The vibrant colors of the fabrics on display along Ninth Street were loud, but the fashion district in downtown Los Angeles was unusually quiet on a recent afternoon. In the alleys off Olympic Boulevard, foot traffic was slow.

Elsewhere across the region, church pews have been less crowded and food vendors have decided to stay home. Numerous graduation parties, Fourth of July events and programs at neighborhood parks have been canceled. Bus ridership is down; appointment cancellations at some health clinics and hospitals are up.

In many ways, an absurd version of a California without its Latino residents — as depicted in the indie film “A Day Without a Mexican” more than two decades ago — suddenly doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Federal immigration raids have transformed life in the Los Angeles area for many Latinos who are undocumented and who have decided it is safest to simply stay home.

“Life imitates art,” said Yareli Arizmendi, one of the creators of the 2004 film. “This was what we saw was going to happen.”

The film, which Ms. Arizmendi wrote with her husband, Sergio Arau, and starred in, chronicles a chaotic few days in California during which Mexicans suddenly disappear — from the fields of the Central Valley, from the parking lot of a home improvement store known as “Home Station” and even from inside people’s homes. With the weatherman, housekeepers and other workers all suddenly absent, the shelves of grocery stores go empty, Border Patrol agents start looking for new jobs and even politicians who had talked tough about immigration change their tune.