California mayor warns of ‘psychological warfare’ in 97% Latino city

Huntington Park, California – Mayor Arturo Flores has seen the mechanics of war up close. As a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Flores trained bomb-sniffing dogs and patrolled some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. But it’s what he’s witnessed on the streets of Southern California in recent weeks that he describes as the most disturbing of his life.

In the heavily Latino city of Huntington Park, where nearly every resident is of Latin American descent, federal immigration raids have turned everyday life into what Flores calls “a campaign of domestic terror.” Masked agents in unmarked vehicles have descended on parking lots, swap meets, and residential streets. Residents say they are chased without warning. Some report being targeted for the color of their skin.

“It is a level of psychological warfare that I’ve only seen in theaters of war,” Flores said. “It’s terrifying seeing it being displayed here in my city.”

The raids are part of a sweeping federal immigration crackdown spearheaded by the Trump administration and supported by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who attended a June 12 operation in the city. Since then, Flores says, local businesses have shuttered. Residents have disappeared indoors. A city-sponsored movie night, normally attended by dozens of families, drew just four.

Roughly a third of Los Angeles County residents are foreign-born, and nearly half are Latino. Huntington Park, with its population overwhelmingly Latino and working-class, has become a flashpoint. Flores says federal agents are refusing to coordinate with local law enforcement and are conducting operations at high speed, endangering pedestrians and bystanders.

Federal officials insist their efforts are lawful and justified. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, rejected accusations of racial profiling, calling them “disgusting and categorically false.” McLaughlin blamed rising assaults on ICE officers on “this kind of garbage,” though she did not cite specific data.

Flores, meanwhile, says the chaos has created confusion so severe that local police recently arrested a man suspected of impersonating a federal agent. The mayor, who has publicly urged National Guard soldiers and Marines deployed to Los Angeles to remember their constitutional oath, said the militarization of civilian life has left communities feeling under siege.

“You never imagine seeing this domestically in areas and streets that you grew up on,” he said. “But we’re seeing some of these streets transformed into battlegrounds.”

The city is now exploring legal action. Flores says Huntington Park is considering joining a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration, while preparing emergency funds for legal support, food delivery, and constitutional rights education.

“This is a very dangerous time,” he said. “But this moment won’t last forever.”