#ice raids

[victusinveritas]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Charisma Madarang and Lorena O'Neil at Rolling Stone:

As part of Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown, three U.S. citizen children were deported with their mothers by the New Orleans Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday morning. One of the children was undergoing cancer treatment and one of the mothers is pregnant. Both families had lived in the country for years and had ties to their communities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana, which warns that the circumstances of their sudden deportations raises grave due process concerns. The civil rights organization says that the first family was detained on Tuesday and the second family on Thursday, and that one of the mothers was given less than one minute on the phone before the call was abruptly dropped, after her spouse attempted to provide a phone number to legal counsel. Among the children deported with their mothers, says the ACLU, are three U.S. citizens aged two, four, and seven. One of the children is a U.S. citizen child suffering from a rare form of metastatic cancer and was deported out of the country without medication or consultation with their treating physicians — despite ICE being notified in advance of the child’s medical needs. The civil rights organization says that one of the mothers is pregnant, and was deported without ensuring any continuity of prenatal care or proper medical care.

[...] The two-year-old child’s deportation was covered widely Friday evening by media outlets, after the judge in the case demanded a hearing and wrote in a court filing that it appeared the Trump administration had “just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.” According to ACLU, both the families were reportedly isolated during key moment when decisions were made over the health, safety, and legal rights of the children involved, as they were not able to consult with legal representatives. ICE’s own written directives mandate coordination for the care of minor children with willing caretakers during detainment.

[...] This is at least the second time the Trump administration has deported a child suffering from cancer. Last month, a U.S. citizen and 10-year-old child with brain cancer was deported from Texas to Mexico with her undocumented parents.

The sick and depraved Trump Regime has deported multiple US children with cancer.

[cemeterygrace]

reminders:

if you or someone you know might need it in the next few years, purchase plan b. the shelf life of plan b is 4 years, and we might not be able to access it as easily as we can now in the days ahead.

if you are larger/plus size: go online and purchase ella instead of plan b. plan b is less effective if you aren’t under 160 pounds.

if you can, purchase books that project 2025 is looking to ban.

mass deportations are starting. if you see ice vehicles or agents, yell ice raid and la migra as loud as you can.

if someone asks who you voted for, keep your mouth shut. they’re fishing for traitors.

if anyone, anyone at all asks about your neighbors or their legal status in the us, you know nothing. don’t be the reason that their family is separated.

if anyone asks about your religion or lack thereof, keep it vague. this administration will look for any excuse to persecute you.

your friends are trans or queer? for the next four years they’re not. don’t expose anyone’s status as a trans or queer person to anyone else, even if you think you can trust them.

did someone you know get an abortion? no, they didn’t. they were never pregnant.

in short, don’t be a snitch, and keep to yourself these next four years. we’ll make it through this even if it seems hopeless at times.

we can survive this. we’ve survived before, and we’ll survive again.

[bamboo-muse]

Just reminder:

Fuck ICE

Death to Trump and his billionaire buddies

Always punch Nazis

[strawberryraviegutz]

FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT TRUMP DID NOT SAVE TIKTOK!! THIS WAS ALL A STUNT TO MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD!!

PAY ATTENTION TO WHATEVER HAPPENS NEXT!!

[devils-yui]

Reposting this from a friend bc I think it is VERY important to know of this, and for immigrants, and other possible victims of the ICE Raids happening right now

Here’s to also a very huge edit, from the list of very helpful people who have been reblogging and providing more info.

I’m not as well informed but I will be relaying the information and tagging each person who added onto this post:

@onthedriftinthetardis -

The phone number in the first photo is ONLY for Orange County, California!

Look up your local ACLU affiliate here

@6feetunderwater -

It always makes me nervous to see a reporting phone number passed around without any links to verify it, so the number in the first pic can be found on the site for the Orange County Rapid Response Network, which is "an interconnected system of non-profit and grassroots organizations, civil rights attorneys, law school clinics, and individuals working together to respond to dehumanizing immigration enforcement activities and policies in Orange County"

@geekerypeekery -

The second warrant is not fake, but is an administrative rather than judicial warrant, and has no constitutional authority to bypass Fourth Amendment protections - in other words, it does not entitle the bearer to enter and search your home. It simply authorizes agents of the issuing department to contact you. Always ask to see the warrant before opening your door!

