There’s an image from the “ICE Siege of LA”—as Memo Torres calls it on his essential Daily Memo reports—that’s been burned into my brain this past month.
And no—it’s not the one from MacArthur Park, with the Humvees and the National Guard looking like they were prepping for war against tamal vendors.
I grew up in Southeast L.A. in the ’90s. Violence—especially government-sponsored violence—isn’t new to me. I’ve seen it before. We’ve all seen it before.
But the image that stuck with me?
Karen Bass…smiling in a pastel blazer…wiping graffiti off a wall in Little Tokyo.
And I’m torn.
On one hand, it brings me joy to see our elected officials showing up for small businesses and doing the kind of work that’s easy to dismiss as “symbolic.” Because symbols do matter. It matters when people in power show up—especially in neighborhoods like Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, SELA, Pacoima—anywhere that’s being hit hardest right now.
But on the other hand, I kept thinking: Is this the best use of her time?
Like, yo…masked men are literally snatching people off the street like it’s Latino Pokémon GO, and the mayor is out here doing neighborhood beautification projects?
But the more I sat with it, the more I realized something: in that moment, she’s just like me. She’s just like a lot of us right now. Trying to help in any way that doesn’t feel completely powerless.
Everyone’s Got Ideas—Even the Illegal Ones
Over the last few weeks, I’ve driven all over L.A. County. I’ve talked to vendors, business owners, people hiding out, people trying to stay visible, people trying to disappear. And the number one thing I kept hearing was: “The mayor has to do something.”
And it’s not just Karen Bass. It’s mayors all over L.A. County and elected officials in general.
Some folks want mayors to treat this like the COVID crisis—daily briefings, transparency, updates, action plans. Not a bad idea.
Others want LAPD to post up at Home Depots to keep ICE agents off private property. I mean…seeing armed police officers posted up anywhere might keep everyone away.
One guy suggested lining every major L.A. street with giant delivery trucks so ICE can’t see who they’re stalking. Another person pitched a fake Uber system—like a city-funded car service that picks up at-risk workers and takes them home safely. I don’t know…anything is starting to sound logical at this point.
One person was like: “What if the cities had all the garbage trucks that collect the compost bins dump them on the lawns of people who voted for this madness?”
Okay. Maybe I made that one up, but can you imagine the Instagram reels?
If I can be real about this for a moment: what’s happening now isn’t about what or who you supported in the past. To me, it’s about protecting vulnerable communities and the Constitutional rights that are at the very foundation of our democracy.
So do something! Anything!
Ugh…
But here’s the thing: when you ask lawyers, policy folks, even real-deal city insiders…it turns out local officials, including mayors, can’t actually do a whole lot more than what a lot of them are already doing.
For the record: in the case of L.A.’s mayor asking the LAPD to intervene, Bass is in an even more unique position than most mayors. Our resident Edward R. Murrow, Memo Torres—to whom I like to refer as Guillermo R. Murrow—looked into it and confirmed: Bass doesn’t have direct command of the police chief. That’s because the current chief, Jim McDonnell, reports to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, not the mayor. While she appoints the five commissioners, they operate independently—meaning Bass can set the tone, but she can’t call the plays.
And in a moment like this, that distinction matters.
The Karen Bass Counterpunch
To her credit, Bass has been swinging.
A few days ago, she and a crew of L.A. and County officials filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government. They’re accusing ICE of racially profiling Brown communities, targeting job sites, and violating people’s civil rights. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is backing the suit. So is the L.A. City Attorney. So are a bunch of other cities across California. There’s even a possible injunction to stop targeting private businesses like Home Depots and car washes.
This is real action. Like, courtroom action. The kind that might not go viral on TikTok, but could actually get results.
Before that, under pressure from the community and the commission, chief McDonnell announced that officers are now required to confirm the identities of any unmarked ICE agents they come across to make sure they’re not just, you know, xenophobic bounty hunters cosplaying as federal agents.
Because yes—that’s a thing people are worried about.
There are rumors floating around about out-of-work correctional officers, retired deputies, or just random vigilantes pulling up in tinted SUVs looking to make “citizen’s arrests.”
The chaos is deep. So deep, it almost feels intentional.
‘Cover Them Up Like James Brown’
I was at a restaurant the other day—I won’t say which one, but it makes some of the best damn sandwiches in the city—and the owner told me they’ve started hiring private car services to take their vulnerable employees home at night.
“I cover them up like James Brown,” he laughed. “You know, coat over the head. Make it look like they’re just tired divas heading home from the gig.”
We laughed. But it made me think: maybe there are some things we can do.
Maybe we can organize community rides. Maybe we can find ways to keep people safe while the courts try to untangle this mess. Maybe we can stop pretending this is only happening to someone else.
Even if you’re not in L.A. or not Latino or not undocumented. This is impacting you.
The economic impact of this crackdown is already showing. Workers are disappearing. Businesses are short-staffed. People aren’t going out because they’re scared. And when the working class stops spending, the whole system starts to sink.
Forget trickle-down. Capitalism is actually about trickle-up economics.
The folks at the bottom are the ones buying shit. And the ones right above them? They sell it. And the ones at the top? They profit. When fear shuts that system down, everyone feels it.
So What Can Be Done?
Real talk? This won’t get solved by the mayor. Or the police commission. Or even the governor.
This is a job for Congress.
If our senators and House reps really wanted to solve the “immigration problem,” they’d do what Reagan and a Republican-led Senate did in 1986: create a path to legalization.
Instead, we’re watching them strip protections away—from TPS recipients, from student visa holders, from asylum seekers, from refugees. Every week, it feels like another group loses their legal footing.
That’s not enforcement. That’s erasure.
This whole thing feels like a setup. Like we’re being pushed into a moral panic that only benefits politicians who want to look “tough” and keep their base scared and angry.
So maybe Karen Bass scrubbing graffiti isn’t the solution. But I do love that she’s trying. And honestly, I like that she still finds reasons to smile and instill hope. I like that she’s showing up to MacArthur Park in the middle of a tactical show of force. Even if it’s just to talk to the person in charge.
We’re all just trying to show up. At least I am.
