Border patrol officers swoop in, make arrests as firefighters prepare to tackle 3,600-hectare blaze in Washington State.
Published On 29 Aug 202529 Aug 2025
Two firefighters who were part of a crew trying to help put out a wildfire in the US state of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula were taken into custody by United States Border Patrol agents, federal authorities said.
The US Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol said in a statement on Thursday that border patrol agents found that two of the workers, who were hired by private firefighting contractors, were in the US illegally and detained them during the operation to put out the blaze.
It was reported that federal agents held crews from private fire contractors for several hours on Wednesday as they were preparing to help tackle the 9,000-acre (3,600-hectare) Bear Gulch Fire in Washington state.
The immigration raid was unusual in that such operations have customarily not been carried out around natural disasters or sites of emergency, according to reports.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said its officers were requested by forestry rangers to verify the names provided on contractor firefighter rosters.
“Several discrepancies were identified, and two individuals were found to be present in the United States illegally, one with a previous order of removal,” CBP said in a statement.
Authorities also said the US Bureau of Land Management terminated contracts with two contractor firms at the site and escorted their 42 firefighter staff off federal land.
The two firefighters without proper documentation were arrested and taken into custody on charges of illegal entry and re-entry to the US.
During the arrests, border patrol agents reportedly lined the 44 firefighters up and ordered them to produce identification, according to The Seattle Times, with crew members telling how they were not allowed to film the encounter.
“You risked your life out here to save the community,” one firefighter, who was not named, told the paper.
“This is how they treat us.”
Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden posted on the social media site X that one of the arrested firefighters was from his state and denounced the immigration arrest, saying it made communities less safe.
Washington’s Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson said he was seeking details about the immigration operation.
“Deeply concerned about this situation with two individuals helping to fight fires in Washington state,” he wrote on social media.
The Bear Gulch Fire erupted in July, caused by human activity, official information shows. Just 13 percent of the blaze has been contained as it continues “creeping” through mature conifer woodland.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Immigration and Customs Enforcement is an agency inside the Department of Homeland Security that is integral to President Donald Trump’s vision of carrying out the mass deportations he promised during the campaign. Deportation officers within a unit called Enforcement and Removal Operations are the ones who are responsible for immigration enforcement. They find and remove people from the United States who aren’t American citizens and, for a variety of reasons, no longer can stay in the country.
Some might have gone through immigration court and a judge ordered them removed. Or they were arrested or convicted of certain crimes, or they’ve repeatedly entered the country illegally or overstayed a visa. ICE also manages a growing network of immigration detention facilities around the country where it holds people suspected of immigration violations.
Overall, its activities — and how it carries them out — have polarized many Americans in recent months.
After years when the number of deportation officers largely remained even, the agency is now rapidly hiring. Congress this summer passed legislation giving ICE $76.5 billion in new money to help speed up the pace of deportations. That’s nearly 10 times the agency’s current annual budget. Nearly $30 billion is for new staff.
Last week, The Associated Press got a chance to visit the base in southern Georgia where new ICE recruits are trained and to talk to the agency’s top leadership. Here are details about four things ICE is doing that came out of those conversations.
It’s surging hiring
ICE currently has about 6,500 deportation officers, and it is aggressively looking to beef up those numbers. Acting Director Todd Lyons says he wants to hire an additional 10,000 by year’s end.
The agency has launched a new recruiting website, offered hiring bonuses as high as $50,000, and is advertising at career expos. Lyons said the agency has already received 121,000 applications — many from former officers.
New recruits are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia. That’s a sprawling facility near the coast where federal law enforcement officers — not just ICE agents — from around the country live and train. ICE is looking to more than double the number of instructors who train deportation officers.
Caleb Vitello, who runs training for ICE, says it has cut Spanish-language requirements to reduce training by five weeks, and he’s been looking for ways to streamline the training and have recruits do more at the field offices where they’re assigned.
It’s preparing for conflict
As Trump’s effort to deport millions of people has intensified, violent episodes have unfolded as ICE seeks to arrest people. Critics have said ICE is being too heavy-handed in carrying out arrests while ICE says its people are the ones being attacked.
Vitello said the agency tracks every time officers use force as well as any time someone attacks its officers. According to the agency’s data, from Jan. 21 through Aug. 5 there were 121 reported assaults of ICE officers compared with 11 during the same period last year.
Lyons said that after recent operations in Los Angeles turned violent, ICE is making gas masks and helmets standard issue for new agents. “Right now we’re seeing and we’re having to adapt to all different scenarios that we were never trained for in the past,” he said.
Lyons says the agency is also starting to send out security teams to accompany agents making arrests: “We’re not gonna allow people to throw rocks anymore, because we’re going to have our own agents and officers there to protect the ones that are actually out there making that arrest.”
It’s beefing up specialized units for high-risk situations
About eight deportation officers dressed in military-style camouflage uniforms, helmets and carrying an assortment of weapons stand outside a house yelling “Police! We have a warrant!” before entering and clearing the house.
They are members of a Special Response Team taking part in a demonstration at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. These officers are like a SWAT team — deportation officers with special training to assist in difficult situations. They also accompany detainees the agency deems dangerous when they are deported.
“Everybody is trained to serve a warrant,” Vitello said. “These guys are trained to serve high-risk warrants.”
There are roughly 450 deportation officers with the special training to serve on these teams, and Lyons says they have been deployed to assist with immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and Washington.
He said he’d like to have more such units but wouldn’t put an exact number on how many. Vitello said they’re also in the process of getting more of the specially armored vehicles.
It’s teaching whom agents can arrest — and when
New recruits to ICE receive training on immigration law and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unlawful searches. Longtime officers get regular refreshers on these topics.
In limited situations, ICE agents are allowed to enter someone’s home. Generally when they’re seeking someone they’re trying to remove from the country, they have an administrative warrant as opposed to a criminal warrant. That administrative warrant doesn’t allow them to enter the house without first getting permission.
Vitello says the new recruits are taught about the different warrants and how the rules differ. And they’re taught how those who allowed ICE to enter their house can change their mind.
“If somebody says ‘Get out,’ and you don’t have your target, you have to leave,” he said.
Multiple videos on social media have shown ICE officers breaking car windows to pull someone out of a vehicle and arrest that person.
The Fourth Amendment doesn’t extend to someone’s vehicle, so Vitello said deportation officers do have the authority to arrest someone in a car or truck. Vitello said in the rare case where a target was in a motor home, officers would talk to the agency’s lawyers first to figure out what protections apply.
WASHINGTON — This year’s most far-reaching immigration case is likely to decide if immigration agents in Los Angeles are free to stop, question and arrest Latinos they suspect are here illegally.
President Trump promised the “largest mass deportation operation” in American history, and he chose to begin aggressive street sweeps in Los Angeles in early June.
The Greater Los Angeles area is “ground zero for the effects of the border crisis,” his lawyers told the Supreme Court this month. “Nearly 2 million illegal aliens — out of an area population of 20 million — are there unlawfully, encouraged by sanctuary-city policies and local officials’ avowed aim to thwart federal enforcement efforts.”
The “vast majority of illegal aliens in the [Central] District [of California] come from Mexico or Central America and many only speak Spanish,” they added.
Their fast-track appeal urged the justices to confirm that immigration agents have “reasonable suspicion” to stop and question Latinos who work in businesses or occupations that draw many undocumented workers.
No one questions that U.S. immigration agents may arrest migrants with criminal records or a final order of removal. But Trump administration lawyers say agents also have the authority to stop and question — and sometimes handcuff and arrest — otherwise law-abiding Latinos who have lived and worked here for years.
They could do so based not on evidence that the particular person lacks legal status but on the assumption that they look and work like others who are here illegally.
“Reasonable suspicion is a low bar — well below probable cause,” administration lawyers said. “Apparent ethnicity can be a factor supporting reasonable suspicion,” they added, noting that this standard assumes “lawful stops of innocent people may occur.”
If the court rules for Trump, it “could be enormously consequential” in Los Angeles and nationwide, said UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law & Policy. “The government would read this as giving immigration enforcement agents a license to interrogate and detain people without individualized suspicion. It would likely set a pattern that could be used in other parts of the country.”
In their response to the appeal, immigrant rights advocates said the court should not “bless a regime that could ensnare in an immigration dragnet the millions of people … who are U.S. citizens or otherwise legally entitled to be in this country and are Latino, speak Spanish” and work in construction, food services or agriculture and can be seen at bus stops, car washes or retail parking lots.
The case now before the high court began June 18 when Pedro Vasquez Perdomo and two other Pasadena residents were arrested at a bus stop where they were waiting to be picked up for a job. They said heavily armed men wearing masks grabbed them, handcuffed them and put them in a car and drove to a detention center.
