As the Liberty Van rolled into the Home Depot, its driver slowed, lowered the window and waved at day laborers standing around the parking lot.
It had rained all morning and the overcast clouds trapped a chill in the air. Still, on a recent Friday, day laborers milled around even as it began to drizzle again. A pastor, a Navy veteran, an immigration lawyer and cameraman got out of the Liberty Van — camioneta de la libertad in Spanish — and greeted the day laborers while offering them water and snacks.
Since June in Los Angeles, federal immigration agents have destabilized daily life by raiding neighborhoods, worksites and Home Depots — popular gathering spots for day laborers who often lack U.S. citizenship. In turn, several “rapid-response” organizations have surged into action to aid those targeted in the raids, and document their treatment.
One of these organizations is the Save America Movement, which runs the Liberty Vans and includes a bipartisan leadership that is far more politically connected than that of many grassroots organizations. The group was founded by Steve Schmidt, a former top aide to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Mary Corcoran, a longtime public relations specialist, with a steering committee that includes law professors, pastors and strategists.
On this particular Friday, Fabian Núñez — a member of that steering committee who previously served as speaker of the California Assembly — was one of those who hopped out of the Liberty Van. He chatted with a day laborer who stopped by to grab a snack, and explained they were there to film any interactions with federal agents, as part of their national rapid-response effort.
The day laborer said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have previously detained other workers at the Panorama City Home Depot and have returned frequently. “Many times,” he said. “Five or six.”
Despite the repeated raids, the laborer said workers like himself have little choice but to keep showing up.
“They have to keep coming,” he said. “One has to pay the bills.”
The Save America Movement launched the vans first in L.A. and then in Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., where federal immigration agents were raiding heavily Latino areas. The motivation behind the project was to provide support and help people understand the impact of the daily immigration raids, Corcoran said in an interview. Outside California, she said, many people don’t get it.
“If they did, I believe there would be much more urgency around what’s happening,” she said.
The teams that run the vans document and record video, with the footage published online so the public can watch the enforcement actions and hear testimonies from affected local residents, she said.
Fabian Núñez, a Save America Movement steering committee member who previously served as speaker of the California Assembly, talks with a laborer who stopped by the Liberty Van for some snacks in the parking lot of a Panorama City Home Depot on Nov. 21, 2025.
City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez — whose district spans from Highland Park, Chinatown and south to Pico-Union — welcomed the group’s effort, which she described as a tool in a movement of resistance.
Alejandro Maciel, the L.A. bureau chief for the organization and a former Los Angeles Times journalist, takes the van out roughly five times a week, starting around 6 a.m. and wrapping up late into the afternoon. Maciel and volunteers drive to Home Depots across Southern California, going north to Ventura County, east to the Inland Empire and south to Orange County.
On Friday, the van ride included the Rev. Madison Jones McAleese, Navy veteran Brian Kelly and immigration lawyer Juan Jose Gutierrez, who can offer legal support to families or offer “know your right” basics to laborers. And to capture it all was cameraman René Miranda, who started covering raids when a large protest broke out in Paramount, where he lives.
For McAleese, she said she felt it was her duty to be part of the effort to stand against the raids because of what she views as unlawful actions being taken by ICE enforcement. McAleese carries holy water and offers to pray with any one who seeks prayer.
“I don’t feel like I have a choice,” she said. “God is reflected in the face of every immigrant, documented and undocumented.”
As they headed to the next location, Maciel pulled up on his phone StopIce.Net, a website on which people submit reports of ICE activity. Just the day before, there was a raid in Long Beach, later confirmed by local media reports, and nine people were detained by masked agents, an L.A. County official said.
The San Fernando Valley was quiet that Friday, but Maciel said it has been important to establish and maintain relationships with both workers and organizers who have created rapid response networks. When he drives the van to a site, he said, he greets such organizers and makes sure the laborers understand they are there to help.
Ernesto Ayala, the site coordinator at the Van Nuys Day Labor Center in the Home Depot parking lot, said ICE agents have been to the site several times, as recently as a few weeks ago. At the Van Nuys Home Depot, volunteers monitor each entry point of the parking lot and alert the center of any suspicious vehicles that could contain federal agents.
“It’s very traumatic,” Ayala said of the continuing raids. Ayala himself was detained and sprayed with an irritant by agents after they held him down and accused him of interfering. He was arrested but never charged with any crime, he said.
Organizations such as the Save America Movement help with videos and other documentation that could be used in potential litigation against ICE in the future, Ayala said. He said his arrest was recorded from a distance by a witness.
In October, the organization said video by a Save America Movement photojournalist in Chicago recorded federal agents deploying tear gas against protesters and pointing weapons at journalists, which at the time violated a federal court order. The organization made that footage available online with time stamps and annotations.
Along with documenting interactions, Núñez said, the group hopes to remind ICE agents of the human impact and make them question their actions, and to move viewers. Such footage, he said, could help Americans see “that these Gestapo-like tactics are happening and they’re being utilized with our tax dollars.”
“We think we can convince them to move, to think more compassionately about people and think: Is this the America I signed up for?”
A look at the top performers from high school football across the Southland during the first week of the playoffs.
RUSHING
• Zastice Jauregui, Garfield: Had touchdown runs of 76, 65 and 70 yards en route to 440 yards rushing and five touchdowns in 30 carries in win over Palisades.
• Chris Fields III, Carson: Rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns in win over King/Drew.
• Malaki Davis, Corona Centennial: Rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns in win over Servite.
• Noah Penunuri, Rio Hondo Prep: Rushed for 230 yards and four touchdowns in win over Troy.
• Lenny Ibarra, Los Alamitos: Rushed for 116 yards and four touchdowns in win over San Juan Hills.
