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Born and raised in Downey, Victor Correa created a community watch program after witnessing an attempted immigration raid on his block.Earlier this year, Victor Correa spotted masked men trying to force two gardeners into an unmarked SUV in the city of Downey.
He recorded the scene with his phone, demanding to know why the men were being taken. The experience left Correa wanting to do more to protect his community.One of the gardeners said federal agents did not give them a chance to prove they have work authorizations. They expressed gratitude to Downey residents for standing up for them and credited the bystanders for enabling them to return to their families.A few weeks later, Correa co-founded Downey ICE Watch to train his neighbors on what their rights are when filming federal agents in public and how to record useful footage.Downey ICE Watch continues to train local residents. Their next meeting will take place March 25 at Downey Memorial Christian Church. On a tranquil morning in January, Victor Correa had a vision for the day: Breakfast burritos from La Azteca Tortillería, and, later, a wedding he’d attend with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter.played out more and more Correa grabbed his phone and started recording from his car. In videos he shared with LAist, men with dark sunglasses — one with a Border Patrol uniform and one in plainclothes — questioned two gardeners while other masked men stood watch from black SUVs nearby.“Don’t fuckin’ shoot me!” he shouted at the federal agent. “I’m not fuckin’ doin’ nothin’!” Correa honked and hurried to park. “ICE! ICE is here!” he yelled. By the time he made it back to the scene, one of the gardeners had already been taken inside a black Chevy Tahoe.“José Solorio,” the man managed to say as an agent grappled him. Soon, other neighbors emerged. They too began to record. One called out for a number to contact Solorio’s family: “¡Número de teléfono, jefe! ¡Número de teléfono!” A woman in a floral bathrobe walked up and began scolding the agents. Amid the fray, the gardener inside the SUV appeared to let himself out. Then, the agents drove off.Correa had been watching videos of immigration raids on social media for months, with a combined sense of fury and heartbreak. He’d also read up on how to be an effective bystander and “I told myself that if I ever saw something like that, that I would be ready,” he told LAist. “And so, when my moment came, IAfter the agents left, Correa said, he, the gardeners and neighbors unwound. According to Correa, the man who exited the SUV after being detained talked about trying to show proof that he’s in the U.S. legally to one of the agents, “but they wouldn’t listen."“You don't have to show me anything," Correa recalled saying.Born and raised in Downey, Victor Correa created a community watch program after witnessing an attempted immigration raid on his block.The experience left Correa wanting to do more to protect his community from further raids. He teamed up with City Councilman Mario Trujillo to found, an organization with decades of experience in community patrol, to teach attendees how to spot immigration agents. The group also distributed whistles, a tool that’s become symbolic of community resistance toKeeping bystanders safe — or as safe as possible — was and continues to be top of mind, he added. Days before Downey ICE Watch’s first meeting, federal agents Looking back on his encounter with federal agents, Correa said that, in hindsight, he would strive to be “a little less aggressive.” “I would still go out there and record and blow whistles,” he added, “but I would not as close, because I have a family, I have a daughter. And these guysIn February, Correa held a second meeting for his group at Downey Christian Memorial Church. Last summer, when the Trump administration began its militarized deportation effort in Southern California, armed agents. When faith leaders asked the agents to identify themselves, they said one of the officers pointed a gun at its senior pastor, Rev. Tanya Lopez. As local residents entered the church’s multipurpose room for the Downey ICE Watch meeting, Correa and other organizers had them sit with people who live in their part of the city. Correa said this would help locals mingle with their neighbors, creating a sense of camaraderie that’s essential to community patrol work.. Immigration attorneys talked about cases they’re working on, about the families they’re fighting to keep from being separated.The group’s next meeting will take place on March 25, 2026 at Downey Memorial Christian Church. Local attorney Alfonso Morales thought it important to talk about cases where he’s been successful, including the release of two men who were detained during a warrantless raid at a car wash in San Dimas.“Don't interfere,” he told them. “You're there to record and document.” Morales encouraged them to describe what they witness: “Narrate. Talk about the place, the time, how many officers, how many vehicles, the license plate — all of that is public information.”Morales acknowledged that this type of work can take a toll on one’s mental health. “I now have a therapist,” he shared. “Seeing people taken on a daily basis, when you know the law, and you know the law should be on your side—it’s painful.” Still, federal immigration agents “need to know people are watching,” Morales said. “And that history will not forget.” Correa wrapped up the February meeting with a presentation from other community groups, BarrioPower and Siempre Unidos LA. Rosa Vazquez, who co-founded BarrioPower last summer, stressed that, if local residents do not feel comfortable participating in community patrols, they can still help their neighbors. Community members, for instance, can deliver groceries to those who are too