On the heels of major shows of force by federal immigration agents in Southern California, a judge is set to rule in a lawsuit seeking to halt immigration raids in Los Angeles. The developments again thrust a spotlight on a region that emerged weeks ago as an epicenter of large-scale immigration raids by the Trump administration – and of tense protests against the actions that often yielded arrests of their own.

Armed, masked goons in unmarked cars have descended in our communities and have stopped and rounded people up from all walks of life often at gunpoint and without any justification,” an