Nov. 25, 2025 7 AM PT
To the editor: I’m extremely supportive of immigrants coming to the USA to flee the circumstances of their homelands, be it legally or not. That being stated, I’m not supportive of People who benefit from that desperation to earn a revenue on their labor.
The latest article on the ICE raids and the automotive wash whose staff have been rounded up by ICE described the work as “low wages for back-breaking labor” (“This L.A. car wash depends on immigrant labor. Can it survive Trump?,” Nov. 23). Within the subsequent paragraph, the automotive wash proprietor was quoted as saying, “People don’t wish to do that work.” That’s a real assertion, however it’s an incomplete assertion. He ought to have stated that they don’t wish to do that work for the wages that solely a determined employee would settle for.
The truth that he can’t make a revenue primarily based on his enterprise mannequin until there’s a method that he can coerce wages not commensurate with the required labor is telling. There are automated automotive washes that provide a chamois and vacuums so that you can full the method. All labor is dignified, however making the most of somebody’s authorized standing shouldn’t be.
Ron Garber, Duarte
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To the editor: Gustavo Arellano’s column in regards to the raiding and, in some instances, closing of automotive washes in Southern California leaves me scratching my head (“Car wash workers already had it tough. Then immigration raids slammed them to the ground,” Nov. 18).
I stay in Mar Vista and two of my native automotive washes have been closed for months. That’s a thriving enterprise that was using dozens of individuals that’s now shuttered. And for what? I don’t see unemployed folks lining up for jobs at these automotive washes — clearly, nobody’s job has been stolen by the folks working there.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are a large waste of cash and assets, have disrupted the lives of 1000’s of individuals and trampled on particular person rights.
Can anybody level out something good that has come of ICE’s present of power this 12 months? I don’t suppose so.
David Tempest, Mar Vista
