Individuals wearing Halloween masks were observed by Harbor Area Peace Patrollers as they were leaving Terminal Island on Tuesday morning. This is the same area where DHS has been staging since immigration raids started.
L.A. TACO requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security on the use of Halloween masks by these federal immigration agents.
The following comment from Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs, was received in response by L.A. TACO:
“Happy Halloween!”
At 7:23 a.m. on Tuesday, an individual wearing a “Chucky” mask was seen in the backseat of an unmarked vehicle leaving Terminal Island, a facility where ICE has regularly been documented staging from.
The observation was made and reported to L.A. TACO by Phoebe, a member of Harbor Area Peace Patrol, which monitors federal activity at the harbor. Phoebe is a pseudonym they requested to use, due to fear of retaliation.
The other individuals inside of the vehicle were masked and in tactical gear, Phoebe says.
An individual wearing a “Momo” mask was seen driving another unmarked cargo van leaving Terminal Island at 7:34 a.m.a little later the same day. According to Phoebe, the van has been documented at multiple ICE raids and was also seen around 10:30 a.m. at a raid in Van Nuys on Tuesday.
“Momo” is a creepy chicken lady character that fueled a frenzy of worried parents. The 2019 “Momo Challenge” refers to a viral game that was said to encourage children to take violent actions, although experts said it was only an internet hoax.
Last Monday, October 20, Phoebe witnessed an individual wearing a Mr. Potato Head mask in the same unmarked cargo van that the “Momo” mask was seen in. She says the Mr. Potato Head mask has been seen on the federal immigration agent on several occasions.
“They were laughing as they were heading out,” says Phoebe.
“They have fun while doing it, which is deeply disturbing. We expect some level of decorum from government officials.”
Phoebe, who patrols regularly, said that seeing the agents in Halloween masks felt different than the behavior she is used to from agents–who usually wear masks to hide their face for anonymity.
The agent with the Chucky mask, on the other hand, went out of their way to roll down the window, seeming like they wanted to be seen.
Harbor Area Peace Patrols was founded in June 2025 by community volunteers who document immigration enforcement activity. Every day, the group documents Terminal Island activity and patrols the Harbor Area.
Phoebe says that federal immigration agents are known to stage at Terminal Island, as community members have observed them entering and leaving the facility since June.
During that month, community documenters noticed “unusual traffic patterns,” observed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol vehicles leaving and entering the facility, and knew that the area was federal property.
Community patrollers like Phoebe have been able to cross reference the vehicles that leave this facility with vehicles that are later used in raids.
On October 16, L.A. TACO also documented a white, tinted SUV with a “Ghostbusters” logo leaving the Metropolitan Detention Center, where many federal immigration agents have been seen monitoring the entrance, and entering and exiting over the past several months.
We reached out to DHS for comment. They responded by asking if we had any proof that it was one of their vehicles. They have not confirmed or denied if the vehicle was one of theirs.
Assistant Secretary McLaughlin’s “happy halloween” response to L.A. TACO is part of a larger pattern of mocking behavior seen from federal government officials.
Shirish Dáte, the White House reporter for HuffPost, got a similar reply from the federal government when inquiring about a government decision to hold a meeting in Budapest, as reported by the New York Times.
“Your mom,” was the texted response Dáte received from Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, who passed on the response from Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
We will continue to ask DHS, ICE, and CBP for comment, and we will continue to report on their responses.
Federal immigration agents have been given license to racially profile people across the nation due to the Supreme Court's stay of a temporary restraining order, issued by a lower court that prohibited “roving patrols” in Perdomo v. Noem.
Agents have used excessive and brutal force during detentions, such as when an agent pushed a woman to the ground in New York, and was initially relieved of his duties before returning to work the following week.
“You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony,” said Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, on Fox News in a recent interview.
Miller’s statement raises serious concerns about accountability for federal immigration agents who commit wrongdoing in the future.
Federal immigration agents have detained more than 170 U.S. citizens. Many were arrested and charged with allegedly interfering or assaulting an officer; charges that were later dropped in numerous instances.
There have been more than 527,000 deportations this year, according to a press release issued on Monday by the Department of Homeland Security. There have been many instances of excessive and brutal force being used against people who have been detained.
This year has been the deadliest year for deaths in ICE custody in decades, with at least 20 deaths according to NPR. ICE is currently holding nearly 60,000 people in custody.
L.A. TACO recently reported on the death of Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, of Mexico, who was being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. His family told L.A. TACO he was not receiving proper medical care. Guards told him they didn’t believe he was sick.
Federal immigration agents have been seen fumbling a fire arm, while it was pointed at bystanders. They have also shot at a moving vehicle, which is discouraged in DHS’s own use of force policies.
L.A. TACO reported on the story of Adrian Andrew Martinez, who was brutally detained by federal immigration agents during his lunch break when he was speaking up for a janitor who he saw being detained by federal immigration agents. He was later charged with conspiracy to impede law enforcement. He compared the conditions he witnessed in detention to a dog shelter.
There have been reports of detainees being held in unsanitary conditions and not given proper medical care.
For the past several months, federal immigration agents have worn masks, plain clothes, and arrived at enforcement operations in unmarked vehicles. The lack of clear identification led to the passage of two California state laws: SB 805, known as the “No Vigilantes Act,” and SB 627, called the "No Secret Police Act.”
The lack of clear identification has resulted in documented cases of federal immigration agent impersonators. In June, Francisco Diaz was arrested in Huntington Park for impersonating a federal immigration agent after he said he was employed by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
DHS says that their agents have faced an increasing number of threats in the past several months, though the Trump administration has shown little evidence to back up those claims, according to reporting by Noah Lanard for Mother Jones.
“Those records show that none of ICE’s agents have ever been killed by an immigrant in the agency’s more than two-decade history. Instead, the leading cause of death by far among ICE officers is COVID-19,” Lanard wrote.
“Federal law enforcement officers, all law enforcement officers are entrusted with the authority and power of the government, which is like a really sacred responsibility,” says Deborah Fleischaker, former Acting ICE Chief of Staff and the Executive Secretary of DHS.
“It's one that should be taken seriously and shouldn't be made light of and Halloween masks sort of give that impression.”
Fleischaker says that she can’t positively identify the individuals as federal immigration agents from the pictures alone. Unlike other law enforcement agencies, ICE agents don’t have specific uniforms, she says.
Throughout her more than10 year career at the Department of Homeland Security, she was never aware of any federal immigration agents wearing masks, much less Halloween masks.
“That being said, masks are not part of anything that has ever really been used before, and I do think it works to erode trust and to further inflame the tensions between federal agents and the communities where they're working,” says Fleischaker.
It is not a “Happy” Halloween for many across the country who are living in fear of these masked federal immigration agents, who are ripping families apart.
DHS and ICE agents don’t need Halloween masks to strike terror in communities across the nation–they already do everyday while they kidnap people.
They’re the real boogeymen this Halloween.