In addition to the ACLU links, try contacting the National Immigration Law Center https://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Warrants-Subpoenas-Facts.pdf

@american-anger -

The phone number listed here is specific to Orange County in California, but you can look up other California counties here:

CALIFORNIA RAPID RESPONSE NETWORKS

@beaniebaneenie -

Unpleasant reminder: within 100 miles of the border (which is home to 200 million people and virtually all major cities in the US), ICE does not need a warrant to enter your home, your car, to search anything, or even to arrest you.

You are not automatically safe just because they don't have a real warrant.

The best and safest thing you can do is learn to have escape routes- quick ways to get out of the house or area you're in if you find out ICE or CBP are around. Those of us who do have documentation? Time for us to step the fuck up.

Film any interaction. Every interaction. If you're able, step into the conversation and be a Karen/Kyle- weaponize your privilege for Good. If you get asked about people? Use positive but vague statements so you a) cannot be caught in a lie, and b) do not give any information away.

"I don't know them that well, but I don't tend to socialize much. They seem great to me."

"I can't remember the last time I saw them."

"Maybe they speak another language, I can't remember details. But I picked up Duolingo during the pandemic and tons of other people did too."

"I'm not sure."

"I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Even if you're somewhere the 100-mile Exception doesn't apply and a warrant is in fact needed? I don't expect ICE and CBP to play by the rules for long, if at all. I fully expect this to get ugly, and fast.

Cheeto has already declared an emergency of national security at the border, and is mobilizing the military to have jurisdiction over a huge swath of the country. It's essentially tantamount to martial law. And it's only been four days.

Gear up for a long, hard fight. This is gonna be a marathon, not a sprint.

— I am leaving all of this as an edit because on the off chance someone does find the posts that have these people specifically reblogging, I don’t want it to be too late. So I’m comprising it all here

Here are a few other people’s reblogs I thought were important:

Thank you @onthedriftinthetardis @6feetunderwater @geekerypeekery @american-anger @beaniebaneenie @bunnychiffon @dubiouslynamed @trisockatops @witchy-disaster for contributing and helping me make this a more well-informed post. Thank you so much

[wildernezz]

hey chat did you guys know there's a whole website with informational videos on the rights you hold when interacting with ICE or witnessing interactions with ICE. all written by immigrants and for immigrants. idk man it'd be a shame if people watched these informational videos y'know.

[nando161mando]

Unbelievably dire.. how did we get here

[fuck-u-maga]

Leopards meet face

[tumble-tv]

ICE raids are happening.

Any immigrants, no matter how long you have been a citizen of the USA, is at risk of being deported either out of the country as a whole or into what are basically concentration camps. Raids starting in Chicago, Illinois. and spreading to other major cities with high POC and Hispanic populations. The US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have started raiding homes and families in California.

There are no "protected locations" as of January 21, 2025. Hospitals, schools, and churches are all at risk of being raided, where before these places were deemed safe and off limits to raids.

When it comes to spotting an ICE agent, look for these:

Weirdly neat/well kept hair (shaved heads, side parts, military burs for men; low buns, high ponytails, close cropped bobs for women)

Oversized jacket (long and bulky outerwear makes it easier to hide tools/equipment without being suspicious)

Both hands in pockets

Many undercover agents/cops buy cheap plain clothes off the racks so they aren’t seen in their own clothes. This can make their outfit seem awkward

Sweatshirts with the hood up

Sports apparel (warm up jacket, sweats, etc) with non-sports clothes (jeans, cargo shorts)

Cargo pants/shorts (usually full of items like their badge, flashlight, taser, pepper spray, backup handcuffs, zip ties)

Military or hiking style boots, sometimes chunky sneakers (extra points if none of it matches anything in their outfit)

Outline of a gun in their pants/shirt (easy to see when bending, leaning, or raising arms) (NO NOT SAY ANYTHING)

