LOS ANGELES (AP) — Iris Delgado started a running club in her largely Latino, Los Angeles suburb two years ago to connect runners and advocate for safety measures like crosswalks and designated bike lanes.
Now, with the Trump administration’s immigration raids rocking Huntington Park, the group’s motto of keeping each other safe has taken on even greater meaning.
The Huntington Park Run Club’s Instagram carries posts warning of federal immigration agent sightings. A bike marshal accompanies every meet-up, zipping past the runners on his electric bike to ensure everyone is accounted for and feeling good. Since the raids ramped up this summer, Delgado also brings flyers and cards to each run informing people and local businesses of their rights.
Less than a mile north of her route is a Home Depot whose parking lot has been hit multiple times by immigration raids, causing the next door high school to go into lockdown during its graduation ceremony in June. A few blocks south is the home where a woman and her two children were sleeping when federal agents used explosives that blasted the door off and shattered windows. They were looking for a man who was wanted for allegedly ramming his car into a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol vehicle during a protest. The case has since been dismissed.
Amidst it all, the Huntington Park Run Club runs on, trying to protect and reclaim the streets the runners call home.
“Continuing to take up space even in the form of running in these streets is a form of protest, is a form of resistance,” said Evelyn Romo, 25, who joined the club after she returned home from college.
Delgado runs twice a week with her group. On a recent Wednesday, she led around 30 runners in warm-up stretches, and then they were off, streaming ahead of and behind her, their feet striking the pavement in quick succession. The group’s members range from as young as 11 to people in their 60s and 70s.
The Trump administration’s focus on arresting people suspected of living in the country illegally has transformed life for tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous county where about a third of the residents are foreign-born.
Huntington Park, along with other cities in the region, has experienced communities pulling back from public celebrations due to safety concerns. The club has never canceled a run; it’s important to maintain a space for people to decompress and feel safe, Delgado expressed.
The club has also held several fundraisers for a community fund, raising about $8,000 to support day laborers at Home Depot stores, which have become prime targets for immigration agents.
Delgado emphasized their mission, saying, “Our main community value is to keep each other safe and look out for each other.”