If “felt like a kidnapping,” Vasquez Perdomo said.
The plaintiffs include people who were handcuffed, arrested and taken to holding facilities even though they were U.S. citizens.
They joined a lawsuit with unions and immigrants rights groups as well as others who said they were confronted with masked agents who shouted commands and, in some instances, pushed them to the ground.
However, the suit quickly focused not on the aggressive and sometimes violent manner of the detentions, but on the legality of the stops.
U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong said the detentions appeared to violate the 4th Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
It is “illegal to conduct roving patrols which identify people based on race alone, aggressively question them, and then detain them without a warrant, without their consent, and without reasonable suspicion that they are without status,” she said on July 11.
The crucial phrase is “reasonable suspicion.”
For decades, the Supreme Court has said police officers and federal agents may stop and briefly question persons if they see something that gives them reason to suspect a violation of the law. This is why, for example, an officer may pull over a motorist whose car has swerved on the highway.
But it was not clear that U.S. immigration agents can claim they have reasonable suspicion to stop and question persons based on their appearance if they are sitting at a bus stop in Pasadena, working at a car wash or standing with others outside a Home Depot.
Frimpong did not forbid agents from stopping and questioning persons who may be here illegally, but she put limits on their authority.
She said agents may not stop persons based “solely” on four factors: their race or apparent ethnicity, the fact they speak Spanish, the type of work they do, or their location such as a day labor pickup site or a car wash.
On Aug. 1, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift the judge’s temporary restraining order. The four factors “describe only a broad profile that does not supply the reasonable suspicion to justify a detentive stop,” the judges said by a 3-0 vote.
The district judge’s order applies in the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties as well as Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
The 9th Circuit said those seven counties have an estimated population of 19,233,598, of whom 47% or 9,096,334 identify as “Hispanic or Latino.”
Like Frimpong, the three appellate judges were Democratic appointees.
A week later, Trump administration lawyers sent an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court in Noem vs. Perdomo. They said the judge’s order was impeding the president’s effort to enforce the immigration laws.
They urged the court to set aside the judge’s order and to clear the way for agents to make stops if they suspect the person may be in the country illegally.
Agents do not need evidence of a legal violation, they said. Moreover, the demographics of Los Angeles alone supplies them with reasonable suspicion.
“All of this reflects common sense: the reasonable-suspicion threshold is low, and the number of people who are illegally present and subject to detention and removal under the immigration laws in the (the seven-county area of Southern California) is extraordinarily high,” wrote Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer. “The high prevalence of illegal aliens should enable agents to stop a relatively broad range of individuals.”
He said the government is not “extolling racial profiling,” but “apparent ethnicity can be relevant to reasonable suspicion, especially in immigration enforcement.”
In the past, the court has said police can make stops based on the “totality of the circumstances” or the full picture. That should help the administration because agents can point to the large number of undocumented workers at certain businesses.
But past decisions have also said officers need some reason to suspect a specific individual may be violating the law.
The Supreme Court could act at any time, but it may also be several weeks before an order is issued. The decision may come with little or no explanation.
In recent weeks, the court’s conservatives have regularly sided with Trump and against federal district judges who have stood in his way. The terse decisions have been often followed by an angry and lengthy dissent from the three liberals.
Immigration rights advocates said the court should not uphold “an extraordinarily expansive dragnet, placing millions of law-abiding people at imminent risk of detention by federal agents.”
They said the daily patrols “have cast a pall over the district, where millions meet the government’s broad demographic profile and therefore reasonably fear that they may be caught up in the government’s dragnet, and perhaps spirited away from their families on a long-term basis, any time they venture outside their own homes.”
INDEPENDENT travel agency, InteleTravel, is answering questions about their business practices after The Sun’s investigation shined a light on the true cost of joining their organisation to sell travel.
With glamorous celebrities like Strictly’s Vicky Pattison and TOWIE’s Jess Wright promoting the scheme on their huge social platforms, it was revealed they could be earning over £200,000 as fans sign up to the scheme.
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InteleTravel is answering questions about their business practices after The Sun’s investigationCredit: Instagram
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Real Housewives of Cheshire’s Tanya Bardsley also promotes the holiday companyCredit: Instagram
However, our report showed that almost 90 per cent of people don’t make a single penny working as an Independent Travel Agent (ITA) – with many ending up out of pocket.
Those selling travel through the Vicky’s Vacay team will almost certainly have signed up with recruitment firm, PlaNet Marketing, who are a separate company to InteleTravel.
Even though they are different companies, The Sun could find no way of joining InteleTravel without signing up to PlaNet Marketing and paying an initial fee of £140 and then £30 per month thereafter.
Industry experts TTG, have reported that since The Sun called for clarity on how many Brits are affected negatively by joining the scheme, InteleTravel is now reviewing its partnership with the US-headquartered company that recruits agents on its behalf.
In our report, we looked at how likely it is for everyday women and fans of these glamourous celebrities to earn money selling holidays to their friends and family for a small commission.
Social media messaging flaunting a jet-set lifestyle and ability to ‘be your own boss’ is rife on platforms like Instagram.
And it’s not just the celebrities who are at it.
Many ITAs who say they make ‘big money’ from selling travel are, in fact, doing so with an elaborate recreruitment downline.
This means anyone they sign up to their ‘team’ must pay them a commission, as well as the commission to InteleTravel – an ABTA-approved travel agency – on anything they go on to sell.
InteleTravel came under criticism as recruiters for the network, appear to approach people, most-often women and mums, on social media.
Avoid being ripped off by car hire companies with these four top tips
Subtle messaging, which some women who spoke to The Sun allege they are trained for, is used to lure new agents in by telling them a glamorous lifestyle can be achieved while on their family holiday.
It’s heavily implied that a huge salary can be achieved while being a full-time mum or working in another job.
A recruiter told our reporter that she earned £27,000 alongside her full time job in a different sector.
Tricia Handley-Hughes, InteleTravel’s UK and Ireland managing director, insisted the agency’s partnership with PlanNet Marketing had “not run its course” but added: “discussions need to take place”.
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Jess Wright is another celeb who has become the face of InteleTravelCredit: Instagram
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Jess Wright showed off her team on an Instagram post aimed at encouraging more women to sign upCredit: Instagram
Senior industry agents also reacted to the story, calling it “deeply concerning”.
In a article published by trade publication, Travel Weekly, they raised concerns about InteleTravel’s recruitment methods and about the impact of the story on the professional reputation of other agents in the sector.
Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said: “It’s important to remember the vast majority of travel agents across the UK are highly professional and trustworthy”.
“Being a travel agent is not a hobby. It should never be treated as a casual side hustle to make some extra money”.
While marketing consultant Steve Dunne, chief executive of Digital Drums, said such stories “could push back the reputation of the travel agents a generation”.
A number of InteleTravel agents have reacted to our report in defence of InteleTravel.
They were keen to tell their followers that agents can ‘just sell holidays’ and do not have to sign up to be part of the business responsible for the recruitment of other agents.
James Pirie-Warsop said: “I’ve been with Intele for about two or three years and I’m glad I did [join them]. Yes, there’s a multi-level marketing side, but you don’t have to do it”.
Whilst no-one is forced to recruit a ‘dream team of travel agents’ like Vicky and Jess, official data from the Direct Selling Association reveals that 63 per cent of agents in the sector do go on to build a ‘team’.
InteleTravel’s own figures may differ from the UK wide average, but when asked directlt by The Sun, they declined to comment on the amount their agents earn.
Have you been approached to join InteleTravel or asked if you’d like to make money selling travel with a team of like-minded agents? Get in touch with us at
WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., police chief stepped up cooperation between her officers and federal immigration officials as President Trump’s law enforcement takeover of the nation’s capital took root Thursday. National Guard troops watched over some of the world’s most renowned landmarks, and Humvees took up position in front of the busy main train station.
The police chief’s order establishes that Metropolitan Police Department officers may now share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody — such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint. MPD officers may also provide “transportation for federal immigration employees and detained subject,” the order states.
The changes, which raise collaboration between the two forces in notable ways, erodes the district’s long-standing policy against cooperating with civil immigration enforcement. They are effective immediately.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, walking a tightrope between the Republican White House and the constituency of her largely Democratic city, was out of town Thursday for a family commitment in Martha’s Vineyard but would be back Friday, her office said.
In a city tense from days of ramp-up toward federal law enforcement intervention, volunteers helped homeless people leave long-standing encampments — to where, exactly, was often unclear. Trump told reporters that he was pleased at how the operation — and, now, its direct link with his immigration-control efforts — was unfolding.
