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DAILY MEMO: Roaming ICE and Border Patrol Raids are Increasing and They’re Still Using Those Penske Trucks

ICE and other federal agents conducted widespread raids and detentions across Southern California, abducting people from DMVs, Home Depots, car washes, courthouses, and streets.

Memo Torres breaks down ICE-related news in Southern California today. Below, you'll find links and references to everything discussed in the video, allowing you to take a closer look at each topic.

It’s day 69. 

ICE RAIDS

  • Yesterday, August 12th, they also arrested someone at the West Covina DMV.
  • Covina Home Depot: 4-8 people were abducted. 
  • Ontario car wash on 820 N. Mountain Ave: Border Patrol arrived, chasing people, harassing, and profiling workers. Two people were taken. 
  • Ontario Chevron on Philadelphia and Euclid: One person was reportedly abducted.
  • Santa Ana on Edinger & Hesperian: According to witnesses, the driver repeatedly asked ICE for a warrant, but none was ever shown. Agents refused to identify themselves, instead demanding proof that the passenger wasn’t who they were looking for before breaking the window, pepper-spraying the passenger, dragging him out, tackling him, and taking him. 
  • Santa Ana on Sullivan and Elder: There was quite a scene as DEA served a warrant at a home with a full tactical unit approaching with rifles out. We’re unsure if this is related to immigration operations. 
  • Woodland Hills Home Depot: ICE took at least one person. According to one witness, agents said they showed up with a Penske Rental truck and several other vehicles. They approached him and others, instructing them to sit down, and then began carding people. One man refused to answer questions and was taken away. The witness showed his residency card and was let go. Witness says they didn’t look like immigration officers because their uniforms just said police and looked cheap. 
  • Culver City Overland Car Wash: Witnesses state that 4 people were taken by agents. 
  • Los Angeles Hoover and King: Agents seen staging in the parking lot.
  • Los Angeles Crenshaw Mall parking lot: ICE spotted there, unsure of any abductions. 
  • Los Angeles Home Depot on Slauson in Ladera Heights. ICE was seen there along with LAPD and a Penske Truck, but no reported kidnappings. A young man saw them coming and ran to alert the people. He’s being hailed as a hero by the people he warned, who were able to get away before ICE pulled in to raid. 
  • Los Angeles Courthouse: One person abducted.
    • A group of men identifying themselves as ICE agents detained a man leaving the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Wednesday afternoon. Agents appeared to be waiting outside the courthouse, according to a witness on the scene.
    • The LA County Public Defender’s office confirmed the presence of federal immigration enforcement outside the court, and said that the person detained was a client of the Alternate Public Defenders Office.
  • Oxnard: Seen at some kind of auto shop, possibly car wash? 
  • Palmdale: Agents visited a La Michoacana location. No reports of abductions. 
  • Los Angeles: HSI was at 104th St & Vermont. According to LAPD, Homeland Security served a warrant for a human trafficking investigation. LAPD came out for traffic control. They report it wasn’t an immigration operation. 

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