Overly friendly

Overly inquisitive

“How old are you” and “what do you know about this happening” are both red flags, along with generally odd and personal questions

Don’t fit in

Mismatched pairs in public spaces (usually cops do these things in pairs. They don’t talk to each other or acknowledge each other much, if at all)

DO NOT SAY ANYTHING UNTIL YOU ARE 100% SURE

YOUR BEST BET IS NOT TO SAY ANYTHING UNTIL THE SUSPECT STARTS ACTING OFF AND GETTING PUSHY

COPS ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE UNDERCOVER

COPS CAN AND WILL LIE TO YOU

SCREAM “LA MIGRA” AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS

For protesting:

N95 masks

Respirator/gas mask if you have access to one

Water water water water water (I hate to say it, but disposable one use bottles are best here. If it comes to it, you need to be able to drop and run.) Use for flushing wounds, flushing eyes of tear gas, and of course drinking.

Snacks! You'll be doing a lot of walking and/or running and need to keep that energy up. Trail mix, dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, crackers, jerky/meat sticks, fruit snacks, candy, etc. Think of it like packing your lunchbox for a field trip.

Eyedrops (teargas is a bitch)

Goggles (I bring my old snowboarding goggles)

If you are wearing a t-shirt or have exposed skin, put on fake/temporary tattoos. If you are brought into something and they say you were there, showing a picture of you with the tattoos, show them where that tattoo would be and how there’s nothing there. How would you get rid of a giant flower on your forearm in 2 days anyways?

Wigs fall under the same category as tattoos. The person they're claiming to be you has a blonde bob and you have green hair past your shoulders.It also makes it possible to go with a completely different color without the use of hair dye. This means if they try to arrest you later and try to prove it was you by taking your hair and testing for dye, it won't come back the way they hope. (Thank you @violetrosepetals for this addition!)

Hide your hair. I tuck my hair into my beanie since it’s short. If you have longer hair, try to do the same or tuck it into your shirt. Balaclavas are also a good choice, as they cover both your face and hair.

Power bank

Chargers

Helmet. Any is fine, my personal choice is a skating helmet since they’re rounder and can take more damage, but tactical is also good

Hand sanitizer

Gloves with hard knuckles (tactical gloves). These pack a good punch even if you don't have the correct form. Don't have those? Wrist guards for roller skating/skateboarding work kinda like that too. More of a slapping motion, but still hurt like a bitch. Extra points if they're all scuffed up from use and falls.

Bandanas. Somebody might need one for their face or hair, maybe you need to get dirt off somebody’s face, maybe somebody got injured. They’re great for anything and everything.

Cash (try to stick to cash, your card can be tracked)

Medications if you take them. If you get arrested or happen to somehow be away for longer than expected after the protest, it’s always good to have emergency meds

FIRST AID ALL THE FIRST AID (Tourniquet, Quikclot, chest seal, trauma shears, gauze, bandages, duct tape, and all the usual stuff you’d have in there)

Good shoes. Boots and sneakers are your best choices. Not heels, not platforms, not sandals. Good boots or shoes that won't come off your feet too easily when you run. Steel toed shoes are a great option. Your toes won't be squashed, but also it'll hurt someone a lot more if you start kicking.

Spare socks. Trust me. You can use them to stop bleeding if it comes to it, but also you can put rocks in there and boom weapon. Also if the socks you're wearing get wet.

As much covering clothing as you can handle. Plain jeans, plain hoodie, plain t-shirt, keep yourself as anonymous as possible. Black and baggy is best.

Photocopy of your ID, not your real one.

Sunscreen!

Make sure your clothes have pockets, even if you have a bag. You want everything to be easily accessible.

Do not wear contact lenses. If tear gas is used, that will make everything so much worse. Wear your glasses or go blind. If you have overly unique or identifiable frames, goggles are your friend here. Get some goggles that will fit over your frames, preferably ones that are tinted.

