LA Mayor Bass claims immigration enforcement creating ghost town effect comparable to COVID lockdowns

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass compared the economical interaction of migration raids connected tiny businesses to authorities lockdowns imposed by her enactment connected California during the coronavirus pandemic, successful an interrogation connected Sunday.

Bass made the comments aft visiting respective tiny businesses and residential areas successful the predominantly-Latino assemblage of Boyle Heights that morning, on with Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, D-Los Angeles, according to The Los Angeles Times. The politician described observing vacant businesses and residents who were acrophobic to permission their homes to observe Father's Day.

"Mariachi Plaza was wholly empty. There was not a psyche there," Bass told The Times. "One restaurant, determination were a fistful of people. The different restaurant, determination was virtually cipher there."

Bass decried the raids, arguing that migrant labour was indispensable to the city's economy, peculiarly successful the construction, retail and edifice industries, but raids had created a clime of fearfulness that was hurting businesses.

"Death to ICE" is written connected a garbage cart pursuing aggregate detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), successful downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 6, 2025.  (REUTERS/Daniel Cole)

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"It’s the uncertainty that continues that has an implicit economical impact," she continued. "But it is beauteous profound to locomotion up and down the streets and to spot the bare streets. It reminded maine of COVID."

Los Angeles was placed nether immoderate of the strictest restrictions successful the federation during the coronavirus pandemic, closing churches, schools, and enforcing stay-at-home orders and disguise mandates. It was besides the top region successful the nation with COVID-19 cases.

Restaurant operators successful the assemblage reportedly told Bass that their businesses were suffering adjacent worse present than they did during the lockdowns due to the fact that immigrants weren't showing up to enactment and radical had little disposable income to devour retired due to the fact that they weren't working.

One edifice proprietor was successful tears implicit the situation, according to Assemblymember Gonzales.

Vandals graffitied a partition successful Los Angeles with convulsive threats against President Donald Trump.  (Peter D'Abrosca for Fox News Digital)

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"He said, ‘It’s truthful empty. I’ve ne'er seen it similar this, and I don’t cognize however we tin past this,’" Gonzales recalled, according to the Times. The concern proprietor blamed President Donald Trump for the interaction to his business.

"For idiosyncratic who’s expected to beryllium concern oriented, helium definite is allowing section businesses to descend and person the effect that these raids are having," the antheral said, according to Gonzales.

The Trump medication has shifted its migration strategy successful the past week, according to a report by The New York Times. The medication ordered a intermission connected deportation raids connected cultivation sites, hotels and restaurants, and not to apprehension "noncriminal collaterals." The determination came retired of fears that the sweeping raids were hurting cardinal industries successful the U.S. However, migration officials were reportedly told to proceed raids astatine farms, hotels, and restaurants.

Immigration protests began successful L.A. connected June 7, aft section ICE raids resulted successful hundreds of arrests, including the arrests of those with convulsive transgression histories. The president instantly deployed the National Guard to the country erstwhile protests started 2 weeks ago, garnering disapproval from Democrats insisting their beingness would lone escalate tensions.

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Looters interruption into a state station's marketplace during a protestation pursuing national migration operations, successful Los Angeles connected June 8, 2025.  (ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

During the riots, looters were captured connected video vandalizing and ransacking respective Los Angeles stores. While major chains similar Apple took the brunt of the robberies, section businesses were besides caught successful the crossfire.

Some section concern owners directed their outrage toward the rioters and metropolis leaders.

"We are sick and bushed of it," Paul Scrivano told "Fox & Friends First" past week. "We person nary 1 successful charge. I would spell truthful acold arsenic to accidental we person children successful complaint of Los Angeles close now."

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Fox News' Lindsay Kornick and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.