At 3am on Wednesday, May 13, agents from a Homeland Security taskforce battered in doors, smashed windows, and raided the homes of several volunteers of an immigrant rights coalition in Ventura County, California called VC Defensa.

Organizers say the raids were part of an escalating campaign of intimidation targeting immigrant rights activists under the administration of President Donald Trump. Over the last year, members of VC Defensa say they have faced repeated harassment from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On May 14, during a press conference outside the federal building in Los Angeles, speakers denounced the raids and vowed to continue organizing.

“We’re not going to stop until we abolish ICE! We are not going to stop until every single person that is in a detention center is free!” said Lainy, a lead organizer of VC Defensa, addressing a crowd of supporters.

“We will not stand by and allow them to continue trying to intimidate us!”

According to a statement released by the organization, multiple volunteers have been targeted by federal agents in recent months.

“One volunteer had his car crashed into on three separate occasions by ICE agents. Another had agents show up at his door just weeks after being arrested on trumped-up felony charges. A third had his phone seized after more than 80 threatening calls to him and his family.”

Community organizing continues despite repression

VC Defensa describes itself as an organization dedicated to “empowering the immigrant and refugee population of Ventura County.” Since its founding in 2024, the coalition says it has organized hundreds of know-your-rights trainings, supported thousands of families, and assisted immigrants facing issues ranging from landlord harassment to food insecurity.

The group is also known for monitoring ICE activity in local communities, documenting operations and speaking with residents during enforcement operations. Organizers maintain that the group has never broken any laws and that no formal charges have been brought against either VC Defensa or its volunteers. Yet, they say they have been repeatedly attacked.

One VC Defensa volunteer named Mitch, who is also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, told attendees that he had been targeted by federal forces during protests following a raid and mass arrest at a farm in Ventura County.

“Shot in the temple with a pepper ball as well as struck by rubber bullets and tear gas,” he said, describing the injuries sustained during demonstrations.

Despite this, Mitch emphasized that organizers would continue their work.

“We are not afraid because we stand united,” he said. “I know that I am not alone. I stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow organizers with my comrades. And we are fighting back. We must fight back.”

“They are not going to scare us away from this,” Lainy told the crowd.

“We do this for our people. We do this for our neighbors, for our fathers, mothers and for every single person that has ever been harmed by this system. Not just immigrants but every single person of the working class. We have to stand together and fight back!”

Reem Yassin, an attorney representing VC Defensa, announced that legal action against federal authorities is also underway.

“We are preparing to file a federal civil lawsuit,” she said.

“And let me clear this is not a misunderstanding, this is not a mistake, this is a targeted, deliberate, and unadulterated harassment and it will be exposed.”

A generation shaped by oppression and struggle

Leo Martinez, a lead organizer with VC Defensa whose home was among those raided, spoke in Spanish and specifically addressed the undocumented immigrant community.

“I appreciate the support that you give us daily,” Martinez said. “But I want everyone to understand that the work that we do, for which you all thank us for, is not work that we do to receive your gratitude.”

Martinez explained that VC Defensa’s work was born out of generations of oppression against the immigrant community:

“On the contrary, the work that we do daily is our thanks to all of you, to the undocumented immigrant fathers, uncles, brothers. Because we were those little children that witnessed the hell that you were put through for so many years.”

He described the experience of an entire generation of children of immigrants. Children that grew up while their parents and communities faced threats from landlords and employers, and abuse from police and ICE agents.

“We absorbed all of that,” Martinez said. “And the rage stayed with us until now that we are older and will never be forgotten for the rest of our lives.”

Instilled with a deep conviction to defend immigrant communities, he said, these experiences are shared by many of the volunteers and organizers with groups like VC Defensa.

“We are going to put the privilege of citizenship – those that have it – at the service of the community. To defend all of us.”

Calls for broader organizing

Speakers at the press conference repeatedly framed the raids as part of a broader campaign of intimidation against immigrant communities and political organizing. Several called for wider resistance efforts throughout California and across the United States.

Mitch urged supporters to build a larger movement in defense of immigrants and ultimately, for a new socialist system.

“I am calling on the people of Ventura County, I’m calling on the people of Los Angeles, of California, of the entire nation,” he said.

“The time to organize is now. The time to get plugged in with an organization that can build that mass movement is now.”

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