If you use mobility aids, cover defining features. Logos, brand names, colors, stickers, all of it. Take some old plain t-shirt and tie it around your wheelchair’s backrest. Wrap your wheelchair frame in cling wrap, then duct tape, or plain black self adhering medical tape. Cover stickers on your cane or crutches the same way. Electric chair? You have a little more work, but you can do it. Wrap it up. Same idea. Walker? Same thing. Cover. It. All.

If you are bringing a bag, make sure that bag is as plain as possible. No pins. No patches. No keychains. Except maybe a pride flag so people know which team you're playing on.

Scarf or keffiyeh if you have one. They have many uses!

Write a reliable phone number (of someone who is not at the protest with you) on your body. On the off chance you get arrested, that is your emergency contact.

Pocket knife.

Pepper spray/mace/bear spray

if you get tear gassed, shake around first before using water. Most tear gas is more of a powder and water has a high likelihood of just spreading it around. (Thank you @actually-a-bread-loaf for this addition!)

Tennis rackets also work wonderfully for chucking tear gas canisters back at those throwing them. Anybody asks, you're going out to play tennis with friends later. Baseball bats also work! (Thank you @azul-nova-24 for this addition!)

Anything you can throw. Soup for my family.

IF YOU CAN, LEAVE YOUR PHONE AT HOME

IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT WITH YOU, TURN OFF LOCATION SERVICES ON ALL APPS AND TURN OFF BIOMETRICS (FACE ID AND FINGERPRINT) SO YOU CAN ONLY UNLOCK YOUR PHONE WITH YOUR PASSWORD

COPS CAN FORCE YOU TO OPEN YOUR PHONE WITH YOUR FINGERPRINT OR FACE ID

MAKE SURE SOMEBODY KNOWS GENERALLY WHERE YOU ARE

If you see a potential or active raid, take pictures and note the time and location. Post online if you can, as well.

You have the right to remain silent. State that you wish to remain silent. Avoid giving information about anybody's immigration status. You have the right to refuse to sign anything before speaking to an attorney. You have the right to refuse searches of your car, your home, and yourself. Schools do not collect a child's immigration status.

I do not want to scare anybody, but this is what life is right now. That man does not care how long you have been a citizen of this country. If you are not a white, cisgender, heterosexual, Christian male, you are seen as less than by men in power. You are not less than. You are a threat to them, and they are scared. Keep it that way.

Even if you're not currently protesting, it's good to know this just in case. Things are happening very quickly, and there is a very high chance of it changing very quickly within the next four years.

Here's the link to my post on what to bring in terms of first aid.

If you cannot attend protests, that’s fine. Do what’s best for you. Even just reposting information helps.

This is an updated version of this post,

Updated January 27, 2025.

[victusinveritas]

More from Rebecca Solnit under the cut (you should read, but I'm not going to inflict it on your weekend dash).

They arrested two Democratic judges yesterday, not one. Everyone heard about the one in Milwaukee, hardly anyone about the judge in Las Cruces, New Mexico (former judge; he'd just stepped down under pressure). A lot of the reporting is sloppy/ taking the administration allegations as legit or even true, despite their history of lies, and these reports are full of loaded words like hid and harbored.

The charges are that Joel Cano and his wife hosted a young undocumented Venezuelan who the admin. alleges is a member of a gang, but they deported tons of Venezuelan men they alleged were members of that gang, many of whom seem not to have been, and no evidence has been offered, and terms like "harboring" use worst-case scenario language to describe what seems to have been someone--a refugee?-- who did some work around the house for them and then was allowed to stay in a guesthouse somewhere on the property.

The best reporting I've found is in the Albuquerque Journal: A complaint alleged that Cano had committed willful misconduct in office by allowing them to live on his property, and had permitted them access to firearms.

The search warrants resulted in a federal weapons charge against Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, 23, based on social media posts showing him holding and firing various weapons, including a video where Cano is present and holds a rifle that is passed to him.

The three men are all accused of being members of the transnational gang known as Tren de Aragua, an accusation that has been the basis for hundreds of men being rendered to an El Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration.

As in many of those cases, the men arrested at Cano’s home are accused of gang affiliation on the basis of their tattoos, apparel (including Chicago Cubs sportswear), emojis and alleged gang signs displayed in social media posts.

