This San Diego community celebrated for its cultural diversity is also a target for ICE

The two-and-a-half mile stretch of University Avenue that runs through City Heights is a testament to the cultures and countries from which residents of the San Diego community hail.

On the west end: a Mexican bakery where the smell of pan dulce wafts from dawn to dusk, a Salvadorean eatery slinging pupusas; an older woman selling tamales from a pushcart, a small line gathered on the sidewalk.

On the east end: Men sit in plastic chairs outside of a notary and sip Somali tea from styrofoam cups; red paper lanterns at a Buddhist temple sway in the breeze; a young server in an Ethiopian restaurant peruses her phone, waiting for the evening rush to begin.

More than 30 languages and dozens of dialects are spoken across the fewer than seven square miles that make up City Heights. Over the decades, waves of immigrants from Southeast Asia, East Africa and Latin America have settled in among more than 70,000 residents.

But in recent months, a hush has fallen over the neighborhood’s streets, some community members said. As President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations reaches its most intense escalation yet, many residents will tell you: People don’t go out anymore.