“That’s a very positive thing, I have heard that just happened,” Trump said of Police Chief Pamela Smith’s order. “That’s a great step. That’s a great step if they’re doing that.”
A boost in police activity, federal and otherwise
For an already wary Washington, Thursday marked a notable — and highly visible — uptick in presence from the previous two days. The visibility of federal forces around the city, including in many high-traffic areas, was striking to residents going about their lives. Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he’ll reevaluate as that deadline approaches.
The response before Thursday had been gradual and, by all appearances, low key. But on Wednesday night, officers set up a checkpoint in one of D.C.’s popular nightlife areas, drawing protests. The White House said 45 arrests were made Wednesday night, with 29 people arrested for living in the country illegally; other arrests included for distribution or possession of drugs, carrying a concealed weapon and assaulting a federal officer.
Troops were stationed outside the Union Station transportation hub as the 800 Guard members who have been activated by Trump start in on missions that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts, the Pentagon said.
“They will remain until law and order has been restored in the District as determined by the president, standing as the gatekeepers of our great nation’s capital,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said. “The National Guard is uniquely qualified for this mission as a community-based force with strong local ties and disciplined training.”
Wilson said the troops won’t be armed and declined to give more details on what the safety patrols or beautification efforts would entail or how many Guard members have already been sent out on the streets.
National Guard Major Micah Maxwell said troops will assist law enforcement in a variety of roles, including traffic control posts and crowd control. The Guard members have been trained in de-escalation tactics and crowd control equipment, Maxwell said.
The White House said Thursday that Guard members aren’t making arrests but are “protecting federal assets, providing a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests and deterring violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence.”
Although the current deployment is taking place under unprecedented circumstances, National Guard troops are a semi-regular presence in D.C., typically being used during mass public events like the annual Fourth of July celebration. They have regularly been used in the past for crowd control in and around Metro stations.
Trump on Thursday denied that the federal law enforcement officials he sent into Washington’s streets to fight crime have been diverted from priority assignments like counterterrorism. Asked if he was concerned about that, Trump said he’s using a “very small force” of soldiers and that city police are now allowed to do their job properly amidst his security lockdown.
For homeless residents, an uncertain time is at hand
Meanwhile, about a dozen homeless residents in Washington packed up their belongings with help from volunteers from charitable groups and staffers from some city agencies. Items largely were not forcibly thrown out by law enforcement, but a garbage truck idled nearby.
Several protesters held signs close by, some critical of the Trump administration. Once the residents had left, a construction vehicle from a city agency cleared through the remains of the tents.
The departures were voluntary, but they came in response to a clear threat from the Trump administration. Advocates expect law enforcement officers to fan out across D.C. in the coming days to forcibly take down any remaining homeless encampments. In Washington Circle, which still contains a few tents, city workers put up signs announcing “general cleanup of this public space” starting at 10 a.m. Monday.
For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered parts of the city. But more were present in high-profile locations Wednesday night, and troops were expected to start doing more missions Thursday.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations have patrolled the popular U Street corridor, while Drug Enforcement Administration officers were seen on the National Mall, with Guard members parked nearby. DEA agents also joined MPD officers on patrol in the Navy Yard neighborhood, while FBI agents stood along the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Avenue.
Khalil writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press journalists Jacquelyn Martin, Mike Pesoli, Darlene Superville and David Klepper contributed to this report.
As Gov. Gavin Newsom prepared to announce that he would take on President Trump’s redistricting plans on behalf of California, scores of federal immigration agents massed outside the venue Thursday.
Newsom was set to speak at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, when Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, who has been leading the immigration operations in California, arrived in Little Tokyo, flanked by agents in helmets, camouflage, masks and holding guns.
“We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place since we won’t have politicians that’ll do that, we do that ourselves,” Bovino told a Fox 11 reporter in Little Tokyo. “We’re glad to be here, we’re not going anywhere.”
When the reporter noted that Newsom was nearby, Bovino responded, “I don’t know where he’s at.”
Newsom’s office took to X to share that agents were outside, posting: “BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!”
The apparent raid Thursday, during which one person was detained, comes amid calls from elected officials for an end to renewed immigration operations across the L.A. area. Federal agents have carried out a string of raids over the past week, arresting several people at car washes and Home Depot stores.
Immigrant advocates and city leaders had hoped such sweeps had stopped with a federal judge’s July order, affirmed by a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 1. The courts ruled that immigration officials cannot racially profile people or use roving patrols to target immigrants.
In a press conference outside of the museum following the operation, Mayor Karen Bass said, “there’s no way this was a coincidence.”
“This was widely publicized that the governor and many of our other elected officials were having a press conference to talk about redistricting, and they decided they were going to come and thumb their nose in front of the governor’s face. Why would you do that? That is unbelievably disrespectful, it’s a provocative act,” Bass said.
“They’re talking about disorder in Los Angeles,” the mayor said, “and they are the source of the disorder in Los Angeles right now.”
In an emailed response, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Bass, “must be misinformed.”
“Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law — not about Gavin Newsom,” she said. McLaughlin added that U.S. Customs and Border Protection “patrols all areas of Los Angeles every day with over 40 teams on the ground to make LA safe.”
Newsom and Democratic allies, including organized labor, were at the Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum to announce the launch of a campaign for a ballot measure which, if approved by voters, would redraw the state’s congressional maps to favor Democrats before the 2026 midterms.
William T. Fujioka, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Japanese American National Museum, was attending the Newsom press conference when federal agents jumped out of SUVs just feet away from him in front of the museum.
Video captured of the scene showed federal agents on either side of a man, in a red shirt and jeans, whose hands were cuffed behind his back. As a passerby shouted that they were “cowards,” Bovino said “well done.”
Carlos Franco said he works with Angel, the man who was arrested by federal agents, and said Angel was in Little Tokyo delivering strawberries. His delivery van was still parked outside the museum more than an hour after he was arrested, Franco said. Franco came straight to the scene after he received calls that his coworker had been arrested.
Angel is a “father, a family man,” Franco added.
“He was just doing his normal delivery to the courthouse,” Franco said. “It’s pretty sad, because I’ve got to go to work tomorrow, and Angel isn’t going to be there.”
Saying he was shaken by his friend’s apprehension, Franco advised everyone to “be careful in general, whether you’re undocumented or not.”
DHS did not immediately respond to questions about the arrest.
Fujioka said the agents’ appearance in Little Tokyo “is a parallel of what happened in 1942,” and noting that the museum was built on the location where L.A. residents of Japanese descent “were told to come here and put on buses and sent to camps.”
At 73, Fujioka is a third-generation Japanese American. He said about 20 people were arrested during ICE raids two weeks ago at area restaurants and businesses in and near Little Tokyo Village Plaza.
“What’s happening right now is reprehensible,” he said. “One of the fallacies is that this is only targeting Latinos. If you look at the Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong, Chinese, even Japanese communities, they’re being picked up right in court.”
Speaking with community leaders on L.A.’s Westside early Thursday morning, Bass condemned the continued raids and said she believed they violated the temporary restraining order upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month.
“Even though we’ve had two successful court decisions, the administration continues with their unconstitutional behavior. Coming and going to Home Depot stores, continuing to chase people through parking lots, detaining them for no particular reason under the auspices that they could be criminals, [it] comes down to one thing — and that is racial profiling,” Bass said.
The Trump administration last week petitioned the Supreme Court to allow mass deportation efforts across Southern California, seeking to lift a ban on “roving patrols” implemented after a lower court found such tactics likely violate the 4th Amendment.
“We know the next step is to go to the Supreme Court, and we are hoping that we will have a good decision there,” Bass said. “But the question looms before us, even if we do have a positive court decision: ‘Will the administration follow the rule of law?’”
Times staff writer Laura J. Nelson contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — As a wary Washington waited, the White House promised a ramp-up of National Guard troops and federal officers on the streets of the nation’s capital around the clock starting Wednesday, days after President Trump’s unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city’s police department for at least a month.
The city’s Democratic mayor and police chief framed the influx as a plus for public safety, though they said there are few hard measures for what a successful end to the operation might look like. The Republican president has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago.
For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered areas of the city. That is about to change, the administration says.
A “significantly higher” presence of guard members was expected Wednesday night, and federal agents will be out 24/7 rather than largely at night, according to the White House. Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before.
In one neighborhood, officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI could be seen along with the U.S. Park Police searching the car of a motorist parked just outside a legal parking area to eat takeout and drop off a friend. Two blocks away, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers gathered in a parking lot before driving off on patrol.
