Saraí Ortiz’s father Jose labored 18 years for Ambiance Attire, rising to turn into a flooring supervisor on the sprawling fast-fashion warehouse in downtown Los Angeles.

His tenure ended Friday, when federal authorities raided the corporate, arresting Jose Ortiz and greater than 40 different immigrant employees as Saraí watched.

“You recognize this can be a risk all of your life, however then when it occurs, it performs out in another way than what you suppose,” she mentioned Monday, standing in entrance of the wrought iron fencing of Ambiance’s car parking zone.

Ambiance was one in every of 4 companies raided by ICE on Friday, igniting a weekend of civil unrest that has led to the controversial deployment of the Nationwide Guard and active-duty Marines in Los Angeles. It was additionally the positioning of the arrest of labor leader David Huerta, who was launched Monday on a $50,000 bond.

Ortiz was joined at a protest Monday by different households of these detained, making a public plea for assist and due course of. Most of the wives and kids of these taken by ICE — all males — have had little or no contact with their family members. Even attorneys have been denied entry, they mentioned.

Many are additionally from the Indigenous communities within the central Mexican area of Zacatecas. They’ve fashioned tight bonds as they began new lives in Los Angeles, together with serving to others to search out jobs at Ambiance, an organization that has a historical past of run-ins with federal regulation enforcement, but additionally one which supplied regular work for immigrants, together with Ortiz.

“Ambiance complies with the regulation when it hires workers and it has at all times solely employed individuals it believes have the authorized proper to work in the US,” mentioned Benjamin Gluck, a lawyer representing Ambiance. “We now have reached out to the federal government to attempt to study extra about this raid however haven’t but realized something extra about it. Ambiance will proceed to each observe the regulation and assist its workers, a lot of whom have been with us for many years.”

Though it’s unclear why Ambiance Attire was focused within the current operation, the corporate landed on the radar of federal authorities greater than a decade in the past.

In 2014, regulation enforcement authorities executed dozens of search warrants as a part of an investigation into cash laundering and different crimes at Trend District companies. Federal authorities seized practically $36 million in money from Ambiance and the corporate’s proprietor, Sang Bum “Ed” Noh, in keeping with a 2020 information launch from the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in L.A.

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1. Supporters and members of the family of detained manufacturing unit employees maintain indicators as individuals collect for a press convention in entrance of Ambiance Monday, June 9, 2025. 2. Relations of detained manufacturing unit employees put together to talk to the media and supporters throughout a press convention in entrance of Ambiance. (Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Instances)

The corporate, which was integrated in 1999, was described by prosecutors as an importer and exporter of textiles and clothes from China, Vietnam, Cambodia and elsewhere. Amongst its prospects had been retail attire chains and individuals who owned small companies, principally in Mexico. Its items will also be discovered on Amazon, and in Walmart.

Federal prosecutors filed fees towards Ambiance Attire and Noh in 2020, accusing them of undervaluing imported clothes and avoiding paying tens of millions of {dollars} in tariffs to the U.S.

Amongst these investigating Ambiance and Noh had been Homeland Safety Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Safety, in addition to native regulation enforcement companies together with the Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside police departments.

The corporate was additionally accused of failing to report money funds to workers from prospects.

The federal government contended that Ambiance workers obtained “roughly 364 funds of greater than $10,000 over a two-year interval,” totaling greater than $11 million. However the firm did not file the required stories on these money transactions to the federal authorities, prosecutors mentioned.

That very same yr, Noh pleaded responsible to at least one depend of conspiracy and one depend of subscribing to a false tax return. Ambiance Attire — the working title for 2 companies, Ambiance U.S.A. Inc. and Attire Line U.S.A., Inc. — pleaded responsible to eight counts, together with conspiracy, cash laundering and customs offenses.

In 2021, Noh was sentenced to a yr in jail “for scheming to undervalue imported clothes and keep away from paying tens of millions of {dollars} in duties to the US, failing to report tens of millions of {dollars} in revenue on tax returns, and failing to report giant money transactions to the federal authorities,” prosecutors mentioned in a information launch.

Noh “made defrauding the US a major income stream for Ambiance, appropriating roughly $35,227,855.45 from U.S. Customs and Border Safety and the Inner Income Service in lower than 4 years,” prosecutors mentioned in a sentencing memo. “Whereas [Noh] was dishonest the US and facilitating cash laundering, he … purchased luxurious automobiles and squirreled away bundles of money price $35 million in shoeboxes and rubbish luggage.”

Relations of detained manufacturing unit employees maintain indicators as individuals collect for a press convention in entrance of Ambiance. Many are additionally from the Indigenous communities within the central Mexican area of Zacatecas.

(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Instances)

In his sentencing memo, Gluck mentioned that Noh and Ambiance “have handled their workers, their prospects, and their distributors with uncommon loyalty, dignity, and generosity.” He identified that even with lots of of workers, every one “is paid common bonuses, and every receives a handwritten card for his or her birthday, in addition to personalised presents for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

“For Mr. Noh, Ambiance was not only a means for his personal monetary success, but additionally the car via which he happy his overriding drive to assist those that depend on him,” Gluck wrote. “In consequence, he took on a protecting, nearly paternalistic position in the direction of his workers that’s extremely uncommon for the kind of giant enterprise that Ambiance has turn into right now.”

