Tag Archives: Border Patrol

Newsweek: Are ICE agents using facial recognition phone app? What we know

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Immigration agents have been given access to a facial recognition app to identify people in the field, according to leaked emails.

The emails, exchanged between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) staff and contractors, allow officers to instantly compare biometrics like faces and fingerprints against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases, according to 404 Media.

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The emails say that the biometric tool is best used “to identify unknown subjects in the field,” which, along with the contributions from staff at Enforcement and Removal Operations, suggests that it is being used in the Trump administration’s attempts to ramp up the removal of migrants without legal status.

Are ICE agents using facial recognition phone app? What we know
One former ICE agent, who requested anonymity due to concerns about repercussions, told Newsweek ICE has always had that tech.

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-face-recognition-app-deportations-phone-immigration-2091619

KTLA: Masked Border Patrol agents detain landscaper after repeatedly hitting him

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In a video circulating on social media, a group of masked U.S. Border Patrol agents is seen striking and subduing a man in Santa Ana before forcing him into the back of an unmarked car on Saturday.

The incident sparked protests in the following hours, and an online fundraiser was started through GoFundMe, where family members identified the victim as Tustin resident Narciso Barranco, a father to three sons who are all U.S. Marines.

According to one of his sons, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, Narciso was picked up by alleged federal immigration officers while he was working as a landscaper at the IHOP on Edinger Avenue and Ritchey Street.

“I think part of it is racial profiling,” Alejandro told KTLA’s Sara Welch. “They probably assumed because he was working the landscaping he had no documentation.”

The video shared by the Instagram account @SantaAnaProblems shows a group of Border Patrol agents wearing face coverings and tactical vests surrounding Narciso, holding him down while one agent repeatedly strikes him on his right arm and near his head.

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Congressman Lou Correa, who represents Santa Ana, called the case another example of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown striking fear in Southern California’s Latino community.

“We cannot have federal agents inciting violence in our streets and attacking innocent parents,” Rep. Correa (D-Orange County) said in a statement to KTLA 5 News. “Clearly, we need immigration reform—­­­especially for people like Mr. Barranca who have lived in this country for 25-30 years and raised his sons to put their lives on the line to defend the United States.”

Masked Border Patrol agents detain landscaper after repeatedly hitting him
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a response from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In a video circulating on social media, a group of masked U.S. Border Patrol …

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/santa-ana-landscaper-detained

KTLA: Santa Ana police urge public to report abandoned property after immigration arrest video sparks outrage

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The Santa Ana Police Department is asking residents to alert authorities if they see abandoned vehicles or property they believe may belong to someone detained by federal immigration officers. The department issued the public service announcement on social media following a high-profile immigration arrest in the city that has drawn local and national attention.

“If you believe a community member has been detained by federal officers and their vehicle or property has been left alone or abandoned, please call our Communications Division,” the statement read. Police added they would make a “reasonable effort” to contact family members or others who could retrieve the belongings. The notice was initially posted in Spanish, with a follow-up video in English.

Beating and kidnapping of Narciso Barranco by ICE Gestapo goons:

The message comes amid heightened immigration enforcement activity in Southern California, which has left many families scrambling for answers and assistance. One case in particular has sparked outrage: the arrest of Narciso Barranco in Santa Ana, a 48-year-old husband and father of three U.S. Marines.

Barranco was allegedly detained Saturday by U.S. Border Patrol agents while working as a landscaper outside an IHOP near Edinger Avenue and Ritchey Street. Video of the arrest, shared widely on social media, shows masked federal agents tackling a man to the ground, striking him, then forcing him into an unmarked silver SUV.

The footage was first posted by the Instagram account @SantaAnaProblems. In the video, agents wearing tactical vests and face coverings are seen surrounding the man, pinning him to the pavement. One agent repeatedly strikes him on the arm and near the head before others lift him up and push him into the vehicle using what appears to be a metal rod. The man did not appear to be seriously injured in the footage.

His son, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, identified the man as his father, Narciso. He told KTLA’s Sara Welch that his father has lived in the United States for nearly three decades and was targeted, he believes, because of how he looked and where he worked.