Additionally, a search of Ortega-Lopez’s phone uncovered text messages and a photograph of human corpses prosecutors say point to gang involvement.

Cano disputes evidence, describes raid

“I find these allegations to be highly sensationalized and without merit,” Cano wrote in his March 19 response.

Cano disputed references to the men as “known members” of the gang, arguing that they were fulfilling immigration procedures with federal agents, had undergone routine airport security procedures for travel, were frequently interviewed by Border Patrol officers at highway checkpoints and were pursuing authorization to work while their immigration cases were pending — all without ever being detained as gang members.

The first time Cano had heard of any association with Tren de Aragua, he wrote, was when “at least 45” agents, whom he described as wearing ski masks and sunglasses without badges or other visual identification, raided the two homes.

He denied that he had permitted the men to possess firearms, which would jeopardize their legal status in the U.S., admitting only to accompanying them on a December trip to a firing range.

Cano wrote that “the boys” had presented him and his wife, Nancy, with documentation about their pending immigration cases after initially meeting them in 2024, when they performed handyman work at their home. The Canos later allowed the trio to live in a detached studio apartment on their property and assisted them in complying with legal procedures and travel for court dates.

The response included details the men had presented about their journey to the U.S. over thousands of miles of terrain, including the notoriously dangerous Darién Gap at the Columbia-Panama border, where they said travelers were vulnerable to theft, rape and murder and claimed they had seen the bodies of murder victims out in the open.

Their relationship deepened as the guests participated in holidays, community events and volunteer work, becoming “a meaningful part of our extended family,” Cano wrote. “There is no way in the world that I would have allowed my grandkids to have any contact with the boys if I sensed danger.”

Cano argued the gang ties were speculations motivated by the Trump administration’s promise to execute mass deportations — a policy Cano criticized in blistering terms in his response.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_68cdcdbd-d97b-4e4f-88e4-f6d0b5279daa.html

Here's the version from Newsweek: "The arrest followed a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe launched in January, which uncovered that Ortega-Lopez, who entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in December 2023, was living with other undocumented migrants and had access to firearms.... Investigators learned that he originally met Nancy Cano while performing handyman work. After being evicted from his apartment, he moved into a guesthouse on the property.

During a detention hearing on March 14, U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian L. Martinez questioned the federal prosecutor's familiarity with Judge Cano, remarking, "I don't think he would just let anybody live on his property," according to Fox News."

It quotes Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council in a post to X on Thursday: "Yet ANOTHER internal component of the federal government that acknowledges the reality; Tren de Aragua is not an arm of Venezuela and it's not 'invading' the country. Trump's lawless Alien Enemies Act declaration cannot stand." https://www.newsweek.com/who-joel-cano-judge-resigns-after-migrant-found-his-home-2062284

And I'd assume that most of what Pam Bondi says is a lie and should be treated as such and if the news media could get over its credulous deference to people in high office, we'd be a better country. https://www.newsweek.com/pam-bondi-new-details-judge-accused-harboring-gang-member-2064424

[intryimus]

ICE SPOTTED IN THESE LOCATIONS JAN 28 2025

*THIS INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM PADET.COM* ICE HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN THESE CITIES TODAY

