Reported by Brittny Mejia and Anita Chabria

(Except featured below. To read full report, go to: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-10/los-angeles-ambiance-apparel-workers-ice-raid)

Saraí Ortiz’s father, Jose, worked 18 years for Ambiance Apparel, rising to become a floor manager at the sprawling fast-fashion warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. 

His tenure ended Friday, when federal authorities raided the company, arresting Jose Ortiz and more than 40 other immigrant workers as Saraí watched.

“You know this is a possibility all your life, but then when it happens, it plays out differently than what you think,” she said Monday, standing in front of the wrought-iron fencing of Ambiance’s parking lot. 

Ambiance was one of four businesses raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday, igniting a weekend of civil unrest that has led to the controversial deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles. It was also the site of the arrest of labor leader David Huerta, who was released Monday on a $50,000 bond.

Ortiz was joined at a protest Monday by other families of those detained, making a public plea for help and due process. Many of the wives and children of those taken by ICE — all men — have had little or no contact with their loved ones. Even lawyers have been denied access, they said.

Although it’s unclear why Ambiance Apparel was targeted in the recent operation, the company landed on the radar of federal authorities more than a decade ago.

In 2014, law enforcement authorities executed dozens of search warrants as part of an investigation into money laundering and other crimes at Fashion District businesses. Federal authorities seized nearly $36 million in cash from Ambiance and the company’s owner, Sang Bum “Ed” Noh, according to a 2020 news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A.

That same year, Noh pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of subscribing to a false tax return. Ambiance Apparel — the operating name for two corporations, Ambiance U.S.A. Inc. and Apparel Line U.S.A., Inc. — pleaded guilty to eight counts, including conspiracy, money laundering and customs offenses. 

In 2021, Noh was sentenced to a year in prison “for scheming to undervalue imported garments and avoid paying millions of dollars in duties to the United States, failing to report millions of dollars in income on tax returns, and failing to report large cash transactions to the federal government,” prosecutors said in a news release.