“I think part of it is racial profiling,” Alejandro said. “They probably assumed because he was working the landscaping he had no documentation.”

On Sunday evening, hundreds of community members gathered in Santa Ana for a candlelight vigil in support of Narciso. The event drew several hundred attendees, including faith leaders and elected officials, all rallying behind a family whose story has gained national attention.

“We never expected a turnout like this—all the elected officials, the support—it’s crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it, but I’m very glad we’re all here for each other,” Alejandro said.

Santa Ana police urge public to report abandoned property after immigration arrest video sparks outrage

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/santa-ana-police-urge-public-to-report-abandoned-property-after-immigration-arrest-video-sparks-outrage

NJ.com: Joe Rogan: Trump’s ‘ICE raids are f—king nuts’

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Podcaster Joe Rogan criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies in a recent podcast episode as immigration raids continue to sweep the country.

Immigration raids took place across Los Angeles earlier this month, resulting in mass demonstrations across the city. In a podcast episode that aired last week, Rogan said that those raids were “f–king nuts” and questioned whether Trump would have won the election if he said this is how the administration would carry out deportations.

“Bro, these ICE raids are f–king nuts, man,” Rogan told guests Luis J. Gomez and Big Jay Oakerson.

Rogan endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, but has been critical of some of his policies since beginning his second term. He has also pushed back on Trump’s immigration policies, saying previously that deporting migrants to El Salvador was “horrific.”

“The Trump administration, if they’re running and they said, ‘We’re going to go to Home Depot and we’re going to arrest all the people at Home Depot. We’re going to go to construction sites, and we’re going to just like, tackle people at construction sites’… I don’t think anybody would’ve signed up for that,” Rogan said.

“They said we’re going to get rid of the criminals and the gang members first, right? And now we’re seeing, like, Home Depot’s get raided. Like, that’s crazy,” he added.

Joe Rogan: Trump’s ‘ICE raids are f—king nuts’
Joe Rogan is speaking out against Trump again.

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/06/joe-rogan-trumps-ice-raids-are-fking-nuts.html

USA Today: Trump is on a collision course with millions of Americans. He’s not backing down.

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The White House is doubling down on President Donald Trump’s signature campaign promise and escalating efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, targeting Democrat-run cities and heightening tensions with powerful liberal governors from California to New York.

The pressure-cooker campaign comes after the massive “No Kings” protests on June 14 that drew millions of Americans out to the streets to oppose Trump’s administration, which has made immigration enforcement a top priority. The protests included about 5 million people nationally, according to organizers, and many attendees specifically cited concerns about immigration enforcement.

A week before, fierce protests in Los Angeles sparked by aggressive detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents led to clashes, tear gassing, scattered looting and multiple vehicles being set on fire. The vast majority of attendees were peaceful, however.

To quell the protests and protect ICE agents in California, Trump called up thousands of National Guard troops over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom − referred to by Trump as “Newscum” − and has told federal agents they have his unconditional support to continue aggressive enforcement.

Trump has also invoked military powers usually reserved for wartime, declaring that Biden-era immigration policies facilitated an invasion. And the president is pushing to dramatically expand detention centers and deportation flights while finishing the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

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While border crossings have dropped dramatically, videos of masked federal agents chasing people across fields or grabbing them off city streets have horrified many Americans, and liberal leaders across the country say construction sites, farms and some entire neighborhoods are falling silent as undocumented workers stay home to avoid detention.

Some critics accused Trump of causing chaos with ICE raids, then using the community response to justify even harsher measures.

On June 19, federal immigration agents were briefly blocked at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles by protesters trying to stop detentions.

Trump remains undeterred and is pushing Congress to pass a funding measure that would allow him to hire 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 more customs officers, and 3,000 additional Border Patrol agents.

Trump is on a collision course with millions of Americans. He’s not backing down.
Immigrant-rights advocates have reported harsher enforcement in rural farming communities and big cities alike.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/21/trump-immigration-enforcement-no-kings/84245929007

Newsweek: ICE responds after beloved bagel house boss’ arrest sparks protests

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A manager of a New York bagel house was detained by federal immigration agents earlier this month, sparking outrage across the community.

