ICE and Border Patrol ramped up raids across Southern California from July 25–30, including the arrest of popular tattoo artist Downtown Mac in L.A. Agents were seen operating in multiple neighborhoods. Meanwhile, LA County is moving to ban masked agents, though legal questions remain. LAPD continues to share data that helps ICE target immigrants. The federal government is pressuring DACA recipients to self-deport, while offering six-figure salaries to recruit 10,000 new ICE agents under Trump’s $165B deportation plan.

DAILY MEMO: Agents Follow a Woman Driving Before Taking Her and More

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Izzy Ramirez is a Los Angeles-based staff reporter with L.A. TACO, documenting immigration enforcement and state power as it unfolds on the ground. Their work centers real-time alerts and long-term public archiving throughout the Southern California region.

Izzy Ramirez

a stage set up outside with the words "El Grito"

ICE Raid Hotspot Home Depot Removed as Sponsor of L.A.’s Official Mexican Independence Day Celebration

Marina Watanabe is director of video and a reporter at L.A. TACO based in Koreatown. Previously, she worked as a video reporter for 404 by Los Angeles Times and a video producer at Condé Nast publications Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Them.

Marina Watanabe

a car driving down a road in front of a cemetery

Politics

One of L.A.’s Deadliest Roads is Next to Two Famous Cemeteries. Now It’s a Flashpoint for the Mayoral Race

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outside of ICE's California City Detention Center

Detainees Are Allegedly Attempting Suicide in California City Detention Center

An award-winning journalist covering ICE and immigration raids. Host of the Daily Memo. ‘Where Memo Torres Eats’ on Apple Maps. Seen on Netflix, occasionally on KCRW. 3rd-gen landscaper. Proud son of an immigrant. Golden Bear.

Memo Torres

ICE WATCH Newsletter: Over 170,000 Salvadorans With T.P.S. Protections Are Safe, For Now

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Joey Scott is an investigative journalist and documentary photographer whose work has been featured in Wired, The Guardian, and Los Angeles Public Press. He covers policing, protests, surveillance, and prisons.

Joey Scott

a man lies on a jail bunk without pants with multiple officers around him, including one kneeling on him

News

Police Video Shows LAPD Beat Handcuffed Man in Van Nuys Jail Before His Death

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Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

Erwin Recinos is a seasoned visual artist with an eye for capturing life as a working commuter aboard public transportation in and around Los Angeles. For 20 years now, Recinos has been documenting the urban landscape, street culture, and Hispanic communities of Los Angeles utilizing his daily routine and the city of Los Angeles as an inspiration. Recinos also works with popular food and event websites such as LATACO.com and Eater LA to capture the cuisine and culture that is so important to the city of Los Angeles and across Southern California.

Erwin Recinos

a brown classic car in the middle of a palm tree-lined road

Photo Essay

This Is How Lowriders In L.A. Do Mexican Independence Day

One of L.A. TACO&#8217;s co-founders, Hadley Tomicki is a writer and editor on food, travel, and culture whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, UrbanDaddy, High Times, and many other places.

Hadley Tomicki

Peads & Barnetts pork chop with king beans and salsa molcajete at Rustic Canyon. Photo by Hadley Tomicki for L.A. TACO.

Taco Members Only

The Westside’s Most Thrilling New Modern Mexican Restaurant Is . . . Rustic Canyon!?

Professional punk and Editor-In-Chief for James Beard Award-winning L.A. TACO. Associate Producer for JBA-winning Las Crónicas Del Taco. Former restaurant scout for Jonathan Gold. Co-author of &#8220;Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico (2019, Abrams) and &#8220;Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling&#8221; (2023, Abrams).

Javier Cabral

L.A. TACO STAFF

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Lexis-Olivier Ray is an award-winning staff investigative reporter for L.A. TACO known for holding powerful people in Los Angeles accountable and his reporting on Los Angeles culture. As well as an artist and filmmaker. In 2022, the Society of Professional Journalists&#8217; Los Angeles chapter named Ray one of their &#8220;distinguished journalists.&#8221; In 2023, Ray won a second place Anthem Award in their Health Innovation category for a texting service geared towards the unhoused community and service providers that he launched in 2021 with L.A. TACO and Subtext. Ray was a 2020 USC Center For Health Journalism (CHJ) Data Fellow. As well as a 2022 CHJ Impact Fellow. As a freelancer, Ray has contributed to the L.A. Times, Men&#8217;s Health Magazine, KCET and SFGATE.

Lexis-Olivier Ray

The Whole ‘Hood Knows He’s Innocent. Will He Finally Be Freed After 20 Years In Prison?