LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three months after aggressive immigration raids began in Southern California, everyday life has shifted. Masked agents pull up, and neighbors mount quick protests. Priests bring Communion to homes. Children log on to class instead of walking to school. Still, people step out — the rent is due. Work doesn’t pause.
The Trump administration’s focus on arresting people suspected of living in the country illegally has transformed life for tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous county. About a third of the county’s 10 million residents are foreign-born, and an untold number of people are now trying to live without being seen.
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An upside-down American flag, a signal of distress and protest, hangs outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Flower vendor Jose, an immigrant from Mexico, sits for a photo with his face covered by flowers outside a gas station in Los Angeles, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
People play soccer during sunset in MacArthur Park, an area that was recently targeted in ICE raids, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Guillermo Trejo, center, plays cards with friends at a park in Oxnard, Calif., Friday, July 18, 2025, as demonstrators gather to protest a recent ICE raid. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Anaise, 3, clings to her mother, Veronica, an immigrant from Guatemala, as she works at a sewing machine in Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Flowers are placed outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A man rides his bike past signs protesting ICE, displayed on a fence across the street from a Home Depot in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Surveillance cameras hang above the entrance to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility known as "B-18," where immigration hearings take place, in Los Angeles, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Street vendor Hector, an immigrant from Guatemala, waits for customers at his food cart in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Day laborer Antonio, an immigrant from Guatemala, stands outside a day labor center in the parking lot of a Home Depot where a sign warns that law enforcement needs a warrant to enter, in Los Angeles, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A day laborer talks to a potential client in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Los Angeles, which was targeted in ICE raids, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Diego Garcia, center right, who said he worries about his parents amid ICE raids, takes an order from diners at a restaurant on Olvera Street in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Street vendor Francisca, an immigrant from Guatemala, prepares an order at her cart in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, where her son accompanies her to help monitor their surroundings amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Agustin Gonzalez, left, and Carmen Beltran dance to mariachi music at Los Angeles Plaza Park in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A street vendor carries cotton candy and inflatable toys near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, an area targeted in recent ICE raids, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Brandon Gomez, 10, who said his classmate's parents were detained by ICE, joins other demonstrators protesting a recent raid, covering his face out of fear of being identified, in Oxnard, Calif., Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An art installation, which displays black and white images of people detained or deported as a result of ICE raids in Southern California, stands outside the federal building in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Participants take part in a human art installation depicting immigrants in detention during a demonstration outside the federal building in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 17, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A torn missing person flyer, for an immigrant believed to be detained by ICE, is posted on a pole in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Day laborers still gather at a Home Depot lot in Los Angeles’ Van Nuys neighborhood, despite several raids there by immigration agents. A new sign outside a day labor center warns law enforcement not to enter the building without a warrant. Antonio from Guatemala — who, like other migrants interviewed for this article, didn’t want to reveal his full name because he doesn’t want to identify himself to the authorities — shows up in his pickup truck and with a whistle, ready to warn if agents from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement are coming. He said he is vigilant all the time but refuses to live a life in hiding.
Street vendor Carmen, an immigrant from Guatemala, glances both ways as she fills a cup with fruit juice on a Los Angeles sidewalk. Juan Manuel runs his clothing subcontracting shop with its folding metal shutter shut and locked from the inside. Another contractor couple works at a sewing machine with their three daughters beside them, instead of sending the girls to summer programs. They work at night instead of during the day to avoid detection.
The smell of tear gas has long since faded outside the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where National Guard troops and Marines stood guard in response to protests. The armored vehicles are gone, but a lone American flag still hangs upside down from a pole placed nearby.
On Olvera Street, a popular Mexican marketplace, young server Diego Garcia smiles as he takes an order. Elsewhere, vendors glance up whenever helicopters fly by. Missing person signs are posted by families searching for loved ones they believe have been arrested by immigration officers.
For these communities, life swings between courage and caution. Making ends meet comes first for many. Fear is just an inconvenience.
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
An upside-down American flag, a signal of distress and protest, hangs outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Flower vendor Jose, an immigrant from Mexico, sits for a photo with his face covered by flowers outside a gas station in Los Angeles, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
People play soccer during sunset in MacArthur Park, an area that was recently targeted in ICE raids, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Guillermo Trejo, center, plays cards with friends at a park in Oxnard, Calif., Friday, July 18, 2025, as demonstrators gather to protest a recent ICE raid. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Anaise, 3, clings to her mother, Veronica, an immigrant from Guatemala, as she works at a sewing machine in Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Flowers are placed outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A man rides his bike past signs protesting ICE, displayed on a fence across the street from a Home Depot in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Surveillance cameras hang above the entrance to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility known as "B-18," where immigration hearings take place, in Los Angeles, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Street vendor Hector, an immigrant from Guatemala, waits for customers at his food cart in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Day laborer Antonio, an immigrant from Guatemala, stands outside a day labor center in the parking lot of a Home Depot where a sign warns that law enforcement needs a warrant to enter, in Los Angeles, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A day laborer talks to a potential client in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Los Angeles, which was targeted in ICE raids, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Diego Garcia, center right, who said he worries about his parents amid ICE raids, takes an order from diners at a restaurant on Olvera Street in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Street vendor Francisca, an immigrant from Guatemala, prepares an order at her cart in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, where her son accompanies her to help monitor their surroundings amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Agustin Gonzalez, left, and Carmen Beltran dance to mariachi music at Los Angeles Plaza Park in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A street vendor carries cotton candy and inflatable toys near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, an area targeted in recent ICE raids, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Brandon Gomez, 10, who said his classmate's parents were detained by ICE, joins other demonstrators protesting a recent raid, covering his face out of fear of being identified, in Oxnard, Calif., Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An art installation, which displays black and white images of people detained or deported as a result of ICE raids in Southern California, stands outside the federal building in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Participants take part in a human art installation depicting immigrants in detention during a demonstration outside the federal building in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 17, 2025, amid ongoing ICE raids. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A torn missing person flyer, for an immigrant believed to be detained by ICE, is posted on a pole in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
