The Brief

David Huerta, who leads the powerful Service Employees International Union California, was released from custody on Monday after his arrest during a downtown L.A. immigration raid set off a firestorm.

His arrest on Friday happened during confrontations with federal immigration agents, one of several that have extended through the weekend, resulting in multiple arrests.

Over the weekend, calls for his release grew louder from a chorus that included elected officials and hundreds of people who gathered for a demonstration on Monday.

Demonstrators call for the release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-USWW, who was arrested on June 6 during federal immigration operations, at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles, on June 9, 2025.

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Ronaldo Schemidt

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Here's where things stand:

• Huerta appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Monday afternoon. He was released from custody on $50,000 bond. An arraignment is scheduled for July 7, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
  
• Huerta has been charged with conspiracy to impede an officer after showing up to a workplace where federal authorities were executing a warrant, according to a federal complaint.
  
• The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
  
• The union said Huerta was arrested while exercising his First Amendment right to document law enforcement. California politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have denounced the arrest.
  
• U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff wrote a letter demanding the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice review the incident.
  
• More than 1,000 people showed up at a rally Monday in downtown L.A. to demand Huerta's release.
  

Why it matters

Huerta was held at Metropolitan Detention Center Los Angeles, the site of numerous protests on Saturday and Sunday in reaction to the immigration raids. He was injured during his arrest and treated at a hospital while in federal custody, according to SEIU.

"What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger," Huerta said in a statement. "This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening."

ICE agents detained dozens of people in the raids across L.A., prompting fear, anger and resistance from onlookers and immigrant rights groups. Many of the protesters were peaceful, but there were also reports of people shooting fireworks at agents and officers.

A protester displays a poster as tear gas is used in the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.

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FR171986 AP

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LAPD and California Highway Patrol officers showed up to move people away from the federal buildings and off the 101 Freeway near downtown on Sunday.

Some people were seen throwing objects at law enforcement and damaging property, including spray-painting and shattering windows at the downtown Civic Center and elsewhere. A group of Waymo autonomous taxis were vandalized and set on fire. There were also reports of law enforcement shooting people in the crowd with what's known as less lethal weapons, including rubber projectiles.

As of Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department said it had arrested 50 people in connection with the protests over the weekend. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said it had made five arrests, and California Highway Patrol made 19 arrests.

Huerta speaks

After his release from custody, Huerta spoke to supporters and media outside the courthouse. Standing shoeless and carrying a pile of papers with notes from his detention, he thanked his family members, as well as his "labor family" for backing him.

Huerta said he thought the Trump administration would likely try to make an example out of his case.

" I'm prepared to take on that journey," he said. "But I won't face it alone because I know my family and my community is with me."

He spoke at length about many people he met while in custody, including a man who was brought to the U.S. when he was 2 weeks old and didn't know he was an unauthorized immigrant until he was "well into his adulthood." Huerta said the man told him he was stabbed after he was deported to Mexico the first time and is afraid to go back.

"He doesn't see Mexico as his home," Huerta said of the man. "This is the only home he's known since he was 2 weeks old."

He also stressed a need for non-violence as the protests against ICE continue.

Earlier in the day, speakers at the rally in support of Huerta talked about his support of janitors, many of them immigrant workers, in the state of California.

"He's been on the front line for justice for his entire life, fighting for justice and fighting for immigrants," said Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Huerta is president of SEIU California and United Service Workers West. SEIU California represents 750,000 workers in California.

Anton Farmby, vice president of SEIU, said Huerta had been a labor leader at the union for 29 years and had been pivotal in bringing Black and Brown communities together.

"Regardless of what happened with David, regardless of what's happening here today, we're going to continue to be the voice for working people and continue to speak out around things that not only impact the immigrant community but also for workers in the labor movement," Farmby said.

The context

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said she was aware of five recent ICE raids in the region, including two within the city of L.A. Local protests followed in downtown L.A. and the cities of Paramount and Compton.

Monday was the fourth day of the protests.

President Donald Trump has said during his campaign and after his election that he planned to use federal resources to carry out "mass deportations" of unauthorized immigrants across the U.S.

In Los Angeles, fear and tension has been high as residents and advocacy groups braced for possible ICE raids.

Friday appeared to be the first large-scale ICE operation in L.A. County, and it prompted a swift response from protesters.

Huerta was among them.

Tensions also spiked that day and over the weekend between state and local authorities and the Trump administration, particularly after the president activated 2,000 National Guard troops in L.A. despite objections from Newsom and Bass, who said the move was unnecessary and would only escalate the already tense situation.

Newsom on Sunday formally called for Trump to rescind the deployment. A day later, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state was filing a lawsuit against the administration over the deployment.

Bonta said at a news conference that Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ignored law enforcement's expertise and guidance, trampled over the state's sovereignty and unlawfully invoked a statute that's intended to prevent an invasion or rebellion even though that was not the case in Los Angeles.