In other parts of the city, including those with popular nightlife hot spots, federal patrols were harder to find. At the National Mall, there was little law enforcement activity aside from Park Police cruisers pulling over a taxi driver near the Washington Monument.
A variety of infractions are targeted
The arrests made by 1,450 federal and local officers across the city included those for suspicion of driving under the influence, unlawful entry, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal firearms were seized.
Unlike in other U.S. states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington’s police for up to a month. Extending Trump’s power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance.
The president has full command of the National Guard, but as of Tuesday evening, guard members had yet to be assigned a specific mission, according to an official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. As many as 800 troops were expected to be mobilized in a support role to law enforcement, though exactly what form remains to be determined.
The push also includes clearing out encampments for people who are homeless, Trump has said. U.S. Park Police have removed dozens of tents since March, and plan to take out two more this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said. People are offered the chance to go to shelters and get addiction treatment, if needed, but those who refuse could be fined or jailed, she said.
City officials said they are making more shelter space available and increasing their outreach.
Violent crime has dropped in the district
The federal effort comes even after a drop in violent crime in the nation’s capital, a trend that experts have seen in cities across the U.S. since an increase during the coronavirus pandemic.
On average, the level of violence in Washington remains mostly higher than averages in three dozen cities analyzed by the nonprofit Council on Criminal Justice, said the group’s president and CEO, Adam Gelb.
Police Chief Pamela Smith said during an interview with the local Fox affiliate that the city’s Metro Police Department has been down nearly 800 officers. She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials Tuesday. But, she said, “I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.”
She had previously called Trump’s moves “unsettling and unprecedented” while pointing out he was within a president’s legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government but is not a state.
For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-racking.
“I’ve seen them right here at the subway … they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,” Washington native Sheina Taylor said. “It’s more fearful now because even though you’re a law-abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don’t know, especially because I’m African American.”
Whitehurst and Khalil write for the Associated Press. AP writers Konstantin Toropin and Will Weissert, photographer Jacquelyn Martin and video journalist River Zhang contributed to this report.
AI agents are taking charge. They’re booking appointments, managing your inbox, and handling tasks with minimal input. They promise convenience, but some have leaked data, made surprise purchases, and even tried to replicate themselves. Big Tech and the military are betting big on their future. As we hand over more control, are we ready for what comes next?
DENVER — Colorado’s Democratic attorney general on Tuesday sued a sheriff’s deputy for allegedly helping federal immigration agents find and arrest a college student who had an expired visa.
Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser also disclosed that his office is investigating whether other law enforcement officers on a regional drug task force the deputy worked on have been sharing information to help federal agents make immigration arrests in violation of state law limiting cooperation in immigration enforcement. The federal government has sued Colorado over such laws.
On June 5, Mesa County Deputy Alexander Zwinck allegedly shared the driver’s license, vehicle registration and insurance information of the 19-year-old nursing student in a Signal chat used by task force members, according to the lawsuit. The task force includes officers who work for federal Homeland Security Investigations, which can enforce immigration laws, the lawsuit said.
After federal immigration officers told him in the chat that the student did not have a criminal history but had an expired visa, Zwinck allegedly provided them with their location and told her to wait with him in his patrol car for about five minutes, asking about her accent and where she was born. He let her go with a warning and gave federal agents a description of her vehicle and told which direction she was headed so they could arrest her, the lawsuit said.
When Zwinck was told of the arrest, the lawsuit said he congratulated the federal agents, saying “rgr, nice work.” The following day, one federal immigration agent praised Zwinck’s work in the chat, saying he should be named ”interdictor of the year” for the removal division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Zwinck is also accused of violating the law again on June 10 by providing immigration officers with the photo of the license of another driver who had overstayed his visa, information about the person’s vehicle and directions to help them arrest the driver. After being told that immigration officers “would want him,” Zwinck replied that “We better get some bitchin (sic) Christmas baskets from you guys,” the lawsuit said.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit. Spokesperson Molly Casey said the office is about a week away from finishing its internal investigation into the student’s traffic stop and plans to issue a statement after it is finished.
A working telephone number could not be found for Zwinck, who was placed on paid leave during the sheriff’s office’s investigation. Casey declined to provide the name of an attorney who might be able to speak on his behalf.
The sheriff’s office previously announced that all its employees have been removed from the Signal group chat.
Weiser said he was acting under a new state law that bars employees of local governments from sharing identifying information about people with federal immigration officials, a recent expansion of state laws limiting cooperation in immigration cases. Previously, the ban on sharing personal identifying information only applied to state agencies, but state lawmakers voted to expand that to local government agencies earlier this year.
“One of our goals in enforcing this law is to make clear that this law is not optional. This is a requirement and it’s one that we take seriously,” he said.
The law allows violators to be fined but Weiser’s lawsuit only seeks a judge’s order declaring that Zwinck’s actions violated the law and barring him from such actions in the future.
News about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests seems to flow as if emanating from an unending tap.
That makes it difficult, at times, to pick up on important topics and issues.
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I’m going to use this space to highlight a few articles from my colleagues focusing on the potential growth of ICE in the coming years, new tools that federal agents can use to expand crackdowns, and what the actual numbers say.
The massive funding bill signed into law this month by President Trump earmarks about $170 billion for border and immigration enforcement, including tens of billions for new deportation agents and other personnel.
During his first term, when Trump called for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hire 15,000 people collectively, a July 2017 report by the Homeland Security inspector general found significant setbacks.
In 2017, ICE hired 371 deportation officers from more than 11,000 applications and took 173 days on average to finalize hires, the news outlet Government Executive reported. According to Cronkite News, Border Patrol shrunk by more than 1,000 agents after Trump left office in 2021.
The Homeland Security inspector general concluded that to meet the goal of 10,000 new immigration officers, ICE would need more than 500,000 applicants. For CBP to hire 5,000 new agents, it would need 750,000 applicants.
Castillo added that past and potentially future corruption, the prospect of lowering hiring standards and competition with other police agencies make Trump’s hiring goal an uphill battle.
My colleagues Jenny Jarvie and Hannah Fry noted that the Trump administration is forging ahead with a plan to hand over the personal data of millions of Medicaid recipients to Homeland Security personnel seeking to track down people living in the U.S. illegally.
The huge trove of private information includes home addresses, Social Security numbers and ethnicities of 79 million Medicaid enrollees.
The plan, which has not been announced publicly, is the latest step by the Trump administration to deliver on its pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and arrest 3,000 undocumented immigrants a day.
Undocumented immigrants are not permitted to enroll in Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that helps cover medical costs for low-income individuals.
However, federal law requires states to offer emergency Medicaid, coverage that pays for lifesaving services in emergency rooms to everyone, including non-U.S. citizens.
Homeland Security says it arrested 2,800 undocumented people between early June and July
Colleagues Michael Wilner and Rachel Uranga reported on the number of people picked up in the Greater Los Angeles area by Homeland Security.
Federal authorities said earlier that 1,618 undocumented immigrants had been detained between June 6 — the start of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security operation in Los Angeles — and June 22. That total increased by nearly 1,200 arrests in just over two weeks. Trump deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines in the city days after the operation began amid heated protests.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials have repeatedly criticized federal operations for terrorizing immigrant communities, where business has slowed and many have holed up in their homes.
The president’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles has been a test case for his administration as it presses the bounds of executive authority, deploying federal agents and the military to a major metropolitan city with leadership hostile to its cause.
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP)
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WASHINGTON — President Trump says he wants to hire 10,000 new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents, but experts and the history of law enforcement hiring sprees suggest the process could be challenging, lengthy and possibly result in problematic hires.
The massive funding bill signed into law this month by Trump earmarks about $170 billion for border and immigration enforcement, including tens of billions for new deportation agents and other personnel. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a statement to The Times, said that the agency will deliver on the president’s hiring directive.
“In June, our 2025 Career Expo successfully recruited 3,000 candidates and generated 1,000 tentative job offers — nearly double the 564 from 2023,” she wrote. “Our recruitment strategy includes targeted outreach, thorough vetting and partnerships with state and local law enforcement.”
During his first term, when Trump called for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hire 15,000 people collectively, a July 2017 report by the Homeland Security inspector general found significant setbacks.
“Although DHS has established plans and initiated actions to begin an aggressive hiring surge, in recent years the Department and its components have encountered notable difficulties related to long hire times, proper allocation of staff, and the supply of human resources,” the report states.
The independent watchdog concluded that to meet the goal of 10,000 new immigration officers, ICE would need more than 500,000 applicants. For CBP to hire 5,000 new agents, it would need 750,000 applicants.
