Around 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly present near the intersection of Birch Street and Imperial Highway in Lynwood, according to images posted on Instagram by @sc_communityalerts. The incident occurred near St. Francis Medical Center.
One image shows an unmasked ICE agent shaking hands with a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. Another image shows a patrol vehicle stopped in the middle of the road. A third image shows the deputy standing out of the car, appearing to smile while the ICE agent writes something down. Two ICE agents are photographed on the scene.
@SC_communityalerts shares sightings of the presence of federal immigration agencies in and around South Central. They started the Instagram page to create a space where community members could stay informed about immigration activity. The person who runs the account spoke with L.A. TACO and asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
In a statement posted to Instagram, the city of Lynwood said they reached out to the Sheriff's Department, which said ICE was not present in the area near St. Francis Medical Center, despite the photos appearing otherwise.
“The Sheriff's Department confirmed that ICE was not present in the area at the time of verification. At this time, the City is not aware of any confirmed ICE-related incidents within Lynwood city limits and has no information indicating planned ICE activity in our community,” said the city in the statement.
Lieutenant Inocente of the Century Sheriff’s Station told L.A. TACO via phone call that ICE agents were involved in a traffic collision that he described as a “minor fender bender.”
He said no injuries were reported during the incident and said that LASD received a call regarding the incident at 8:02 a.m., and the deputy took a traffic report, but that LASD was not involved in the investigation.
Regarding the handshake between the sheriff's deputy and the ICE agent, he said LASD encourages its deputies to be “friendly” with everyone they meet.
According to the LASD website, the department does not engage in civil immigration enforcement and focuses on being in compliance with the California Values Act (SB 54), the TRUST Act, the TRUTH Act, and County policies.
The California Values Act, passed in 2017, limits cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal agencies for federal immigration enforcement.
Questions remain about why the city denied there were ICE agents in the area and why LASD initially denied an ICE presence in the city.
While the “friendly” handshake may have been part of the way the department instructs its deputies to interact with people in general, community members expressed their feelings about the interaction in the comment section where the images were originally shared.
“Wtf? Recruitment? Making a deal?” wrote one Instagram user.
“SO THEY WORKING TOGETHER?” wrote another.
“Looks like an informant,” said another.
The community reaction may prompt LASD to reconsider how it interacts with federal agents if it wants to maintain community trust.
“Situations like this just show why documenting is very important,” said the anonymous source behind the @sc_communityalerts account. “Having videos [and] pictures provides a clear picture of what happened.”
“I just want people to know that documenting these situations is not about creating fear or spreading misinformation—it's about sharing information and evidence with our community, and keeping our community safe,” they stressed.
L.A. TACO reached out to the city of Lynwood, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and ICE for comment on the incident.
This is a developing story.
This article was updated November 14. The city of Lynwood has not responded to L.A. TACO’s request for comment. In a follow-up statement posted to their Instagram account the city said the following yesterday:
“The City of Lynwood is aware of a photograph circulating on social media showing a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputy interacting with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent,” said the city in a statement.
“LASD deputies responded to a traffic collision in the area. The deputy's interaction was related to routine traffic collision reporting procedures, which included documenting the incident and providing a pamphlet containing the corresponding traffic collision report number,” the statement continued.
This article was updated November 14. ICE responded to L.A. TACO’s request for comment.
In a statement ICE said that their agents were conducting enforcement operations on November 12.
“... a vehicle struck the mirror of their parked government vehicle near California Avenue. Officers contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to report and document the traffic collision. The driver and her child reported no injuries, and the sheriff’s deputy allowed them to leave the scene after completing the report,” said ICE in the statement.
