| The last words Inglewood resident Noemi Ciau heard from her husband Sunday were a simple request. |
| "If you need money or anything else, call me," she recalls him telling her. |
| Within hours, 52-year-old Jesus Cruz was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Westchester Hand Wash where he worked as a cleaner. |
| For Saraí Ortiz, her father Jose saw his 18-year tenure at downtown L.A.'s Ambiance Apparel, where he was a floor manager, end June 6. That day, ICE agents raided the fast-fashion warehouse and took around 40 immigrant workers. |
| Stories, video footage and personal testimonies have highlighted the harsh reality and sense of fear for immigrants and their families during ICE raids throughout Southern California over the last two weeks. |
| Several Times reporters have documented these events and given voice to families who feel afraid and powerless. |
| Here's a few of those stories. |
Car wash raid takes father away from graduating daughter |
| Colleague Suhauna Hussain spoke with Ciau this week about the Westchester car wash raid. |
| She visited her husband Sunday at his work to drop off lunch. She was taking her daughter, graduating from eighth grade later that week, dress shopping. |
| The couple had modified their work schedules around their children, with Ciau working mornings at LAX and Cruz driving them around. |
| "He was my backbone," she told The Times. "Who's going to pick up my kids. Who's going to take them to music class?" |
| "Now her father can't even be there for her graduation," Ciau said. |
| The business was at least one of nine car washes in Los Angeles and Orange counties targeted by ICE last week. The figure was provided by the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, a labor advocacy nonprofit that has been able to verify these raids through community reports and footage on social media. |
| CLEAN said at least 26 workers were taken from five locations. |
| Mehmet Aydogan, owner of Westchester Hand Wash, said in an interview that he told the agents he could answer any of their questions and that he had documents for his workers, but they were uninterested. |
| The raids caused Westchester Hand Wash to close, after being hit two days in a row. The business could not find 14 workers, with six taken and others afraid to be in public. |
Garment district raids result in family strain |
| For Saraí Ortiz, of the Ambiance Apparel raid, she watched as her father was dragged away. |
| "You know this is a possibility all your life, but then when it happens, it plays out differently than what you think," she told my colleagues Brittny Mejia and Anita Chabria on Monday, standing in front of the wrought-iron fencing of Ambiance's parking lot. |
| Ortiz was joined at a protest by other families of those detained, making a public plea for help and due process. |
| Many of the wives and children of the men taken by ICE have had little or no contact with their loved ones. Even lawyers have been denied access, they said Monday. |
| Montserrat Arrazola's father, Jorge, is another of those workers detained the previous Friday. She said her father is the family's breadwinner, and without his paycheck, there are "hard times coming" for her and her three brothers. |
| But not being able to contact those detained is stressful, said Carlos Gonzalez. His older brother Jose was also taken by ICE, and like others at the protest, Gonzalez called for due process rights. |
| Gonzalez and his brother had gone camping at Sandy Flat in Sequoia National Forest just the weekend before the raid. Carlos said he received a call from a cousin Friday and went to Ambiance, but couldn't reach his brother in the chaos. |
| "I want people to know that this was inhumane," Gonzalez said. "They were just working." |
The week's biggest stories |
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| (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) |
'No Kings' rallies break out across SoCal and the U.S. |
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Tracking, responding and motivations for ICE raids |
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Fear descends upon Los Angeles due to immigration raids |
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Crime, courts and policing |
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California's 101 best restaurants |
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More big stories |
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This week's must reads |
| | | An effort to return 73 square miles of forests to California's Yurok Tribe has been completed. Organizers say the deal will help restore and protect vital habitat for salmon in Blue Creek. | | | |
More great reads |
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For your weekend |
| | | The multifaceted entertainer's perfect Sunday in L.A. includes getting breakfast in Santa Monica, the movies in Century City and hosting a free dance class. | | | |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
L.A. Affairs |
| Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage. |
| | | I felt weird talking to people about my engagement. I had never been happier, but I still housed the fear that getting married was an uncool thing to do. | | | |
| Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team |
| Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