It doesn’t appear either goal was met. In 2017, ICE hired 371 deportation officers from more than 11,000 applications and took 173 days on average to finalize hires, the news outlet Government Executive reported. And Cronkite News reported that when Trump left office in 2021, Border Patrol had shrunk by more than 1,000 agents.
“The mere mechanics of hiring that many people is challenging and takes time,” said John Pfaff, a law professor at Fordham University who studies U.S. incarceration and has researched the hiring challenges ICE faces.
When the initial version of the funding bill passed the House of Representatives, it laid out a target of at least 10,000 ICE officers, agents and support staff, specifying a minimum of 2,500 people in fiscal year 2025 and 1,875 people in each subsequent year through 2029.
The legislation didn’t outline specific hiring goals for Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, though Homeland Security said that, in addition to the 3,000 Border Patrol agents, the funding will also support the hiring of 3,000 more customs officers at ports of entry.
The Senate modified the bill and on final passage, the law removed those hiring specifics, meaning ICE can use the funding for a variety of purposes. ICE has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel. CBP has 60,000 employees, including about 19,000 Border Patrol agents.
Studies on accelerated hiring efforts have found that, in some cases, contracts were poorly managed. Ten months into a 2018 contract with the professional services firm Accenture, by which point CBP had paid $13.6 million, the inspector general found that just two people had accepted job offers.
Residents confront ICE agents and Border Patrol agents over their presence in their neighborhood on Atlantic Boulevard in the city of Bell on June 20.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Hiring thousands of employees would be an even bigger lift today, Pfaff said.
He pointed to the fact that since 2020, police departments nationwide have also struggled to recruit and retain officers. Immigration officer pay is lower than rookie salaries at big-city law enforcement agencies, such as the New York Police Department.
A job posting for a deportation officer offers a salary range of about $50,000 to $90,000. Pfaff compared that with NYPD, where officer salaries start at just over $60,000 and rise to more than $125,000 in less than six years.
During a Border Patrol hiring spree from 2006 to 2009, standards for hiring and training were lowered, about 8,000 agents were brought on. The Associated Press reported that the number of employees arrested for misconduct — such as civil rights violations or off-duty crimes like domestic violence — grew yearly between 2007 and 2012, reaching 336, or a 44% increase. More than 100 employees were arrested or charged with corruption, including taking bribes to smuggle drugs or people.
A 2015 report from an internal audit by a CBP advisory council said that “arrests for corruption of CBP personnel far exceed, on a per capita basis, such arrests at other federal law enforcement agencies.”
Josiah Heyman, an anthropology professor who directs the University of Texas at El Paso’s Center of Inter-American and Border Studies, studied the mid-2000s hiring spree. He said smuggling organizations have only gotten more sophisticated since then, as have security measures, so it’s more valuable for smugglers to “buy someone off” instead of attempting to bring in people or drugs undetected.
Beyond corruption, Heyman said he worries the drive to quickly increase Homeland Security staffing could lead to Americans being deported, as well as an increase of assault and abuse cases and deaths of detainees.
“Getting 10,000 [new employees] means basically hiring the people who walk in the door because you’re trying to hit your quota,” he said. “Rapid, mass-hiring lends itself to mistakes and cutting corners.”
The recruitment issues at Border Patrol led to reforms, such as the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010, which included mandatory polygraph testing for job applicants (though that requirement was not implemented for ICE applicants). The polygraph tests revealed some applicants had concerning backgrounds, including some believed to have links to organized crime.
The reforms also slowed hiring as two-thirds of Border Patrol applicants began failing the polygraph exam by 2017, the Associated Press reported.
If the government is not able to hit its hiring goals, it might turn to contractors, the U.S. military and local law enforcement to help carry out Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration. It is likely to continue its expansion of the 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to function as deportation agents. Homeland Security said the new budget will fully fund the 287(g) program.
Pfaff said that while using local police to make immigration arrests could help in the short term, many major cities and states, including California, have already banned the agreements or limited cooperation with ICE. Still, ProPublica reported that more than 500 law enforcement agencies have signed 287(g) agreements since January.
Jason Houser, who was ICE’s chief of staff under the Biden administration, said training new hires takes about a year and that classes are typically capped at 50 students.
Houser said another short-term workaround for permanent staff could be the use of contractors.
Most immigrant detainees are held in facilities that are run by private prison companies, including the Florida-based GEO Group and Tennessee-based CoreCivic.
But those companies have a limited inventory of detention space. CBP could also use its funding to erect soft-sided, temporary facilities on military bases within the 100 miles of the U.S. boundary, in which CBP has authority to conduct immigration checkpoints and other enhanced enforcement activities.
Houser said temporary facilities could be set up by October, and they could be staffed with National Guard or U.S. military personnel in administrative, nursing, food and sanitation roles.
Federal law generally prohibits the military from arresting civilians. But Homeland Security officials have said military personnel have the authority to temporarily detain anyone who attacks an immigration agent until law enforcement can arrest them.
But Houser worries that placing young service members, who aren’t trained to conduct civil detention, in charge of those facilities will lead to people getting hurt. He also worries that without other countries agreeing to accept more deportees, the number of immigrants detained for months could quickly balloon.
As of June 29, there were nearly 58,000 immigrants held in detention, according to TRAC, a nonpartisan data research organization. That’s far beyond the congressionally approved 41,500 detention beds this fiscal year.
“This is 9/11-style money,” Houser said. “Think about the money in counterterrorism post-9/11. It turns the entire apparatus toward this goal. Everything in government is going to turn to where the money is, and that’s the scary piece to me.”
The agency said the six unnamed individuals face punishments ranging from ’10- to 42-day suspensions without pay’.
Six Secret Service agents on duty during last year’s failed assassination attempt against United States President Donald Trump have faced disciplinary action, including suspensions ranging from 10 to 42 days, the agency has said.
The US Secret Service said it was prohibited from releasing the names of those facing disciplinary action in a Thursday statement marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024.
It said the six individuals face punishments ranging from “10- to 42-day suspensions without pay”, while all will also be “placed on restricted duty or into non-operational positions”.
The statement did not specify the grounds for their suspensions, but said the incident – in which a lone gunman opened fire at a rally in the town of Butler – represents an “operational failure”.
The attacker accessed a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to the former president as he spoke on stage. A bystander was killed, while Trump’s ear was reportedly wounded in the attack. Agents shot and killed the gunman at the scene.
In an interview with Fox News set to air on Saturday, Trump said the Secret Service should have stationed an agent on the rooftop. “There were mistakes made. And that shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
The agency said it will carry the event as a “reminder of the critical importance of its zero-fail mission and the need for continuous improvement”.
“Breakdowns in communication, technological issues, and human failure, among other contributing factors, led to the events of July 13,” it said.
The Secret Service said it has implemented 21 of 46 recommendations made by congressional oversight bodies in the wake of the assassination attempt.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who was in charge of Trump’s security detail at the rally, said the agency “has taken many steps to ensure such an event can never be repeated in the future”.
Detailed in the Secret Service statement were new protective measures for golf courses.
Soon after the Butler assassination attempt, a man with a gun hid near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida with the intent to kill the then-Republican presidential candidate.
Prosecutors said Ryan Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as he played golf on September 15, 2024. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before he was able to open fire on Trump.
On Thursday, Routh told Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida he wants to get rid of his court-appointed federal public defenders and represent himself at trial. Routh did not state his reasons for doing so.
Cannon did not immediately rule on Routh’s request and said she will issue a written order with her decision. Routh’s trial is scheduled to begin on September 9.
July 10 (UPI) — Federal agents clashed with demonstrators during an immigration enforcement operation in an agricultural area of southern California on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a Ventura County cannabis growing operation where some protesters were facing off with agents who threw smoke canisters toward a gathering crowd of demonstrators. Federal immigration agents formed a line across the street.
The agents presumably were ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agents, but there has been no reported confirmation.
The clash took place at a 5.5-million-square-foot indoor marijuana growing operation called Glass House Farms.
“We were speaking our mind like we can as U.S. citizens,” local media quoted one demonstrators as saying. “We got tear gassed. I got hit with a paintball,” one demonstrator said. “This is what we need to be doing as people — coming together against them, the tyranny. They are evil.”
The altercation escalated when one of the demonstrators was seen firing what appeared to be a gun and throwing rocks toward agents after the agents deployed tear gas canisters, local media reported. Witnesses said at least one person was taken to the ground by federal agents.
There were no reported injuries Thursday afternoon.
California and a coalition of 17 other states threw their support Monday behind a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of recent federal immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles, asking a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order against such operations while their legality is challenged.
