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More than two dozen people described the upheaval the raids had caused in immigrant communities and aired accusations of mistreatment by agents.
Nov. 24, 2025Updated 10:54 p.m. ET
For about four hours, they described the toll of federal raids on Southern California. They spoke of masked agents tackling undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens, of being denied food, water and phone calls to relatives while in custody.
One woman fought back tears as she recounted not having seen her husband since he was detained on June 21 after leaving a laundromat. One man described vomiting blood after contracting an illness at a detention center.
At a congressional hearing in Los Angeles on Monday, more than two dozen people testified to lawmakers about the fear and upheaval gripping Southern California immigrant communities after months of federal raids led by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The testimony came from men and women whose loved ones had been arrested or who had been detained themselves. Some had witnessed immigration arrests, and still others were local elected officials who described agents whose actions, they said, went outside the law.
“This is not public safety,” said Rex Richardson, the mayor of Long Beach. “This is racial profiling. This is abuse of power.”
Democratic members of Congress organized the hearing at the urging of Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles and a former member of Congress, as part of their push to investigate reports of misconduct by federal immigration agents. Other hearings are expected to be held in other cities. The session on Monday drew lawmakers from California and across the country, including Representatives Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Maxine Waters of California.
