Rep. Gomez, Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic hosts legal ICE observer training

Even though Angie Romero is busy running a business in the heart of Little Tokyo, she took a few hours off on Monday to get trained as a legal observer to document immigration operations throughout Los Angeles. 

"These are our neighbors, our family members, our daycare workers, our ramen staff, people we see every day," Romero said. 

With the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic leading the session, Romero joined dozens of others looking to bear witness effectively and safely.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who hosted the training, did not soften the risks that come for anyone who raises a smartphone to federal agents, especially following the deadly shooting of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti, still top of mind. 

"None of this is abstract," Gomez said. "The risks are real. The stakes are real."

The training comes as a wave of community advocates use smartphones to record and livestream immigration enforcement operations throughout the country. 

Organizers stressed that legal observers are there to witness and document, not to negotiate with agents or to obstruct. 

Experts advised the trainees to travel in groups, make it clear that they are legal observers, ask for the reason for the detention, record from multiple angles, and document everything. 

"That might be a video. It also might be their eyewitness account of what they saw, what they experienced, where they were, anything they witnessed or experienced," said Tess Feldman, an attorney with the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic.  "If they can write that down in a safe, calm manner, it creates a reliable form of evidence that might be useful later."

Feldman added that legal observers can submit videos or records to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or national immigration attorney groups. Advocates also said there's value to just posting the content on social media.

"Unless the American public sees the killing of Alex Pretti, the killing of Renee Goode, it wouldn't penetrate," Rep. Gomez said. "They wouldn't believe it; that agents meant to protect them are harming them."

Romero said she now plans to host a legal observer training for other small business owners and neighbors at her Little Tokyo business. 

"It's going to take all of us working together to get back to what was the America that we know and love," Romero said.