GOP senator accuses LA immigrant rights groups of aiding 'unlawful' acts during ongoing ICE protests

A Republican senator from Missouri is accusing two immigrant rights groups in Los Angeles of “bankrolling civil unrest” prompted by the recent federal immigration raids in the area.

Sen. Josh Hawley, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, sent letters threatening to launch criminal investigations into the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, also known as CHIRLA, and Unión del Barrio.

Hawley wrote to the CHIRLA's executive director, Angelica Salas, saying “credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions.”

The senator offered no evidence in the letter that CHIRLA, one of the largest immigrant rights groups in Los Angeles, had been involved in any specific acts of violence or vandalism that accompanied the mostly peaceful protests over immigration raids over the past few days.

“You must immediately cease and desist any further involvement in the organization, funding, or promotion of these unlawful activities,” Hawley wrote. The letter demands CHIRLA preserve internal communications relating to protest planning, coordination, or funding.

In a statement, Salas rejected Hawley’s allegations.

“Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values,” she stated. “We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our first amendment rights.”

Hawley sent a similar letter to Ron Gochez, a community organizer with Unión del Barrio. The group is part of the Community Self Defense Coalition, which began a program in January that involves members patrolling the streets preemptively looking for immigration agents. Gochez was featured in an LAist story confronting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with a bullhorn outside a home in South L.A.

We have reached out to Gochez for comment, but have not yet received a response.

Free speech advocates react

First Amendment advocates immediately denounced Hawley’s letter.

David Loy, legal director of the California-based First Amendment Coalition, pushed back specifically on a part of the letter that reads: “Let me be clear: bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech, it’s aiding and abetting criminal conduct.”

“It's not enough to say that CHIRLA or any other group is involved in protests and therefore responsible for everything that every single person does during those protests,” Loy said.

“The impact of a letter like this has a strong chilling effect on protected speech.”

Marissa Montes, director of Loyola Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic, called Hawley’s message an attempt to limit and silence advocacy on behalf of immigrants.

“We talk about being persecuted for your political opinion — this is a clear example,” Montes said.

CHIRLA has long been a leading advocate for immigrant rights in Los Angeles, conducting dozens of peaceful protests since its inception in 1986.

Salas has been its leader since 1999.

“In her role, she has transformed CHIRLA into a mass membership immigrant-led organization that empowers immigrants and their families to win local, state, and national policies that advance their human, civil, and labor rights,” her biography reads on the group’s website.

Another investigation

Hawley’s letter follows an announcement this week that a House committee and subcommittee would be investigating 200 non-governmental organizations, including CHIRLA, for allegedly improperly using tax dollars to facilitate illegal immigration during the Biden administration.

“Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funneled billions of dollars to NGOs to provide material support, including transportation, translation services, and housing, to illegal aliens throughout the United States,” wrote House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green (R-TN) and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK).

That news release singled out CHIRLA.

“Most recently…the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), has been linked to the far-left, anti-law enforcement riots in Los Angeles,” it read.

Loy called the government’s actions wrong.

“It's improper for the government to threaten to investigate or prosecute someone in the absence of evidence to show that the protest organizer had specific intent to support unlawful acts,” he said.

Montes agreed.

“This is something we have not seen before and it's truly a threat to American democracy.”

The protests that started Friday, sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California, continued through Wednesday.

In Los Angeles, they were mostly contained to a small area of downtown near the Civic Center.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew in that area Tuesday night into Wednesday morning that encompassed an area slightly larger than 1 square mile in a city that’s more than 500 square miles. The curfew was extended Wednesday night.

Arrests and charges from the protests

There have been multiple arrests, many of them on suspicion of violating curfew, according to the L.A. Police Department.

On Wednesday, federal and local prosecutors announced that charges had been filed against about a dozen people accused of various crimes, including assault on a peace officer, commercial burglary and vandalism, during protests in L.A. and Orange County.

A day earlier, David Huerta, who leads the powerful Service Employees International Union California, was charged in federal court with conspiracy to impede an officer. Huerta was arrested Friday at the scene of a workplace where federal agents were executing a warrant, according to a criminal complaint. He was injured during the arrest.

After his initial court appearance Monday, Huerta was released from custody on bond.

Federal prosecutors in L.A. also charged a man with one count of assault on a federal officer for allegedly spitting on him.

“This defendant found out the hard way: When you spit, we hit — with a felony charge,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “Law enforcement officers risk their lives and safety to uphold the law. To treat them with disrespect, like this defendant did, mocks our great nation and such behavior will be punished accordingly.”

Prosecutors have said more charges are likely.