For many, it seems quiet out there.
“Is ICE still around? I don’t really hear them in L.A. as much.”
These are common questions nowadays.
Well, surprise, ICE is kidnapping more people in the City of L.A. than in entire counties in the Central District, which includes L.A., Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties.
For the third month in a row, ICE continues to quietly raise their arrest numbers across the nation, surpassing each previous month and breaking their all-time record in August, with 50,925 arrests. That trend is true here at home, as well.
The previous national record for most kidnappings in a month? That was in July of 2025, with 50,208 kidnappings.
Thanks to records and data obtained by The Deportation Project, I was able to sift through the latest data drops, which tasked me with having to make sense of the poor spelling and record-keeping ICE agents had logged, to provide a picture of what ICE activity around the L.A. area has looked like so far in 2026.
In total, from January to August 5, 2026, ICE logged 8,226 arrests for the Central District. The most heavily impacted area this year is by far the City of Los Angeles, leading the Central District in kidnappings with 2,781 people taken.
Latinos make up 82% of all arrests, followed by Asians, and then everyone else. Fewer than 5% come from countries that have a majority white/Anglo population.
Also, 74 people deported to a third country not of their origin. Just under half (36) who were from other Latin American countries. Most others were sent to a neighboring country near their home, with the exception of one Iranian who was sent to the Central African Republic, which has recently started accepting more deportees from the U.S.
The increase in kidnappings is part of what’s being called “The Shadow Surge” to describe ICE’s new approaches. Nationally, ICE is using the 287g program to pay local police to do their dirty work.
In California, our sanctuary policies prevent that. Nevertheless, ICE does spend their days outside of jails waiting for people to be released. These are not necessarily criminals, or people convicted, just anyone released, grabbed and taken immediately.
ICE is being quicker, sneakier, and targeting people as they go about their daily routines. They’re also targeting the offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as people go for their appointments and biometric scans. We’re also seeing ICE agents at schools more and more, violently arresting parents as their children watch.
WIth a decline in community volunteers and an increase of ICE activity, the burden has now fallen to those doing the heavy aftercare for families of victims. A lot of the heaviest work is happening away from social media and your trending algorithms by community volunteers through the rapid response network.
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s infamous “Operation Wetback” was dubbed “the largest mass deportation in American history,” with claims it led to the deportation of one to 1.3 million Mexicans in 1954.
Today, the DHS is touting over 3 million total deportations since Trump retook office. Historians, however, think the Eisenhower era claim is bullshit and was likely more around 300,000 deportations. Even then, Presidents pedaled anti-immigrant bullshit to push their own agendas.
~ Memo Torres
ICE WATCH
Last week, we saw the ongoing ICE siege affect various cities across Los Angeles, as well as in Orange County and the Inland Empire. Some of the focal points of these arrests were at biometric appointments, routine visits to provide fingerprints, photographs and signatures, and airports. In Los Angeles, ICE took a woman and a man from the USCIS Application Support Center on Crenshaw Boulevard and Manhattan Beach Boulevard.
In Rialto, community watch members shared a harrowing experience of a United States citizen who is deaf being taken by ICE agents on his way to work, driven to the Metropolitan Detention Center, and forced to find his own way home on public transit after being handed $20. We reached out for a comment from ICE who asked for this citizen's A-number. (Citizens don’t have A-numbers).
Down in San Diego, ICE has targeted the county heavily, with 3x more arrests in July this year than July 2025.
While these ICE arrests continue, there are still community watch teams and organizations in Los Angeles who continue their work. This Saturday, the Los Angeles Community Self Defense Coalition is hosting a watch-training at 11:00 a.m. The Immigrant Defenders Law Center is also hosting a free, virtual know-your-rights workshop on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., covering constitutional rights, steps to take during ICE encounters, and resources for family protection. You can sign up here.
Stay safe.
~ Izzy Ramirez
ICYMI on L.A. TACO:
- Detainees Are Allegedly Attempting Suicide in California City Detention Center
- Over 170,000 Salvadorans With T.P.S. Protections Are Safe, For Now
- ICE Raid Hotspot Home Depot Removed as Sponsor of L.A.’s Official Mexican Independence Day Celebration
IN OTHER ICE-RELATED NEWS
- Attorney Nora Benavidez shares that another immigrant journalist has been detained by ICE.
- The phonebooth-sized torture cages at Alligator Alcatraz.
- Inside the ‘Shadow Surge’ Driving ICE Arrests to New Heights
- ICE Sends Somali Asylum Seeker to Guantánamo Bay Prison Camp
- Appeals court cites detention of Japanese Americans in ruling blasting Trump immigration policy
- ICE is quietly firing new hires. For one recruit, it was devastating.