The states’ action adds substantial heft to a lawsuit filed last week by advocacy groups and detained individuals, who accused the federal government of violating the rights of Los Angeles residents by sending masked immigration agents to detain people in certain L.A. neighborhoods based on little more than the color of their skin.
It came the same day that heavily armed agents in tactical gear swept through MacArthur Park in Los Angeles in a stunning show of force that further rattled local residents and drew outrage from local officials.
In their amicus filing, the states wrote that masked and unidentified ICE and CBP agents were stopping people in L.A. communities without any legitimate cause, and that such stops have “shattered [the] rhythms of everyday life” and diminished public safety in those neighborhoods.
“Masked immigration agents conducting unannounced enforcement actions through the community and, in all too many instances, stopping residents without so much as a reasonable suspicion of unlawful conduct have left people afraid to leave their homes …,” the states argued. “The cumulative effect of defendants’ unlawful actions — including unconstitutional stops — has had devastating impacts on California’s peace and prosperity, and has turned once bustling neighborhoods into ghost towns.”
The states said the immigration enforcement tactics have had a “chilling effect” that has reached far beyond undocumented people, leading to the detention of U.S. citizens and others legally in the country.
The states wrote that the “secretive approach” to such raids — with agents heavily masked and in plainclothes — “has not only created a culture of fear, but has also needlessly impeded local law enforcement.”
Federal officials have vigorously defended their actions as part of President Trump’s promised agenda to conduct mass deportations. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement last week that “any claims that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE.”
Trump administration officials also have defended federal agents wearing masks, saying it was to protect themselves and their families from threats to their safety. They declined to comment on the operation in MacArthur Park.
The Trump administration has specifically targeted L.A. for its “sanctuary” policies, and administration officials have suggested that heavy immigration enforcement activity will continue in the city for the foreseeable future.
In announcing the states’ filing Monday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the recent actions of ICE and CBP agents in Los Angeles were “part of a cruel and familiar pattern of attacks on our immigrant communities by an administration that thrives on fear and division,” and that his office would be fighting back.
“Let me be crystal clear: These raids are not about safety or justice. They are about meeting enforcement quotas and striking fear in our communities,” he said. “We won’t be silent. We won’t back down. We will continue to hold the federal government accountable when it violates the Constitution and federal law.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that every person in California is protected by the Constitution against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and that the recent actions of federal agents in L.A. have threatened “the fabric of our democracy, society, and economy.”
“Instead of targeting dangerous criminals, federal agents are detaining U.S. citizens, ripping families apart, and vanishing people to meet indiscriminate arrest quotas without regard to due process and constitutional rights that protect all of us from cruelty and injustice,” Newsom said.
Joining Bonta in the states’ filing were the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
When a group of armed, masked men was spotted dragging a woman into an SUV in the Fashion District last week, a witness called 911 to report a kidnapping.
But when Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived, instead of making arrests, they formed a line to protect the alleged abductors from an angry crowd of onlookers demanding the woman’s release.
The reported kidnappers, it turned out, were special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Police Chief Jim McDonnell defended the officers’ response, saying their first responsibility was to keep the peace and that they had no authority to interfere with the federal operation.
In political and activist circles, and across social media, critics blasted the LAPD for holding back the crowd instead of investigating why the agents were arresting the woman, who was later found to be a U.S. citizen.
“What happened downtown on Tuesday morning certainly looked and felt like LAPD was supporting ICE,” said Mike Bonin, a former City Council member who is now executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.
Kimberly Noriega, left, speaks with her aunt, Anita Neri Lozano, at Veterans Memorial Park in Culver City on Sunday. The family was attending a news conference regarding the arrest of a beloved street vendor, Ambrocio Lozano.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
The incident was one of more than half a dozen in recent weeks in which the LAPD responded to federal immigration enforcement actions that were called in as kidnappings.
The presence of local police officers at the scenes — even if they are not actively assisting ICE — has led some city leaders to question the department’s role in an ongoing White House crackdown that has swept up hundreds of immigrants and sown fear across Southern California.
Incidents of impostors masquerading as law enforcement have compounded the situation, along with rumors — so far unverified — that federal authorities have enlisted bounty hunters or private security contractors for immigration arrests.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called coverage of one reported kidnapping a “hoax” in a post Tuesday on X and said: “ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests.”
In a letter to the Police Commission last week, City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said the LAPD should make sure federal agents who cover their faces and often use unmarked vehicles are who they claim to be.
“Our residents have a right to know who is operating in their neighborhoods and under what legal authority,” wrote Rodriguez, whose district includes the San Fernando Valley. “Allowing unidentified actors to forcibly detain individuals without oversight is not only reckless — it erodes public trust and undermines the very rule of law.”
She said that city leaders couldn’t allow “bounty-hunter-style tactics to take root in our city,” and urged the commission, the LAPD’s civilian policymaking body, to “develop proper legal and safe protocol that provide for officer safety, transparency and accountability to our communities.”
Residents stand behind a line of Vernon police officers after an immigration raid in the city of Bell on June 20.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“This lack of identification is unacceptable. It creates an environment ripe for abuse and impersonation, enabling copycat vigilantes to pose as federal agents,” Rodriguez wrote.
State and local officials have proposed legislation to increase transparency around officer identification, but it’s unclear if the bills will become law — and whether they could actually be enforced against federal agents.
Police Commission President Erroll Southers said Tuesday that he and another commissioner met with City Council members to discuss the Police Department’s response to the Trump administration’s aggressive sweeps. Several commissioners questioned McDonnell about how LAPD officers are supposed to respond to reported kidnappings.
Los Angeles police officers stand guard as community members protest recent immigration raids in front of the Federal Building in downtown L.A. on June 18.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
McDonnell said the department created new guidelines that require a supervisor to respond and instruct LAPD officers to verify the purported ICE agents are legitimate, preserving a record of the interaction on body-worn cameras.
The chief said the top priority for officers is maintaining the safety of all those present, but ultimately officers have no authority to interfere with a federal operation.
According to a new poll from YouGov, a public opinion research firm, nearly three-quarters of Californians believe local police officers should arrest federal immigration agents who “act maliciously or knowingly exceed their authority under federal law.”
The same survey also found that a majority of state residents want to completely forbid California officials from collaborating with immigration enforcement and make it easier for citizens to file lawsuits when “authorities violate the due process rights of immigrants.”
The LAPD has long claimed that it has no role in civil immigration enforcement, but the department is now facing pressure from City Hall and beyond to go further and protect Angelenos who are undocumented.
A motion considered this week by the L.A. City Council would, among other things, limit the LAPD’s “support to agencies performing immigration enforcement.”
Eastside residents and others march in Boyle Heights on Tuesday as part of a series of “Reclaim Our Streets” actions being conducted in protest of federal immigration enforcement operations.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
LAPD officials say that the department has responded to at least seven calls in which people contacted 911 to report a kidnapping that turned out to be an ICE operation.
One emergency call came in when a group of masked federal Border Patrol agents was spotted staging near Dodgers Stadium last week, sparking a wave of speculation online about potential immigration enforcement at the ballpark. LAPD officers responded to the scene and again provided crowd control after a group of protesters showed up.
Several police supervisors said that in the past, it was customary for federal agents conducting surveillance in a given LAPD division to give the area’s watch commander a heads-up as a courtesy. But that longstanding practice has ended, leaving them largely left in the dark about the timing and location of planned immigration raids.
Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said it was irresponsible for people to describe the arrests as “kidnappings” and encourage people to call 911, saying that there is misinformation circulating online about how and when federal authorities can arrest someone. Authorities don’t need to present a warrant when encountering someone on the street, she said; all they need is probable cause.
“If people have concerns about the conduct of federal agents, they need to seek justice in court,” she said. “That is the place to litigate the case. Not the streets.”
In a testy exchange last month, McDonnell told the City Council that even if he knew about an immigration operation beforehand, he would not alert city leaders.
The LAPD’s relationship with ICE has been the subject of intense debate on social media platforms such as Reddit, where some commenters argued that the department’s focus on policing protesters was a tacit endorsement of the federal government.
Much of the discussion has fixated on an incident that occurred last week in downtown Los Angeles in which a woman named Andrea Guadalupe Velez was detained by agents clad in bulletproof vests with gaiters over their faces.
A livestream video showed a man, Luis Hipolito, who was later arrested, asking agents for their names and badge numbers.
“I’m calling 911 right now,” he told the agents.
“911, I want to report a crime. I want to report a crime,” Hipolito is heard saying on the phone.
“What are you reporting?” an operator is heard asking.