BROOKLYN NEW YORK

SEATTLE WASHINGTON

HOUSTON TEXAS

RALPHS CALIFORNIA

STAMFORD CONNECTICUT

LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY

NEW YORK NEW YORK

BAY POINT CALIFORNIA

PITTSBURG CALIFORNIA

WATERBURY CONNECTICUT

DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA

DALLAS TEXAS

ONEIDA COUNTY NEW YORK

CERRITOS CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA

CLAYTON NEW JERSEY

LOVELAND COLORADO

HOFFMANS ESTATE ILLINOIS

MANASSAS VIRGINIA

SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA

GRAND JUNCTION COLORADO

BILOXI MISSISSIPPI

FLORENCE KENTUCKY

JANESVILLE WISCONSIN

MCKINNEY TEXAS

TARRYTOWN NEW YORK

NEWARK NEBRASKA

STONEHAM MASSACHUETTS

HACKENSACK NEW JESERY

PORT CHESTER NEW YORK

OXNARD CALIFORNIA

FORT VALLEY GEORGIA

ATLANTA GEORGIA

BOSTON MASSACHUETTS

SLEEPY HOLLOW NEW YORK

YAKIMA WASHINGTON

ROGERS ARKANAS

SPARTANBURG SOUTH CAROLINA

OSSINING NEW YORK

NEW CANEY TEXAS

BEAVERTON OREGON

ROOSEVELT NEW YORK

TOPPENISH WASHINGTON

AUSTIN TEXAS

PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA

CHICAGO ILLINOIS

LEXINGTON KENTUCKY

CAMDEN KENTUCKY

WEST VIRGINIA (NO SPECIFIC TOWN WAS LISTED)

PHOENIX ARIZONA

CLEVELAND TENNESSE

THESE LOCATIONS WERE WRITTEN IN THE TIME I HAVE BEFORE I GET ON THE BUS, BUT THEY WERE TAKEN FROM THIS WEBSITE

UPDATED FROM COMMENTS, JAN 30TH, 2025:

- KILLEEN TEXAS

- PORTLAND/WESTBROOK AREA MAINE

- DES MOINES IOWA STATE

- DAYTON OHIO

- ITHACA NEW YORK

- ROCHESTER NEW YORK

- ARKON OHIO

- CLEVELAND OHIO

- BUFFALO NEW YORK

- STATESBOROUGH GEORGIA

- FARGO MINNESOTA

THIS WEBSITE CAN BE USED AS A MAP SORTA, IT IS USED TO REPORT ICE SIGHTINGS

[cemeterygrace]

if you don’t remember anything else for the next 4 years, remember this: don’t be a fucking snitch.

[reasonsforhope]

"A small group of activists assembled before dawn on a recent day in a South L.A. parking lot preparing to patrol the neighborhood. The gathering was not unlike what you see when police congregate in a parking lot preparing for a raid.

Only this time, the target was federal immigration agents.

The activists were from the Community Self Defense Coalition, which fights for immigrant rights. They were armed with two-way radios, bullhorns, and were trained to spot undercover vehicles from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security.

The coalition formed in the wake of the second election of President Donald Trump and includes groups from across Los Angeles. They say their aim is to find ICE agents, alert the community to their presence using bullhorns, and drive them out of neighborhoods.

“They’re on our land. This is our territory,” said Ron Gochez of Unión del Barrio, which is part of the coalition. “Whatever they do here, they have to know they are going to meet an organized resistance.

“There is nowhere, there is no alleyway, no little corner of our city anywhere where an ICE raid can happen where we won’t know about it almost immediately,” he said.

An ICE spokesperson confirmed in a statement that agents have aborted at least one enforcement action “due to safety concerns brought on by protesters/bystanders.” The spokesperson declined to give his name “due to a heightened security risk to ICE employees.” ...

Tracking ICE

Last week, a high school history teacher, an ethnic studies instructor and a youth program leader were among the activists in South L.A. Nine people in three cars rolled into the darkened streets looking for ICE agents.

“We drive the streets of our neighborhood looking for anything suspicious,” said Gochez, a 43-year-old father and high school history teacher. "We start early in the morning because we know this is when ICE starts their operations.”

Gochez is a member of Unión del Barrio, one of the members of the coalition.

Unión del Barrio started the patrols in 2020 during a Biden Administration crackdown on unauthorized immigrants. The organization restarted the patrols over the past few weeks in response to the second Trump Administration.

On Wednesday, Gochez’s two-way radio crackled with the sound of a colleague checking in from another car on patrol.

“Copy. We are on Jefferson and Trinity. All clear,” she announced.

They looked for ICE vehicles – typically with heavily tinted windows, usually on an American made sedan or SUV, almost always with a cage in the back seat for detainees. Sometimes, the cars are parked sideways on a street in front of their target or grouped together in a grocery store parking lot.

Gochez said he and the other activists try to catch ICE agents in those lots as they gather before a raid.

“We try to catch them at that stage — that way we’re able to affect their plan and at the same time, we start alerting the community.”