Fernando Mejia, 41, who runs Port Washington’s Schmear Bagel & Cafe, was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside the business on June 12, the Long Island Press reported.

When contacted for comment by Newsweek, a spokesperson for ICE said: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement encountered Fernando Alberto Mejia-Flores, a Salvadorian national, during a daily routine law enforcement action in the vicinity of Port Washington, New York, June 12. Mejia-Flores was identified as a fugitive alien with a Final Order of Removal. ICE arrested him and transported him to an ICE processing facility in Central Islip, New York.”

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The American Immigration Council estimates that the president’s mass deportation policy could slap a one-time cost of $315 billion on the country.

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“Fernando was also recently hospitalized for medical issues, which make his sudden detention all the more dangerous to his well-being,” a post on GoFundMe reads. “His sudden detention has also left his family, including his 14-year-old daughter, emotionally devastated and facing immediate legal battles.”

ICE responds after beloved bagel house boss’ arrest sparks protests
Fernando Mejia who runs Port Washington’s Schmear Bagel & Cafe, was apprehended by ICE agents outside the business earlier this month.

https://www.newsweek.com/fernando-mejia-bagel-house-ice-immigration-2089381

LA Times: Fears of racial profiling rise as Border Patrol conducts ‘roving patrols,’ detains U.S. citizens

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Brian Gavidia had stepped out from working on a car at a tow yard in a Los Angeles suburb Thursday when armed, masked men — wearing vests with “Border Patrol” on them — pushed him up against a metal gate and demanded to know where he was born.

“I’m American, bro!” 29-year-old Gavidia pleaded, in video taken by a friend.

“What hospital were you born?” the agent barked.

“I don’t know, dawg!” he said. “East L.A., bro! I can show you: I have my f—ing Real ID.”

His friend, whom Gavidia did not name, narrated the video: “These guys, literally based off of skin color! My homie was born here!” The friend said Gavidia was being questioned “just because of the way he looks.”

In a statement Saturday, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said U.S. citizens were arrested “because they ASSAULTED U.S. Border Patrol Agents.” (McLaughlin’s statement emphasized the word “assaulted” in all-capital and boldfaced letters.)

When told by a reporter that Gavidia had not been arrested, McLaughlin clarified that Gavidia had been questioned by Border Patrol agents but there “is no arrest record.” She said a friend of Gavidia’s was arrested for assault of an officer.

As immigration operations have unfolded across Southern California in the last week, lawyers and advocates say people are being targeted because of their skin color. The encounter with Gavidia and others they are tracking have raised legal questions about enforcement efforts that have swept up hundreds of immigrants and shot fear into the deeply intertwined communities they call home.

Agents picking up street vendors without warrants. American citizens being grilled. Home Depot lots swept. Car washes raided. The wide-scale arrests and detainments — often in the region’s largely Latino neighborhoods — contain hallmarks of racial profiling and other due process violations.

Fears of racial profiling rise as Border Patrol conducts ‘roving patrols,’ detains U.S. citizens
Border Patrol agents on ‘roving patrol’ arrest U.S. citizen on assault charges. Fear of widespread racial profiling gains momentum as Home Depots and car washes raided.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-15/latinos-targeted-in-raids-u-s-citizens-detained-indiscriminate-sweeps-home-depot-lots-targeted

Associated Press: Many Americans are witnessing immigration arrests for the first time and reacting

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Adam Greenfield was home nursing a cold when his girlfriend raced in to tell him Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles were pulling up in their trendy San Diego neighborhood.

The author and podcast producer grabbed his iPhone and bolted out the door barefoot, joining a handful of neighbors recording masked agents raiding a popular Italian restaurant nearby, as they yelled at the officers to leave. An hour later, the crowd had grown to nearly 75 people, with many in front of the agents’ vehicles.

“I couldn’t stay silent,” Greenfield said. “It was literally outside of my front door.”

