'An American nightmare': L.A. hosts first congressional hearing on effect of immigration raids

The Los Angeles Times reports on a congressional oversight hearing yesterday in Los Angeles. More than a dozen elected officials, experts and community members offered perspectives on the Trump administration’s immigration operations in the city. "It was an exclusively Democrat event and no one spoke up in support of the raids. . . . L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), announced last month that Congress was opening `a broad investigation' into arrests of U.S. citizens by ICE officers, as well as a separate probe into immigration raids overall.

Among the witnesses was "Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen who was on her way to work in June when masked men came running toward her. She described using her work bag as a shield, as an ICE officer slammed her into the sidewalk."

Prosecutors charged Velez with assault on a federal officer but later dismissed the case.