• Kamden Tillis, Los Alamitos: Rushed for 112 yards in defeat of San Juan Hills.
• Dallas Jones, Birmingham: Rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns in win over Kennedy.
• Jacob Jimenez, Chino Hills: Rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns in win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
• Ty Hall, Saugus: Scored four touchdowns in win over Calabasas.
PASSING
• Trace Johnson, Santa Margarita: Passed for two touchdowns in win over Sierra Canyon.
• Timmy Herr, San Juan Hills: Passed for 271 yards in loss to Los Alamitos.
• Diego Montes, Granada Hills Kennedy: Passed for 207 yards, ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns in loss to Birmingham.
• Domenik Fuentes, Cleveland: Passed for three touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns in win over North Hollywood.
RECEIVING
• Ryan Clark, Santa Margarita: Caught touchdown passes of 33 and 34 yards in win over Sierra Canyon.
• Luc Weaver, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame: Caught five passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
DEFENSE
• Isaia Vandermade, Santa Margarita: Had two sacks and batted down a pass vs. Sierra Canyon.
• Weston Reis, Palos Verdes: Returned an interception for a touchdown vs. Dana HIlls.
• Jaden Walk-Green, Corona Centennial: Had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, in win over Servite, giving him 10 interceptions this season and his sixth defensive touchdown.
• Thomas Alexander, San Clemente: Returned interception 80 yards for a touchdown in win over Vista Murrieta.
• Shaun Scott, Mater Dei: Had two sacks in win over Mission Viejo.
• PeeWee Wilson, Oxnard Pacifica: Recorded 12 tackles in win over Bishop Amat.
• King Rich Johnson, Orange Lutheran: Returned interception 45 yards for a touchdown in defeat of St. John Bosco.
• Devin Sandville, Orange Vista: Returned two interceptions for touchdowns in loss to Agoura.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Dabe Nwude, Palos Verdes: Blocked an extra-point attempt in 14-13 win over Dana Hills.
• Bo Ausmus, Redondo Union: Returned kickoff 86 yards for touchdown in win over St. Paul.
• Kyron Rattler, Crenshaw: Returned a punt for a touchdown and returned an interception for a score in win over San Pedro.
• Paul Turner, Birmingham: Returned a kickoff for a touchdown and had three catches for 92 yards in win over Kennedy.
• Jimmy Renteria, Birmingham: Returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in defeat of Kennedy.
A look at the top performers from high school football across the Southland during the first week of the playoffs.
RUSHING
• Noah Penunuri, Rio Hondo Prep: Rushed for 262 yards and three touchdowns in win over Thousand Oaks.
• Carlos Herrera, Van Nuys: Rushed for 145 yards and four touchdowns in upset of Banning.
• Kori Scott, Long Beach Wilson: Rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns in overtime loss to Paraclete.
• Aiden Williams, Vista Murrieta: Rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns in win over Damien.
• Noel Washington, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame: The sophomore ran for three touchdowns and 81 yards in win over Laguna Beach.
• Matix Frithsmith, Hart: Rushed for 146 yards and one touchdown, caught five passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns in win over Mayfair.
PASSING
• Jack Hurst, Laguna Beach: Passed for 417 yards and four touchdowns in loss to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
• Koa Regalado, Colton: Passed for 400 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for one touchdown in win over Ganesha.
• Wyatt Brown, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame: Passed for 229 yards and one touchdown, ran for 61 yards and one touchdown in defeat of Laguna Beach.
• Jaden Jefferson, Cathedral: Passed for 310 yards and two touchdowns and ran for three touchdowns in win over Western.
• Colin Creason, Los Alamitos: Completed 14 of 16 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns in win over Yorba Linda.
• Sam Thomson, Huntington Beach Edison: Passed for 227 yards and three touchdowns in win over Huntington Beach.
• Star Thomas, Orange: Passed for 299 yards and three touchdowns in loss to Troy.
• Russell Sekona, Leuzinger: Returning from hand injury, he passed for 297 yards and four touchdowns in win over Crean Lutheran.
• Joseph Mesa, Paraclete: Passed for 446 yards and seven touchdowns in an overtime win over Long Beach Wilson.
• Taylor Lee, Oxnard Pacifica: Passed for 280 yards and four touchdowns in win over Oak Hills.
• Jacob Paisano, Hart: Passed for 178 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns vs. Mayfair.
RECEIVING
• Glenn Carrera III, Cathedral: Made seven catches for 135 yards in defeat of Western.
• Troy Foster, Huntington Beach: Had 14 catches for 120 yards and one touchdown in loss to Edison.
• Anthony Jacobs, Oxnard Pacifica: Caught five passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns in win over Oak Hills.
• Mason Miller, Leuzinger: Caught seven passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns in defeat of Crean Lutheran.
• Degan Grant, Saugus: Had nine catches for 118 yards and one touchdown in win over Schurr.
DEFENSE
• Jonathan Moreno, Contreras: Had a game-saving interception in the end zone to help Contreras win its first ever City playoff game with win over Sun Valley Poly.
• Lenny Ibarra, Los Alamitos: Ran for two touchdowns and made interception in the end zone with nine seconds to preserve comeback win over Yorba Linda.
• Ethan Mundt, Troy: Returned a fumble 82 yards for a touchdown in win over Orange.
• Kentrell Holley, Dorsey: Had a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown in win over El Camino Real.
• Damian Huff, Charter Oak: Made interception in overtime to clinch win over Muir.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• DJ Parker, Gardena: Returned punt 50 yards for a touchdown in win over Hamilton.
• Jacob Kreinberg, Loyola: Averaged 58.3 yards on three punts and made 33-yard field goal in win over Newbury Park.
• Crue Bradshaw, Edison: Made 42-yard field goal vs. Huntington Beach.