“They’re kidnapping kids, they’re kidnapping people on Nine and Main Street,” he is heard saying. “I need LAPD right here, right now. Nine and Main Street. They’re kidnapping, they’re kidnapping people.”
After several agents were seen piling on top of Hipolito, LAPD officers arrived at the scene. They formed a line between the agents and the angry crowd, members of whom were shouting to release Hipolito.
Homeland Security’s McLaughlin said Velez “was arrested for assaulting an ICE enforcement officer.”
Federal authorities said in court filings that Velez “abruptly” stepped into the path of an agent in “an apparent effort to prevent him from apprehending the male subject he was chasing.”
Velez, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate who is 4 feet 11, allegedly stood in the path of the agent with her arms extended. The agent couldn’t stop in time and was struck in his head and chest, federal authorities allege.
Velez’s mother, Margarita Flores, was watching in her rearview mirror, having just dropped her daughter off at the scene.
Flores said she saw a man running toward her daughter and then Velez falling to the ground. Flores said the men didn’t have identification or license plates on their car.
Fearing a kidnapping, she told her other daughter, Estrella Rosas, to call the police. When the LAPD arrived, Rosas said, her sister “went running to one of the police officers in hopes that they could help her.”
“But one of the ICE agents went back after her and fully [put] her in handcuffs,” Rosas said. “He physically had to carry her to put her inside the car and they drove away in the car that had no license plates.”
Velez spent two days in a federal detention facility. Charged with assaulting a federal officer, she made her initial court appearance last week and was released on $5,000 bail. She has not yet entered a plea and is due back in court July 17.
Times staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
Following a surge in arrests by armed, masked federal immigration agents in unmarked cars, some California Democrats are backing a new bill in Congress that would bar officials from covering their faces while conducting raids.
The No Masks for ICE Act, introduced by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-New York) and co-sponsored by more than a dozen Democrats, would make it illegal for federal agents to cover their faces while conducting immigration enforcement unless the masks were required for their safety or health.
The bill would also require agents to clearly display their name and agency affiliation on their clothes during arrests and enforcement operations.
Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank), who is co-sponsoring the bill, said Tuesday that the legislation would create the same level of accountability for federal agents as for uniformed police in California, who have been required by law for more than three decades to have their name or badge number visible.
“When agents are masked and anonymous, you cannot have accountability,” Friedman said. “That’s not how democracy works. That’s not how our country works.”
The bill would direct the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to set up discipline procedures for officers who did not comply and report annually on those numbers to Congress.
A DHS spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department has previously warned of a spike in threats and harassment against immigration agents.
The mask bill has no Republican co-sponsors, meaning its chances of getting a hearing in the GOP-controlled House are slim.
“I would think that there’s Republicans out there who are probably hearing the same thing that I’m hearing from my constituents: ‘I don’t like the idea of people jumping out of a truck, carrying very large guns with masks over their faces, and I have no idea who they are,’” Friedman said.
Friedman said she hoped that Republicans concerned about governmental overreach and the so-called “deep state” — the idea that there is a secretive, coordinated network inside the government — would support the bill too.
The proposal comes after weeks of immigration raids in Southern California conducted by masked federal agents dressed in street clothes or camouflage fatigues, driving unmarked vehicles and not displaying their names, badge numbers or agency affiliations. Social media sites have been flooded with videos of agents violently detaining people, including dragging a taco stand vendor by her arm and tossing smoke bombs into a crowd of onlookers.
The raids have coincided with an increase in people impersonating federal immigration agents. Last week, police said they arrested a Huntington Park man driving a Dodge Durango SUV equipped with red-and-blue lights and posing as a Border Patrol agent.
In Raleigh, N.C., a 37-year-old man was charged with rape, kidnapping and impersonating a law enforcement officer after police said he broke into a Motel 6, told a woman that he was an immigration officer and that he would have her deported if she didn’t have sex with him.
And in Houston, police arrested a man who they say blocked another driver’s car, pretended to be an ICE agent, conducted a fake traffic stop and stole the man’s identification and money.
Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez said Tuesday that city officials have received questions from residents like, “How can I know if the masked man detaining me is ICE or a kidnapper? And who can protect me if a man with a gun refuses to identify himself?”
Those issues came to a “boiling point” last weekend, Perez said, when a man confronted a woman at the Mystic Museum in Burbank, asked to see her documents and tried to “act as a federal immigration agent.” Staff and patrons stepped in to help, Perez said, but the incident left behind a “newfound sense of fear, an uncertainty.”
“Why is it that we hold our local law enforcement, who put their lives on the line every day, to a much higher standard than federal immigration officers?” Perez said.
The bill in the House follows a similar bill introduced in Sacramento last month by state Sen. Scott Wiener that would bar immigration agents from wearing masks, although it’s unclear whether states can legally dictate the conduct or uniforms of federal agents.
The images are jarring. Across the country, federal law enforcement officers in plain clothes and wearing ski masks and balaclavas are seizing and detaining protesters, students and even elected officials. These scenes evoke images of government thugs in violent regimes disappearing opponents.
This is not how policing should look in a democratic society. Which is why everyone — regardless of political affiliation or stance on immigration enforcement — should support bills being introduced in Congress to address this growing problem. Three pieces of legislation — under consideration or expected soon — would prohibit masking by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including one Thursday from Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and one expected Friday from Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). These are obvious, common-sense measures that shouldn’t need to be codified into law — but given the reality today, and what’s being done on streets across the country, they clearly do.
In the United States, those tasked with enforcing the law are public servants, answerable to the people through their elected representatives. Wearing uniforms and insignia, and publicly identifying themselves, are what make clear an officer’s authority and enable public accountability.
That is why U.S. policing agencies generally have policies requiring officers to wear a badge or other identifier that includes their name or another unique mark, like a badge number. That is why — not so long ago — one of us wrote a letter on behalf of the Justice Department to the police chief in Ferguson, Mo., to ensure that officers were readily identifiable during protests. This letter was sent by the federal government, in the middle of the federal civil rights investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, because ensuring this “basic component of transparency and accountability” was deemed too important to hold off raising until the end of the investigation. Exceptions have long been made for scenarios such as undercover work — but it has long been understood that, as a general rule, American law enforcement officers will identify themselves and show their faces.
This foundational democratic norm is now at risk. In February, masked ICE officers in riot gear raided an apartment complex in Denver, one of the first times Americans saw agents hide their faces on the job. In March, the practice came to widespread attention when Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was snatched by plainclothes ICE officers, one of them masked, while walking down a street in Somerville, Mass. Throughout the spring, bystanders captured videos of masked or plainclothes ICE enforcement actions from coast to coast, in small towns and big cities.
ICE says it allows this so officers can protect themselves from being recognized and harassed or even assaulted. ICE’s arguments just won’t wash. Its claims about how many officers have been assaulted are subject to serious question. Even if they were not, though, masked law enforcement is simply unacceptable.
At the most basic level, masked, anonymousofficers present a safety concern for both the individuals being arrested and the agents. People are understandably far more likely to disregard instructions or even fight back when they think they’re being abducted by someone who is not a law enforcement officer. If the goal is to obtain compliance, masks are counterproductive. It’s far safer to encourage cooperation by appealing to one’s authority as a law enforcement officer — which almost always works.
Related, there is a very real and growing threat of law enforcement impersonation. There has been a disturbing uptick in reported incidents of “ICE impersonations,” in which private individuals dress as ICE or law enforcement officials to exploit the trust and authority invested in law enforcement. Just this month, the assailant in the recent assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker was posing as a police officer. Other examples are abounding across the country. As Princeton University noted in a recent advisory, when law enforcement officers are not clearly identifying themselves, it becomes even easier for impostors to pose as law enforcement. Replicas of ICE jackets have become a bestseller on Amazon.
Most fundamentally, masked detentions undermine law enforcement legitimacy. Government agencies’ legitimacy is essential for effective policing, and legitimacy requires transparency and accountability. When officers hide their identities, it sends the clear message that they do not value those principles, and in fact view them as a threat.
Federal law currently requires certain clear accountability measures by federal immigration enforcement officials, including that officers must identify themselves as officers and state that the person under arrest is, in fact, under arrest as well as the reason. That should sound familiar and be a relief to those of us who are grateful not to live in a secret police state.
But those words are cold comfort if you are confronted by someone in street clothes and a ski mask — with no way to know if they are who they say or whom to hold accountable if they violate your rights.
ICE officials cannot be allowed to continue to enforce our laws while concealing their identities. Transparency and accountability are what separate democracy from authoritarianism and legitimate law enforcement from the secret police in antidemocratic regimes. The images we are seeing are unrecognizable for the United States, and should not be tolerable for anyone.