"Trump and Hegseth jumped from zero to 60, bypassing law enforcement expertise and evaluation," Bonta said. "They threw caution to the wind and sidelined strategy in an unnecessary and inflammatory escalation that only further spurred unrest."

Bonta said California is seeking a declaration from the court that Trump "federalizing" the National Guard and deploying them in L.A. was unlawful and an injunction.

Bonta said this is the 24th lawsuit the state has filed against the Trump administration.

NPR confirmed Monday that 700 Marines were being sent in response to the protests in Los Angeles in a support role.

L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement that the arrival of the Marines, without coordination with local law enforcement, presents "significant" logistical and operational challenges.

“The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, has decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively," the statement read. "That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground.

"We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time.”

Both McDonnell and Bass spoke at a news conference Monday evening. Bass said nothing warranted the raids, and that she believes Los Angeles is being used as a test case "for what happens when the federal government moves in and take the authority away from the state or away from local government."

How we're reporting on this

LAist reporters have been in scene where the protests and confrontations have taken place. Reporters Aaron Schrank and Libby Rainey were at a rally Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles where members of SEIU and others called for an end to the ICE raids and the release of Huerta.

The reporters also were in federal court for Huertas first appearance, and heard from Huerta and his attorneys after his release.

This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes and/or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.

Learn more

• Protesters clash with law enforcement in downtown LA. Hundreds march against Trump's immigration sweeps
  
• Officials name 12 ICE arrestees; at least two appear to have been in custody before raids
  
• As ICE agents enter LA communities, here's what the law says about civil rights — regardless of immigration status

LAist reporter Vitas Larrieu contributed to this report.

Lines stretched around the block Sunday at the Original Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita. It was supposed to be the restaurant's last day before closing after 139 years — making it the oldest continually operated restaurant in Los Angeles County.

But earlier this week, a sign was posted on the door saying, "Reopening under new ownership soon," although there were few details about who would be running it.

The sign was a surprise to the Mercado family, who have operated the restaurant for nearly 30 years. The family now is in a legal dispute with the Arklin family, who owns the property, about the potential re-opening and who owns the historic name.

The background

Alfredo Mercado worked his way up from bartender to restaurateur, purchasing the business in 1998. Since then Mercado and his daughters have operated the restaurant, leasing from the Arklin family. For most of that time, according to the Mercado side, the two families maintained good terms. Property owner Hank Arklin Sr., a former state assemblyman who owned other properties in the area, kept a verbal month-to-month agreement with the Mercados — no written lease required.

That changed when Arklin died in August at age 97.

New terms, failed negotiations

Larry Goodman, who manages multiple properties for the Arklin family's company, North Valley Construction, took over the landlord relationship. In September, the Mercado family say they were presented with a new written month-to-month lease.

Yecenia Ponce, Alfredo's daughter, said the new terms included various changes to the existing agreement, including a rent increase and charges for equipment.

Months of back and forth negotiations about different options, including selling the business, ultimately fell apart. Their attorney, Steffanie Stelnick, says they are being forced out, without proper legal notice, and has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goodman saying the family has plans to continue running the business.

LAist reached out to Goodman for comment repeatedly Wednesday and Thursday by phone but did not hear back.

Goodman told The Signal, a Santa Clarita valley news outlet, that Alfredo Mercado had changed his mind several times in recent weeks about keeping the business.

“I said, ‘Fine,’ then I got out and got someone to take it over,” Goodman said.

He said he'd been in contact with Eduardo Reyna, the CEO of Dario's, a local Santa Clarita restaurant, and that the cafe could re-open as soon as Jan. 16.

Who owns what?

The dispute also focuses on who owns the rights to the Original Saugus Cafe name.

Ponce said when her father purchased the restaurant in 1998, it was called The Olde Saugus Cafe, but the name was then changed to The Original Saugus Cafe. State records show that name registered as an LLC under Alfredo Mercado.

After Arklin’s death, however, the Arklin family filed a pending trademark application to lay its own claim to the name.

The Mercado family is resisting.

"As long as they don't buy the name from us, we're not handing it over," Ponce said.

Ponce said the family had no idea the landlord planned to continue operations.

"We truly did think we were closing," she said. "We were not aware that they had plans to continue."

She apologized to customers for the confusion.

Whether the decades-old restaurant name survives — and under whose control — may ultimately be decided in court.

Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.

The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.

Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising.

" Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying Good was trying to run agents over with her car. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis and other officials. Bystander video also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.

L.A. politicians have joined a chorus demanding justice for Good. Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, saying that ICE agents are waging "a purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation" on American cities.

"The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred," she said in the post.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Noem to withdraw ICE from U.S. cities.

“These ICE agents are undertrained and trigger happy and everyone who has seen this video knows ICE murdered this woman,” she said in a statement.

Some protesters also gathered outside the federal building in downtown L.A. Thursday morning to condemn the killing.