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Customers avoid Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet after immigration operation

Customers stay away from Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet after ICE raid
Customers stay away from Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet after ICE raid 02:27

On a typical June afternoon, the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet would be packed with people, but after a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid, many customers decided to avoid the popular flea market.

"It's totally dead. No business at all," vendor Joseph Medina said. "I don't know what to think for the future."

Medina has been a vendor here for years and says he has never seen it so empty. 

"This is how I make a living — how I pay my bills, how I eat," he said. "It worries me. It really does. 

On Saturday, ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents raided the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the "administrative arrests" of two people, meaning they are accused of being in the country illegally. 

"I'm American. I still think they are getting good people away from bad people," vendor Michael Dianella said.

Dianella said he is a proud supporter of President Trump but believes the administration is lacking transparency. 

"They could announce that we got a few bad people here and we're going to try to find them and not bother anyone else," Dianella said.

A vendor, who is a U.S. citizen but did not want to reveal her identity out of fear of being arrested by ICE, said she believed immigration officials are profiling people. 

"I feel, from my point of view, is that they're basically profiling everyone," she said.

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