scared to leave their homes, or volunteer to drive their neighbors’ children to school. “When the world feels like it's crumbling around us every single day,” she said, “the only way to overcome the despair that is natural for us to feel is to take action.” One week after the FBI searched the home and office of Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, there are few public details about the justification for the search and the underlying investigation. LAist talked to legal experts to understand why.is unknown. A DOJ spokesperson said the agency has a court-authorized warrant but declined to provide additional details. The FBIA retired FBI special agent and former federal prosecutor told LAist it’s “not uncommon” for a judge to agree to restrict the public’s view of a search warrant affidavit while an investigation is ongoing. “They could be concerned about people fleeing or covering up evidence or other efforts to obstruct the investigation,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. It could also mean prosecutors are working with witnesses or informants who they don’t want to compromise, she said.acknowledging the presence of law enforcement at its headquarters and the superintendent’s home and said it is “cooperating with the investigation, and we do not have further information at this time." The LAUSD board voted unanimously Friday to place CarvalhoOne week after the FBI searched the home and office of Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, leader of the Los Angeles Unified School District, there are few public details about the justification for the searches and the underlying investigation.is still unknown. A Department of Justice spokesperson said the agency has a court-authorized warrant but declined to provide additional details. The FBIat Loyola Law School. “This is just the beginning on a case like this. a major development, but the fact that they still have this under seal seems to suggest it's ongoing.” Neighbors told LAist that agents in unmarked cars arrived at Carvalho’s San Pedro home early on the morning of Feb. 25.LAist talked to Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, as well as Kenneth Gray, a retired FBI special agent and University of New Haven criminal justice, to understand why the search warrant and the affidavit have been shielded from public view. Gray and Levenson spoke based on their experience in the field, not on any insider knowledge of the investigation involving Carvalho.An affidavit is a sworn document that lays out details of a case — and the underlying reason why law enforcement believes in the need for a search warrant. ”You build a case in your affidavit, that you have reason to believe you have probable cause that a crime has been committed and that there is evidence to be found at a specific location,” Gray said. It usually contains information that federal agents have learned themselves or information that others have told them, he said. Gray and Levenson told LAist it’s “not uncommon” for a judge to agree to restrict the public’s view of an affidavit while an investigation is ongoing. “They could be concerned about people fleeing or covering up evidence or other efforts to obstruct the investigation,” Levenson said. It could also mean prosecutors are working with witnesses or informants they don’t want to compromise — or on an issue of national security. “ I would not read into the fact that it is sealed that it means a specific thing because there are many different reasons why,” Gray said.It’s hard to know. Levenson said if the investigation is concluded and there are formal charges in the case, it’s likely the affidavits will become unsealed. But it’s also possible it will remain hidden from public view if the investigation is ongoing. “There can be so many offshoots of the case,” she said.“It’s really impossible to guess because we don’t know how widespread this investigation is,” she said. It’s possible charges are never filed. It’s also possible the search warrant may become public before the affidavit, the latter of which contains more information about the case the prosecutors are trying to build. “Depending on the type of case, the search warrant usually is something revealed early on,” Gray said. “But the affidavit itself is not until it goes to court.” Gray said the target of the search typically is left with a copy of the warrant and a receipt of the property taken. The receipt also is filed with the court and the evidence stored in an FBI locker, Gray said.The Department of Justice has not publicly charged Carvalho with wrongdoing. Carvalho has made no public statement since the searches. “Not every case ends up being provable,” Gray said. He acknowledged the media’s right to report on searches but said there can be consequences. “Sometimes the end result is that people's reputations are damaged when information like this is revealed that has not been proven,” Gray said.LAist contacted Miami-Dade County Public Schools for comment. The district referred our request to the media relations department and its lawyers but has not yet provided any information. Typically, a newsroom or media outlet has best practices for gathering the information found in stories. Journalists who focus on a specific topic or geography may develop professional relationships with people or sources who are willing to share information that is not otherwise public., we seek information from people who know the facts “first-hand” — there’s no one between the information we’re seeking and the source.as a primary source of information as a last resort because we believe readers and listeners should know where the information in our stories comes from. However, there are some cases where we use confidential sources. For example, when they are the only ones who can provide understanding central