ICE Abuses in Los Angeles Set Stage for Other Cities

Federal Campaign Targets Latinos, Blatantly Violates Rights

• The US government is conducting an ongoing campaign of raids and detentions across the country to advance a policy of mass deportation that is ripping families apart and terrorizing entire communities.
• This campaign started, in its most aggressive form, in Los Angeles this past summer, setting the stage for similar tactics in other US cities, and relies in large part on detaining people based on their perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin.
• The US government should stop this violent campaign, which violates human rights on a vast scale.

(Los Angeles, November 4, 2025) – The United States federal government’s violent campaign of raids and detentions during the summer of 2025 in Los Angeles set the stage for similar and subsequent abuses in cities around the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Then and now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials stalk and seize people they suspect lack authorization to be in the country, separate families, and terrorize communities.

Since late May, ICE, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), and other federal law enforcement agencies have staged hundreds of raids in and around Los Angeles at places where Latino people work, shop, eat, and live, with violence and disregard for human rights. ICE agents have arrested food vendors and their customers. They have targeted car washes and other businesses that have Latino employees, and raided Home Depot parking lots where individuals look for work. Federal officials acknowledge agents consider a person’s perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin as key factors in deciding whom to detain.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is carrying out similar campaigns in other cities throughout the United States. The July 2025 federal budget bill for the coming year allocates a previously unheard of $170 billion for border enforcement, detention, and deportations.

“These raids, mostly targeting Latino communities, have inflicted devastating harm on the people of Los Angeles and have continued and even expanded their tactics as they have spread to other US cities,” said John Raphling, associate US program director at Human Rights Watch. “They tear apart families, cause people to live in fear, and showcase the cruelty of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.”

These widespread raids followed the late-May exhortation by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, that immigration officials should substantially increase the numbers of undocumented people arrested for deportation. President Trump posted on Truth Social at the time that he intended to “liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion.”

Human Rights Watch analyzed videos, photographs, and written accounts in news and social media and interviewed 39 people, including those detained and released, families of those detained and deported, witnesses, people who provide services to Latino communities affected, and a Los Angeles County official. 

Human Rights Watch analysis of ICE arrest data, excluding arrests by CBP or other agencies, confirms that from May 28 through July 28, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers dramatically increased arrests, primarily of people without violent or even any US criminal history. The agents almost invariably incarcerated people arrested in ICE detention facilities pending deportation proceedings. Some individuals interviewed said officials have inappropriately pressured people to agree to “voluntary departures.” Data suggests ICE agents detain people based on their perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin.

The raids Human Rights Watch documented from June to September occurred without warning, as agents arrived in unmarked vehicles, jumped out, and swarmed people they targeted. News and social media reports of other raids confirm a consistently similar approach.

Witnesses described and videos confirm agents usually carried military-style weaponry, sometimes dressed in civilian clothes or military outfits and often wearing masks hiding their identities and projecting a dangerous, lawless aura. There have been incidents of agents using excessive force and smashing car windows and pulling people from their cars.

Arrested people and their relatives said they and their loved ones experienced abusive treatment while being transported and in detention. They said those arrested were shackled for extended periods, denied food and water, forced to sleep on floors, and refused contact with family and lawyers.

Family members reported substantial harm of those arrested, including emotional and physical pain caused by separation from their loved ones, financial crises, and difficulty paying for childcare, elder care, and care for family members with disabilities.

The raids have constrained and discouraged many Latino people from participating in public life in Los Angeles. Immigrants interviewed almost uniformly confirmed the raids made them fear appearing in public, leading to them missing graduation ceremonies, medical appointments, and work.

People in Los Angeles have protested, advised people of their rights, filmed federal agents, implemented networks to warn of raids, and cared for people in hiding.

“The US government is inflicting abuse and putting Latino communities in a state of terror,” Raphling said. “Dramatically increased funding for ICE at a moment when its abuses are going totally unchecked will cause untold harm.”

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