When they find federal agents, they go into publicity mode.

“We go live on social media,” Gochez said. “We use our megaphone to alert the immediate community that ICE is present.”

In a recent Facebook Live post, Gochez can be seen speaking into a bullhorn across the street from where ICE agents appear to be conducting a raid.

“Everybody in this community, if you can hear me please do not come outside if you are undocumented,” he says on the video. “We have terrorists in our community.”

He implores people who are documented to come outside and support the protest.

Enforcing law vs defending community

Later, L.A. police officers confronted Gochez.

“We’re not interfering,” he told them.

“Yes you are,” responded an LAPD officer, who forced Gochez and the other protestors down the street.

The participation of city police officers appeared to violate L.A.’s sanctuary cities law, which prohibits police from cooperating or assisting ICE agents...

ICE backs off

As part of the coalition, Unión del Barrio has trained people from more than 50 other organizations to engage in similar patrols, including The National Lawyers Guild, Jewish Voice for Peace and The Peoples Struggle San Fernando Valley, according to Gochez.

It's unclear how many conduct regular patrols like Unión del Barrio does.

Gochez estimates his and other groups have intercepted ICE on about a dozen occasions. He said in some cases, ICE has backed off of a raid because of Unión del Barrio’s presence.

Cardona said ICE agents called off the raid when they were called out at the Target. “That one day, we knew we prevented several people from being detained and deported, their lives being uprooted.” ...

Union del Barrio urges people to use a text thread or to have some sort of a phone tree to alert each other about the presence of ICE in their neighborhoods. The group also has a hotline people can call if they spot ICE.

“We get calls from Uber drivers. We get calls from street vendors. We get calls from business owners and just everyday normal people who support the work that we do,” said Gochez, who refers to ICE detentions and arrests as the “kidnappings.”

“It is a kidnapping – no different from when they kidnapped Native Americans during the Indian Removal Act,” Gochez declared.

He said many of the calls to the coalition are false alarms, involving local agencies, like LAPD or the county Sheriff’s Department, conducting their own undercover operations. But the coalition is focused on the actions of federal immigration agents.

A new tactic

Experts said the tactic of patrolling for ICE is relatively new.

Mirian Martinez-Aranda, an associate professor of sociology at U.C. Irvine, said it lets members of immigrant communities know they are not alone.

“It's a new form in which immigrant communities and their supporters are finding a way to protect each other and to stand up for what's unfair and cruel,” Martinez-Aranda told LAist.

-via LAist, March 17, 2025

[mintakablue]

regarding ICE as someone who has done some reporting on it and talked to both ICE and immigration lawyers

in different states, there are often different levels of law enforcement with ICE. california, for example, has the california values act and so in many jurisdictions, law enforcement is less likely to involve itself with immigration matters. pay attention to the history of your area's compliance with ICE. it also means law enforcement may not know ICE is around.

ICE vehicles do not have to be marked. oftentimes their enforcement and removal cars are not marked as "border patrol" or "ICE" or anything. their plates are usually "exempt" plates.

ICE officers are SUPPOSED to wear identifiable clothing and gear when performing operations, but are often in plainclothes, even during operations.

for reasons above, it might not be obvious that ICE is in your area or that a car you see is involved with ICE operations. FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES. trusted nonprofits and people who work with undocumented and nonstatus people will often be keeping tabs on ICE. law enforcement in some areas may know as well. find out if ICE is in your area through vetting sources and then keep tabs on them too.

try to provide information in as many languages as you can.

tell people: ICE NEEDS A JUDICIAL WARRANT TO ENTER YOUR HOME--not one signed by a higher up ICE official, it MUST be signed by a judge. ICE may insist that they don't need a warrant, that they operate differently. they are using scare tactics.

lastly, regardless of your immigration status: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. you can access the Immigration Legal Resource Center's red cards page, which can express your rights in a legally defensible way when ICE comes to your door. print some for your community. distribute them to people. they can be a useful resource! (https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas)

stay safe and protect each other, especially the most vulnerable groups among us.

[liberaljane]