UP Back in February, NBC4 followed farm workers and day laborers from the job center as they helped clean up ash and debris from homes in Altadena.
But now Madera says many are scared, especially after the ICE raid this week.
Cellphone video shared with NBC4 appears to show federal agents at a bus stop in Pasadena early Wednesday morning, with at least one person in handcuffs near the Orange Grove Shopping Center.
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"A lot of them are scared because again of what they've been seeing in the news, what they've been seeing in social media and that's hurting the process of the recovery in Altadena," said Madera.
According to community leaders, at least 6 people were detained by ICE agents on Wednesday. Among them was Gerardo Diaz’s uncle, Pablo Vazquez, who is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico and has been in the United States for more than two decades.
"Every weekday, he comes here at this bus stop waiting for a ride to take him to work. Unfortunately, he was intercepted by ICE agents who ended up taking him in," said Diaz.
It is unclear if Diaz or his family has been in touch with his uncle since he was detained.
NBC4 reached out to ICE about the events in Pasadena. A spokesperson provided only a generic statement on the day of the raid, saying in part:
“U.S. immigration and customs enforcement officers and agents are on the streets every day, prioritizing public safety by locating, arresting, and removing criminal alien offenders and immigration violators from our neighborhoods."
Congresswoman Judy Chu criticized the raid in Pasadena on her social media page, saying ICE agents are masked, do not provide warrants or explanations and are pointing guns at people
The assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security says that the masks worn by ice agents are to protect them from being targeted
"Even after this raid that happened and many are calling it the disaster after the disaster, because it's just this is a disaster that families are facing. We're unified, we're here. We're organized," said Madera.
Rapid response teams are now driving around the community to warn of any immigration operations and will continue to do so for as long as they are happening, according to Madera.