More Americans are witnessing people being hauled off as they shop, exercise at the gym, dine out and otherwise go about their daily lives as President Donald Trump’s administration aggressively works to increase immigration arrests. As the raids touch the lives of people who aren’t immigrants themselves, many Americans who rarely, if ever, participated in civil disobedience are rushing out to record the actions on their phones and launch impromptu protests.

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Many Americans are witnessing immigration arrests for the first time and reacting
With the Trump administration aggressively trying to increase the number of immigration arrests, raids are now being conducted at all hours and more Americans are witnessing people being hauled off.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-raids-arrests-ice-los-angeles-0de11b5bc6ef962b79e084fb9e648a87

Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

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The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation program is testing the political bounds of what Americans will tolerate, spurring a backlash from voters and some Republicans and testing the administration’s resolve.

Federal officials in recent weeks have stepped up raids on worksites and farms, seeking to fulfill President Trump’s pledge of mass deportations. The move has sparked alarm in immigrant communities and street protests in Los Angeles and other cities. Last weekend, Trump directed that arrests be paused at farms and hotels, only to reverse the directive days later.

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Republican members of Congress from California, Texas and Florida have publicly urged the White House to give priority to deportations of criminals rather than migrants who have resided in the U.S. for long periods and have otherwise obeyed the law. The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R., Pa.), called the farm raids “just wrong.” The co-founder of Latinas for Trump, Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, wrote on X that the administration’s actions were “unacceptable and inhumane” and “not what we voted for.”

“I may have voted for Trump, but I can’t stay silent about what’s happening with ICE in LA,” Ryan Garcia, a former interim lightweight boxing champion who endorsed Trump last year, wrote on X. “We can have borders without losing our humanity.”

Presidents of both parties have historically hesitated to pursue large-scale immigration enforcement in the country’s interior precisely because it tends to be politically unpopular. Trump’s push for deportations far from the border has begun to trigger a backlash in public opinion, with polls showing his approval rating on immigration and deportations—formerly one of his strongest issues—has now turned negative.

A Quinnipiac poll earlier this month found that just 43% approved of Trump’s performance on immigration while 54% disapproved. On deportations, 40% approved while 56% disapproved. In the polling average maintained by the analyst Nate Silver, Trump’s immigration policies were popular on a net basis until earlier this month—but are now more unpopular than popular by a 3-point margin. 

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-is-losing-political-ground-on-immigration-20de43bc

Also here:

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration
The administration’s aggressive deportation push has alarmed voters, including some of the president’s supporters.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-losing-political-ground-on-immigration/ar-AA1H5df5

The Hill: Pregnant US citizen detained by Border Patrol agents: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

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A pregnant U.S. citizen who was detained by federal agents approximately two weeks ago has since given birth to a healthy baby girl, but her boyfriend is now being held out of state and her problems are far from over.  

Cary López Alvarado told Nexstar’s KTLA that she “tried to remain strong” during the scary ordeal, which took place outside a building where her boyfriend and cousin were doing maintenance work on June 8. She was nine months pregnant at the time.

Video taken by López depicts her struggling with a masked agent wearing a Border Patrol uniform asking to see her identification as she was protecting a truck carrying her boyfriend Brayan Nájera and cousin Alberto Sandoval — the latter of whom is also a U.S. citizen.  

All three of them were eventually detained. Further footage posted on social media shows agents detaining López after they had pinned her truck between a wall.

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The then-soon-to-be-mother was taken to a processing facility in San Pedro, where, according to her, the agents automatically assumed she was undocumented.  

“[They said] ‘But you’re from Mexico, right?’ And I’m like ‘No, I’m from here,’” López said. “[They asked] … ‘Where’s here?’ and I’m like, ‘Here, the U.S., Los Angeles.”

“They put us in chains, so I had a chain from my hands under my belly that went all the way to my legs,” she added. “Every now and then, I would fix my hands because I felt like I would be putting too much pressure because the chain went under my belly.” 

López was released after complaining of stomach pain and went straight to a hospital where she started having contractions, which she believes were caused by the stress of what she had gone through. 

Pregnant US citizen detained by Border Patrol agents: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

https://thehill.com/latino/5359169-pregnant-us-citizen-border-patrol-agents