to the story.. “In most circumstances, information from unnamed sources needs to be corroborated by a second credible person, document, tape, or video that is independent of the original source.”to help fund the creation of a community center — including space for art classes and housing for formerly incarcerated people — at the site of his art studio on Rosecrans Avenue in Compton.Mr. Wash was convicted of a non-violent drug offense he maintains he didn’t commit and was sentenced to life in prison because of mandatory minimums in 1997. He served more than 20 years in federal prison before he was granted clemency and had his sentence commuted by President Barack Obama in 2016. While he was incarcerated Mr. Wash began to draw and paint, and then taught art to other inmates for 18 years.Mr. Wash’s vision for the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center is for it to be a “two-way bridge” that provides young people with a creative outlet to set their futures on a positive trajectory, and as a place for formerly incarcerated people to live and create art.His hope is that the main building will be completed before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but still needs to raise several million dollars to make that a reality.“I explained to the guys with tears in their eyes, and not just in their eyes, but running down their cheeks, that they were going to return home. And I was leaving to go and prepare a place for them,” he said. Mr. Wash was convicted of a non-violent drug offense he maintains he didn’t commit and was sentenced to life in prison because of mandatory minimums. He served more than 20 years in federal prison before he was granted clemency and had his sentence commuted by President Barack Obama in 2016.While he was incarcerated, Mr. Wash began to draw and paint, and then taught art to others at three different prisons in Kansas, Colorado and finally Lompoc, California, for 18 years. “I changed the lives of a lot of prisoners. Each prison I went to, the warden would ask me to do what you did there, here,” he said. “I would continue to teach and share, give guidance and mentorship, and sometimes therapy. ‘Cause art is like therapy. I could use it as a way to reach and find out some of the deepest things going on with them.” Mr. Wash first began drawing after his lawyer asked him to sketch a person from memory — a witness who she hoped to track down to help with his defense. While it didn’t prevent his conviction, it did help his attorney locate the person, and after that, he said, “I promised God at that time that I would continue to practice and to share it.” He gained media attention for his portraits and other paintings he made while incarcerated, and in 2014 completed a work depicting Obama granting him clemency., “I also believe that art played a part in President Obama commuting my sentence and bringing me home in 2016.”to help fund the creation of a community center — including space for art classes and housing for formerly incarcerated people — at the site of his art studio on Rosecrans Avenue in Compton. features interviews with 20 Los Angeles artists, photographed in the usually private spaces where they work. Some of these artists helped to fund Mr. Wash’s legal defense and many offered their own spaces for him to work in after he was released from prison., the artist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, offered Mr. Wash space to work on a larger scale painting at herA portion of "Artists in Space," which features 20 L.A. artists, including Patrisse Cullors, in conversation with Mr. Wash., who Mr. Wash counts as mentors and who are also featured in the book, helped contribute to his legal defense fund for years. “And I had never met them,” Mr. Wash said. “They were selling their work and giving 25% of their work to pay the legal fees to try to get me out.”The Compton location where Mr. Wash works today has already been transformed significantly — from a dilapidated, overgrown lot to one that now includes his studio, office, and a large outdoor area with walls that artists and community members are invited to make their mark on. Mr. Wash’s vision for the space is for it to be a “two-way bridge” that provides young people with a creative outlet to set their futures on a positive trajectory, and as a place for formerly incarcerated people to live and create art.His hope is that the main building will be completed before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but still needs to raise several million dollars to make that a reality., and by selling his own paintings, which he continues to create in his Compton studio, most often working in silence. “I just pray,” Mr. Wash said. “If you listen to music or TV or radio, to me, while you’re working, part of your energy and spirit is being into that It's captured you. And so I, a lot of times, choose not to be captured again. So I just stay within me and within God and just keep going forward.”, is from 2 to 6 p.m. March 7 at the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center, 915 W. Rosecrans Ave., Compton. RSVPIf you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.Shifting control of L.A. city homelessness spending away from the agency long entrusted with it to a department in city government could take a year and a half, city officials said Wednesday. They’re also exploring shifting it to the county to manage.Bringing that spending in house was one of several options discussed by city councilmembers during a meeting of the housing and homelessness committee. The city directs roughly $300 million per year to the L.A. Homeless Services Authority. L.A. County supervisors voted last April to withdraw funding for the agency, citing ongoing problems with its oversight of homelessness funds. Now, 10 months later, city officials are debating what