The Los Angeles Times reports:

Increasingly aggressive immigration raids carried out by masked federal agents, sometimes using unmarked vehicles, are creating problems for local law enforcement agencies.

Police have little or no insight into where the federal enforcement actions are taking place but often have to deal with the aftermath, including protests and questions from residents about what exactly happened. In some cases, local cops have been mistaken for federal agents, eroding years of work to have immigrant communities trust the police.

In Bell, chaos erupted when masked men arrived at a car wash and began detaining its workers, sparking a confrontation with residents and immigration rights advocates before they were forced to hastily drive over curbs and street islands to escape.

In Pasadena last week, a man stepped out of his unmarked vehicle at an intersection, unholstered his pistol and aimed it at a group of pedestrians before returning to his car, turning on its red and blue emergency lights and speeding off. Video of the incident went viral.

That incident left the police chief of Pasadena resigned to figure out whether it was a crime or part of a federal raid.

“There’s no way for us to verify,” Police Chief Gene Harris said.

The department reviewed surveillance footage and other video and saw the credentials on the man’s uniform, according to the chief.

“We were able to determine that to the best of our estimation he was an ICE agent. … We will not look into it any deeper than that,” he said.

At Dodger Stadium last week, immigration agents staged outside the parking lot prompted protests and questions that local officials had to address.

“They show up without uniforms. They show up completely masked. They refuse to give ID,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a news briefing after the Dodger Stadium incident. “Who are these people? And frankly, the vests that they have on look like they ordered them from Amazon. Are they bounty hunters? Are they vigilantes? If they’re federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?” [Continue reading…]

Ben Makuch writes:

Across the US, group chats and community threads have started spiking with warnings. Not just the typical alerts about traffic or out of service subway stations, but where and when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid was last seen. What places to avoid. What the plainclothes agents might look like.

“Hey all,” a Brooklyn, New York, resident wrote in a closed chat with neighbors last week. “A little birdie just told me ICE is out.”

Another person quickly followed suit.

“The witness says they saw 3 people picked up by 2 agents with ICE on their vests,” they said, with details on where the location of the arrests occurred and what the undercover vehicles looked like. “If anyone sees any ICE agents or activity you can drop a description at this link for local rapid-response folks.”

These kinds of exchanges are commonplace now in in America. There have been Ice raids under previous administrations, but it’s notable that an American law enforcement agency has struck such a successful campaign of measurable, national fear.

Border crossings are at historic lows. Fans are avoiding an international soccer tournament featuring the world’s biggest clubs and global superstars, in fear of Ice agents. Taco truck workers are being arrested. Some farms are so short on field hands that crops are rotting in the sun.

Even a four-year-old child and lawful US citizen with cancer was deported to Honduras along with their family. In an appearance on CBS News, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, showed indifference to the case.

“When you enter the country illegally and you know you’re here illegally and you choose to have a US citizen child,” he said, justifying the deportation of a young cancer patient, “that’s on you, that’s not on this administration.”

In the public consciousness, Ice has become defined as Trump’s personal rogue agency doing his bidding regardless of accepted norms and laws. They have become a kind of domestic enforcer for Maga’s agenda, rounding up “illegals” and deporting what they say are criminals to El Salvador, to face justice in a place without trials. When Trump promised “retribution” in the lead-up to his second presidency, activists say these are now the soldiers carrying it out. [Continue reading…]