Barry Friedman is a professor of law at New York University and author of “Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission.” Christy Lopez is a professor from practice at Georgetown University School of Law. She led the police practices unit in the Civil Rights Division of theDepartment of Justice from 2010-2017.
They remained silent when he flooded their city with federal agents, chief marketing officer Lon Rosen refusing to comment on the racist kidnapping sweeps terrorizing the very community that helped them break attendance records.
And what did the Dodgers receive in exchange for betraying their fans and sucking up to President Trump?
A knock at the door from immigration enforcement.
The Dodgers learned what many Trump voters already learned, which is that Agent Orange doesn’t always reward subservience.
So much for all of their front-office genius. So much for staying out of politics.
Federal agents in unmarked vehicles formed a line at Dodger Stadium’s main entrance on Thursday, apparently with the intention of using a section of the parking lot as a processing center for detainees who were picked up during a morning immigration raid.
The Dodgers could look away when ICE was causing havoc in other parts of town, but even the morally compromised have limits. More than 40% of Dodgers fans are Latino. Transforming Dodger Stadium into ground zero for the administration’s war on brown people would be financial suicide for the franchise.
The agents were denied entry, according to the team.
There was speculation in and around the organization about whether the presence of the federal agents was a form of retaliation by a notoriously vindictive administration. Just a day earlier, the Dodgers said they would announce on Thursday plans to assist immigrant communities affected by the recent raids. In the wake of the visit, the announcement was delayed.
Ultimately, what did the Dodgers gain from their silent complicity with Trump?
They further diminished their stature as vehicles of inclusion, a tradition that included the breaking of baseball’s color barrier by Jackie Robinson and the expansion of the sport’s borders with the likes of Fernando Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo and Chan Ho Park.
They broke their sacred bond with the Latino community that was forged over Valenzuela’s career and passed down for multiple generations.
They at least resisted immigration agents’ efforts to annex their parking lot, but how much damage was already done? How much trust was already lost?
Consider this: When photographs of the unmarked vehicles in front of Dodger Stadium started circulating online, the widespread suspicion was that federal agents were permitted by the Dodgers to be there.
That was later revealed to be untrue, but what does that say about how the Dodgers were perceived?
Federal agents stand outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Their announcement about their impending announcement looked like a cynical effort to reverse a recent wave of negative publicity, which started with Rosen refusing to comment on the immigration sweeps.
Asked if the Dodgers regretted visiting the White House, Rosen said, “We’re not going to comment on anything.”
On the day of the “No Kings” demonstrations, a 30-year-old performer named Nezza sang a version of the national anthem in Spanish that was commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Nezza, whose full name is Vanessa Hernández, later posted a video on her TikTok account showing a Dodgers employee directing her to sing in English. She disobeyed the order, explaining that because of what was happening in Los Angeles, “I just felt like I needed to do it.”
In subsequent interviews, Nezza said her agent was called by a Dodgers employee, who said Nezza was to never return to Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers later clarified that Nezza wasn’t banned from the ballpark, but the incident nonetheless struck a chord. Reports of American citizens being detained or harassed have surfaced, creating a feeling the raids are as much about making brown-skinned people feel unwelcome as they are about deporting undocumented migrants. Nezza’s experience symbolized this feeling.
The incident resulted in widespread calls for a Dodgers boycott, which, coincidentally or not, was followed by the Dodgers teasing their announcement of support for immigrants.
The divisive environment created by Trump forced the Dodgers to take a side, however passively. Now, they have to win back angry fans who pledged allegiance to them only to be let down. Now, they have to deal with potential retaliation from the Mad King they pathetically tried to appease.
On Tuesday, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested by several masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a courthouse in Manhattan as he attempted to steer an individual past immigration authorities. That same day, masked agents outside a Walmart in Pico Rivera detained two individuals — one a target of immigration enforcement, the other a U.S. citizen who tried to intervene.
These two scenes from opposite sides of the country illustrate what has become a more common problem: federal agents wearing masks to avoid recognition. On Thursday, masked individuals said to be affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security descended on a Home Depot in Hollywood and on Dodger Stadium.
Masking is not good law enforcement practice. It may contradict Homeland Security regulations, while potentially providing cover for some officers to violate constitutional and civil rights. It undermines agents’ authority and endangers public safety as well.
The federal government has no specific policy banning immigration agents from wearing masks. But the fact that such practice is not illegal does not make it acceptable. Department of Homeland Securityregulations require immigration officers to identify themselves during an arrest or, in casesof a warrantless arrest, provide a statement explaining how they identified themselves. The use of masks seems to violate the intent of these directives for identification.
ICE agents in masks are becoming disturbingly routine. There were ICE agents in masks at the Los Angeles immigration protestsrecently, just as there have been at enforcement actions inMinneapolis,Boston,Phoenix andacross the country. In March a video of Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts University, being detained by masked officers on the streetwent viral.
There seems to be no uniformity in the face coverings immigration agents wear, which has included ski masks, surgical masks, balaclavas and sunglasses. Such inconsistency across a federal workforce flies in the face of sound policing. Masked agents can confuse both bystanders and ICE targets, which risks people interfering with enforcement actions that look more like kidnappings. The International Assn. of Chiefs of Policehas warned that the public “may be intimidated or fearful of officers wearing a face covering, which may heighten their defensive reactions.”
Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE,said earlier this month that immigration agents wear masks to protect themselves. “I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks,”he said, “but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line, because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”
Yet law enforcement jobs come with an assumption of exactly that risk. Consider that the overwhelming majority of police officers, sheriffs and FBI agents fulfill their duties without concealing their faces. Correction officers who deal with prisoners do not wear masks, nor do judges who administer our laws. Because these public employees have such tremendous power, their roles require full transparency.
Besides, ICEagents are increasinglytargeting noncriminals, which mitigates the argument that agents require masks for safety. Accordingto the research site Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, about 44% of people in ICE detention as of June 1 have no criminal record.
When ICE agents wear masks, there can be unintended consequences. Lately, there has been aspike in people impersonating agents andengaging in harassment, assault and violence. In April, a Florida womanwore a mask as she posed as an ICE agent and attempted to kidnap her ex-boyfriend’s wife.
Ironically, the Trump administration has a double standard around the idea of people wearing masks. It has demanded thatuniversities bar students from wearing masks during protests. In the aftermath of the Los Angeles immigration protests, the president postedon social media, “From now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests.” Shouldn’t that principle be applied to both sides?
True, it makes sense for immigration agents to use face coverings when they are making arrests of a high-profile target or conducting an undercover operation. However, masking should be the exception, not the norm. If ICE agents are conducting their duties anonymously, they open the door to potential civil rights and due process violations. The practice gives impunity to agents to make unlawful arrests, without the possibility of public accountability.
Masking can also be seen as a show of intimidation by immigration agents — whether their target is an undocumented migrant oran American citizen, like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who wasarrested outside a New Jersey detention facility in May. Masked ICE agents give the impression of being a secret police force, which is not good for our democracy.
Last week, two Democratic lawmakers in Californiaintroduced a bill that would bar local, state and federal law enforcement officers in California from wearing masks on duty (with certain exceptions). Although this is a step in the right direction, it remains unclear whether such a state measure could be applied to federal agents. Congress should ban the use of masks by immigration agents.
ICE officers should not be allowed to conceal their faces. The public’s need for accountability strongly outweighs any rationale for agents’ anonymity.
Raul A. Reyes is an immigration attorney and contributor to NBC Latino and CNN Opinion. X: @RaulAReyes; Instagram: @raulareyes1
June 20 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have discovered and closed a tunnel carved into the ground between San Diego and Tijuana that stretched more than 1,000 feet into the United States, the agency announced Thursday.
The agency said the tunnel, located near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, had an exit point near a commercial warehouse. The tunnel entrance was discovered in a residential area in the Mexican border town of Tijuana, and had been concealed with freshly laid tile, CBP said.
“The investigation revealed the tunnel was equipped with electrical wiring, lighting, ventilation systems and a track system designed for transporting large quantities of contraband,” a CBP release said.
The tunnel stretched nearly 3,000 feet, spanning the United States and Mexico border and measured nearly 4 feet high and more than 2 feet wide.
It is the latest in a long series of tunnel discoveries in the Southwest.
Drug and human smugglers have used clandestine, underground tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border for decades and routinely use them to move drugs and people into the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has discovered more than 95 tunnels in the San Diego area alone since 1993. They are also routinely discovered in other border states, including Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
“Contractors will pour thousands of gallons of concrete into the tunnel, preventing the tunnel from use by Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” the release continued.