to do with the troubled agency.Just after Wednesday’s discussion ended, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ office released a statement urging the council not to withdraw funding from LAHSA without a plan in place. “Withdrawing from LAHSA too quickly, without a plan and without the capacity, will no doubt cause unintended consequences that will leave more Angelenos to die on our streets,” Bass said in her statement.shifting the funding from LAHSA to direct city controlThe L.A. Homeless Services Authority, which is overseen by the city and county, has been under fire for more than a year. County supervisors voted last spring to pull the county’s funding from LAHSA and shift it to a new county department for homeless services.Committee chair Nithya Raman told LAist she’s planning on one more meeting to go over the options before the committee decides how to move forward.Shifting control of L.A. city homelessness spending away from the agency long entrusted with it to a department in city government could take a year and a half, city officials said Wednesday. Bringing that spending in house was one of several options discussed by city councilmembers during a meeting of their housing and homelessness committee. Another option they’re considering is having the money be managed by the county, which started setting up a homelessness department about a year ago. The city directs roughly $300 million per year to the L.A. Homeless Services Authority. L.A. County supervisors voted last April to withdraw funding for the agency, citing ongoing problems with the agency's oversight of homelessness funds. Now 10 months later, city officials are debating Just after Wednesday’s discussion ended, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ office released a statement urging the council not to withdraw funding from LAHSA without a plan in place. “Withdrawing from LAHSA too quickly, without a plan and without the capacity, will no doubt cause unintended consequences that will leave more Angelenos to die on our streets,” Bass said in her statement. “What we need is a serious, thoughtful transition plan — the last thing we need is a new department and more bureaucracy.”shifting the funding from LAHSA to direct city controlCouncilmember Bob Blumenfield, who sits on the council’s housing and homelessness committee, said he’d be open to having the county handle the city’s homelessness spending if the county doesn’t charge the city for overhead costs. ”If they're doing that, then I might be willing to say, 'OK, let's give them some of our money.' … That's going help our programs and give us a more efficient route,” Blumenfield said. “We also need to get down to brass tacks and understand what it means financially.”. That rate is 8% for the county’s funds at LAHSA, which will be pulled from the agency July 1 and shifted to the new county department. Councilmember Tim McOsker said he was leaning toward working with the county on a limited number of programs, like interim housing. City officials said they currently lack staff dedicated to advising them on homelessness policy and setting up the infrastructure to potentially take on direct oversight of the spending. “There are no dedicated policy staff on homelessness in the city ,” said John Wickham, a legislative analyst official at the city who presented the staff report of options to the committee Wednesday.The statement from Bass’ office encouraged the city council to develop a “thoughtful transition plan” before shifting funds away from LAHSA. The statement touted a new Homelessness Bureau the city created for the budget that started last July to focus on “oversight, accountability and results” to the city’s homelessness spending. But city officials noted at Wednesday’s committee meeting that no one has been hired yet at the bureau, nine months after the council approved its funding.. “We need more capacity to be able to manage this work at the city and to make sure that every dollar is working well. We just do. We're not staffed to be able to handle that right now.”Wednesday’s discussion didn’t start until just before 4 p.m., following two hours of discourse on other items at the meeting and lasted about 45 minutes. “It's getting very late,” Raman said around 3:45 p.m., before the committee began talking about the possible funding shift from LAHSA. It’s been two years since Councilmember Monica Rodriguez introduced the item that was up for discussion Wednesday, with the staff report of options delivered almost a year ago. She told councilmembers Wednesday that they’ve been wasting precious time and need to be decisive. ”In the 316 days since this report was issued, we are finally here engaging in this conversation,” Rodriguez said. She recently criticized Raman, the committee’s chair, for not scheduling the discussion sooner. “ No longer can we afford indecision in making decisive actions around how we change this system. We must act. We must act now,” she said. ”We still have a broken and dysfunctional system without a singular entity directing our work around homelessness.” Raman has said she plans to hold one more discussion — expected to be March 18 — before the committee decides next steps. From there, it will be up to the full city council to decide. The committee’s recommendations are influential, as the panel’s five members are one-third of the full council and most of what it would take to form a deciding majority on the council.Officials also noted Wednesday that under their current approach, there’s no written agreement laying out what LAHSA and the city’s responsibilities are. They said one is in the works. “What I've seen in my short period is that … if we didn't ink it, nobody could think it and then they get away with not doing the work,” said Councilmember Heather Hutt. “I think we need to be more intentional