In Los Angeles, she marches for her father who is threatened with deportation: “I speak out for those who don’t have it”

It was her first demonstration: she wanted to be seen in the crowd of thousands of people gathered behind the slogan “ No kings.” This Saturday, June 14, in El Segundo, she wanted to make her voice heard.

But she was there for her father too.

She held up a sign that earned her many approving honks: “I speak for those who don’t have one.”

Her father had so wanted to be with her, Jennifer told me. But with the constant ICE raids in Los Angeles and the hundreds of arrests that have taken place in recent days, it's a risk the 55-year-old undocumented man couldn't afford.

Jennifer is 29 years old. I hadn't seen her in almost 20 years: at the time, I wrote an article about her father, then went to their home in Inglewood to present them with $2,000, raised through donations from readers of the article.

A quick flashback. In December 2005, I received a report of a shooting in the backyard of a house in Inglewood. Two men approached a gardener and demanded money. He resisted, and during the confrontation, a shot was fired.

Emergency personnel took the man to the emergency room, where doctors determined that the bullet, which had passed close to his heart, had lodged in his chest. When staff advised him to stay overnight for observation, the man told him he felt fine and should return to work.

This landscaper, whom I call “Ray,” wants to leave the hospital immediately. As he explains later, his client hired him to transform his garden as a Christmas present for his wife. Ray received the ball on December 23rd. By Christmas, he had finished his project.

I've been thinking about Ray a lot since the ICE raids began on