Ambiance workers additionally wrote letters to the decide, together with one who mentioned he obtained a private mortgage from Noh to pay for his youngest daughter’s faculty tuition. A warehouse supervisor additionally described the assistance of bonuses he obtained.

“Once I wanted assist financially, the corporate lent me cash and allowed me to pay it again little by little,” Jose Ortiz wrote in his letter to the decide. “Due to this, my youngsters had been capable of proceed finding out in school and once they come by the corporate, Mr. Noh welcomes them like household.”

Gluck, Noh’s lawyer, mentioned the decide discovered that the crime was not about greed and sentenced his shopper to at least one yr, “a lot lower than the federal government was asking for.”

The corporate was sentenced to 5 years’ probation and was ordered to implement an efficient anti-money laundering compliance and ethics program with an outdoor compliance monitor. That monitorship was set to finish in October of this yr.

Regardless of these troubles, the corporate, and its workers, seemingly continued to thrive.

Montserrat Arrazola’s father, Jorge, is one other of these employees detained Friday. She mentioned her father is the household’s “breadwinner,” and with out his paycheck, there are “onerous occasions coming” for her and her three brothers.

But it surely’s the ache of separation that hurts her probably the most. Her household was capable of converse to Jorge as soon as, and he advised them to remain calm. So Montserrat, a university scholar who needs to turn into a social employee, is attempting. She talked as an alternative about their current household outing, once they all tried bowling, and the way her dad is charismatic and caring.

“He’s a household man and he offers all his time to his household,” she mentioned.

However not having the ability to contact these detained is irritating, mentioned Carlos Gonzalez. His older brother Jose was additionally taken by ICE and like others on the protest, Gonzalez referred to as for due course of rights.

Gonzalez and his brother had gone tenting at Sandy Flat in Sequoia Nationwide Forest simply the weekend earlier than the raid, a uncommon probability for them to spend time collectively. Carlos mentioned he obtained a name from a cousin Friday, and went to Ambiance, however couldn’t attain his brother within the chaos.

So Gonzalez went to the Metropolitan Detention Middle downtown, however was advised there have been too many individuals to course of, and was unable to get additional info.

He went again the subsequent morning to attempt to carry his brother a sweater, as a result of “you don’t know if it’s chilly in there,” he mentioned. However he was advised his brother had been moved to Santa Ana.

That’s the final he has heard.

His household is caring for Jose’s canine Espresso, a 100-plus pound chocolate lab and pit bull combine who cries when Jose isn’t close to, and dealing with a lawyer. However there’s not a lot else they will do besides wait, and converse out.

“I would like individuals to know that this was inhumane,” Gonzalez mentioned. “They had been simply working.”

White Home “border czar” Tom Homan informed CBS Information on Monday “there is no intention to arrest” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, after President Trump prompt he was open to the thought — escalating a confrontation over the protests and regulation enforcement response in Los Angeles.

“That entire factor’s been taken out of context,” Homan mentioned. “They have not crossed a line but … In case you cross that line, I do not care who they’re — the governor, the mayor, no matter — and while you commit a criminal offense towards ICE officers, we are going to search prosecution.”

The administration and Newsom have sharply criticized one another over the dealing with of the Los Angeles protests, which had been sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions within the metropolis. Mr. Trump has accused Newsom of failing to take care of violence and ordered Marines and Nationwide Guard troops to the town. Newsom responded with a lawsuit over the troop deployments and argues Mr. Trump is inflaming the state of affairs.

Homan has suggested in the past that elected officials might be arrested if they’re discovered to have impeded ICE. On Saturday, Homan did not explicitly rule out arresting Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in an interview with NBC News — although he did not say arrests had been coming, and mentioned he would not consider Bass has “crossed the road but.”

Newsom later said: “Come and get me, powerful man.”

When asked Monday concerning the concept of arresting Newsom, Mr. Trump mentioned, “I might do it if I had been Tom,” including, “Gavin likes the publicity, however I believe it might be a fantastic factor.”

However Homan informed CBS Information he’ll “go away that as much as” the Justice Division to find out whether or not anyone has impeded ICE. 

“There isn’t any intention to arrest the governor proper now. I do not know if he crossed that line,” Homan mentioned.

Within the interview with CBS Information, Homan mentioned it “completely was” essential to ship Nationwide Guard forces into Los Angeles, saying protesters had precipitated property injury and assaulted ICE brokers.

Newsom says the Nationwide Guard troops had been illegally known as up by the federal authorities with out the state’s permission, prompting a lawsuit Monday. Native officers argue the troops’ presence may irritate the protests, including native regulation enforcement can deal with the state of affairs.

The administration has also activated 700 members of the Marine Corps to assist the Nationwide Guard. Newsom’s workplace said: “The extent of escalation is totally unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented.”