about identifying roles.”LAHSA was created by the city and county in 1993 to oversee homeless services. It’s governed by a CEO who reports to a commission of 10 members. Half of the members are appointed by the mayor and the other half by each of the five county supervisors. Bass also serves on the commission, having appointed herself in fall 2023.While addressing the commission that oversees the organization last Friday, CEO Gita O’Neill said LAHSA was “in crisis. And I say this not as a criticism to any of our really hardworking staff. They've built what they were asked to build.”De’Mon Tyndell, owner of The Quesadilla Calling, plays a game of pool in the storage area where he keeps the food cart he recently received from the city of Long Beach on Feb. 25.More than a year-and-a-half after promising to provide up to 40 free carts to eligible street vendors, Long Beach hasn’t even made it halfway to that goal and now plans to cut funding for the program.As of late February, Long Beach has supplied 11 free carts, with six more applicants waiting for final approvals. Health officials say this is because out of the 123 applicants, the vast majority haven’t completed all the steps necessary. Applications are still open for vendors seeking a free cart, but city officials are reviewing “the application process and overall program,” Health Department spokesperson Jennifer Ann Gonzalez wrote in an email.Long Beach originally allocated $429,500 for the free-cart program, but the City Council recently approved reducing that by $200,201, citing “low participation” and the need to balance a city budget that’s facing deficits.to eligible street vendors, Long Beach hasn’t even made it halfway to that goal and now plans to cut funding for the program. As of late February, Long Beach had supplied 11 free carts, with six more applicants waiting for final approvals. Health officials say this is because out of the 123 applicants, the vast majority haven’t completed all the steps necessary. Long Beach originally allocated $429,500 for the free-cart program, but the City Council recently approved reducing that by $200,201, citing “low participation” and the need to balance a city budget that’sfor vendors seeking a free cart, but city officials are reviewing “the application process and overall program,” Health Department spokesperson Jennifer Ann Gonzalez wrote in an email., said it took roughly eight months to receive a cart that was worth about $17,500. She was grateful but said it took countless emails and phone calls to the Health Department to finally get the finished product. At one point, after months of email exchanges and “doing applications on applications,” Tyndell told city staff, “I don’t even want to do this anymore.” Although he has the cart, Tyndell said he doesn’t use it for his various pop-ups throughout the week because the roughly 800-pound mobile kitchen is not “user friendly” to transport.Moving it requires a trailer with a winch because the cart’s built-in wheels are too small for it to be towed around, Tyndell said. As a result, the cart has been sitting in storage for the past six months while he uses a flattop grill and tables he can easily load in his van. The free cart program was aimed at small-time entrepreneurs who needed help complying with new rules the city drafted on street vending. To qualify, applicants needed to live in Long Beach, have no more than two full-time employees and operate only one cart. If approved, they could receive one of four types: fruit carts, grilled food carts, tamale carts and ice cream carts. But many people trying to run a low-margin business don’t have time for a complicated application process. For McCoy, selling pastramis and hot dogs from a corner in North Long Beach is just one of her side businesses. That means she doesn’t have to be out every day to bring in enough cash to sustain her operation. That flexibility gave her the time to pursue the free cart with a sense of urgency.Meanwhile, since early last year, the city has begun penalizing street vendors who don’t comply with its rules. Health Department officials say it’s a necessary step to prevent food-borne illness caused by vendors who haven’t gone through a health inspection. From early last year through Feb. 23, city staff seized and discarded food from 72 vendors and issued 103 administrative citations against vendors without an active business license. In 71 cases, they’ve also impounded street vendors’ equipment. Penalties for the citations range from $100 to $500, depending on how many times a vendor has been cited. Enforcement is carried out based on complaints. The Health Department says its staff first tries to educate vendors on how to comply, then they issue a notice of violation and finally an administrative citation. If vendors don’t heed that citation, a team responds to discard food and impound equipment. Starting in 2022, California banned cities from outlawing street vendors altogether, but municipalities are still allowed to regulate when, where and how they can sell for health and safety reasons. Since Long Beach adopted its rules, the city has received 358 applications from vendors seeking a business license to operate legally. As of Feb. 23, the city has granted just 55 . Rather than risk being cited, Tyndell limits his selling to pop-ups at farmers markets, outside bars and various events around the city where he can more easily get permits. Recently, he got a spot selling inside Good Times Billiards — a pool hall in Lakewood — and hopes to add a second location inside another pool hall on Broadway in Alamitos Beach. That business is awaiting city approval, but Tyndell said he aims to open by the end of the month. There, he says, he’ll finally use his free cart to serve up gourmet quesadillas.
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