Anti-ICE activists sound sirens, bullhorns to stop migrant deportations in Dem-run state
Anti-ICE activists in California are trying to stop federal agents from deporting migrants by warning them with sirens and bullhorns. Credit AP
Anti-deportation activists in California are using sirens and bullhorns to alert migrants about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in order to stop agents from booting the border-crossers out of the U.S.
It comes as unidentified activists in the sanctuary state have also been putting up posters featuring the personal information of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers working in the Los Angeles and Southern California area.
On Thursday, a group of around 10 people met at a South-Central Los Angeles parking lot before dawn and then dispersed in five cars, probing the streets for ICE agents as The Associated Press rode along with them.
Anti-ICE activists are using sirens and bullhorns to thwart ICE. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, left, Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images, right.)
ANTI-ICE ACTIVISTS DISRUPT LA OPERATIONS, POST PHOTOS, NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS OF AGENTS
If they spot ICE officers, they hit record on their phones. They blare sirens. And through a megaphone, they announce that ICE is in the neighborhood. “They’re here.”
“We don’t use violence. We don’t break any laws. But we will do anything legally possible to defend our community,” Ron Gochez, founder of Union del Barrio’s Los Angeles chapter told the outlet.
The group also communicates with each other using walkie-talkies. The activists are hoping they can thwart and disrupt ICE activities, as the federal agency looks to follow through with President Trump’s promise of mass deportations.
In one clip, previously live-streamed clip by the group, a woman, Lupe Carrasco Cardona, records ICE agents near a local Target and yells into her bullhorn that the agents are present.
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Carrasco, a teacher who is a member of the pro-migrant group Community Self-Defense Coalition, said she wants to stop migrant families from being separated.
“So physically what we do is we make noise and the noise just alerts like people in the area that there’s something going on outside,” Carrasco told the outlet.
“And then if we see that like ICE agents or HSI if they’re like knocking on doors, we just remind people of their rights. And the rights are to not speak, to not open the door and to ask for a warrant.”
She said her group is part of a larger coalition of 70 organizations across Los Angeles who say they are exercising free speech and reminding people of their rights. ICE officers cannot forcibly enter a home without a judicial warrant, which they rarely have. They have been campaigning to urge people to stay inside and not open the door.
On Thursday, a group met at a South-Central Los Angeles parking lot before dawn and then dispersed in five cars, probing the streets for ICE agents as The Associated Press rode along with them. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
“And so absolutely like we’re not here to protect, you know, criminals or whatever the narrative is that’s out there,” Cardona said. “This is really, really, really about these beautiful people who are very scared right now. Their children are very scared. My students are coming to school with anxiety or they’re not coming to school at all.”
It’s unclear what impact her group is having on ICE operations in the area. Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and HIS for comment.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that about 150 volunteers fanned out in response to rumors of ICE operations.
The news follows activists putting up posters featuring the personal information of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers working in the Los Angeles and Southern California area.
Ron Gochez, a teacher volunteering with Union del Barrio, an organization advocating for immigrant rights, is reflected in a side mirror as he searches for ICE activity in a neighborhood in Los Angeles on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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A Los Angeles FBI spokesperson shared a statement with Fox News warning those who interfere with law enforcement operations could face potential prosecution.
“The FBI safeguards Constitutionally-protected rights, including freedom of speech and assembly. However, any individual who impedes law enforcement operations, potentially threatening the safety of law enforcement agents and subjects of their investigations, is subject to investigation and potential prosecution by the Department of Justice,” the spokesperson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
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Volunteers use bullhorns and sirens to warn immigrants when ICE is in their area
Pre-dawn actions by more than 100 volunteers equipped with bullhorns have been spreading out from several locations across Los Angeles, looking for immigration officers making arrests. (AP Video: Eugene Garcia)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just before dawn, 10 people met at a parking lot shared by a laundromat and coffee shop in South Central Los Angeles on what has become a daily mission: Look for immigration officers and warn people of their presence to try to prevent arrests. Bullhorns and sirens are ready for use.
“There’s raza that’s been detained,” Ron Gochez, founder of Union del Barrio’s Los Angeles chapter, said before they split up in five cars. “It seems like there’s more activity now. Let’s keep a close eye out.”
Working with other similar-size groups and using walkie-talkies, the Community Self-Defense Coalition, made up of more than 60 organizations, found nothing Thursday but appeared to have disrupted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations earlier in the week. In Los Angeles and across the country, these tactics have been a thorn in ICE’s side as it tries to carry out President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations.
“Positive spotting right now of ICE agents at the Target in Alhambra,” Lupe Carrasco Cardona said in a live Instagram report Sunday from the Los Angeles suburb over a blaring siren to draw attention. She said at least six government vehicles were identified in the ICE operation.
Counter-ICE operations have had “a huge impact,” said John Fabbricatore, a former head of ICE’s enforcement and removal division in Denver.
“It’s dangerous for the officers because they are trying to get into a situation, maybe undercover, trying to make an arrest without alarming the neighborhood, and then these guys come out here with these bullhorns and they start yelling and screaming,” Fabbricatore said.
Advocates “go right to the edge” of a law against impeding federal law enforcement to avoid criminal prosecution, he said.
Advocates say they are exercising free speech and reminding people of their rights. ICE officers cannot forcibly enter a home without a judicial warrant, which they rarely have. Sophisticated “know-your- rights” campaigns urge people to stay inside and not open the door.
For years, including during Trump’s first administration, ICE has contended with advocates who rely on blast text messages, social media and bullhorns to spread the word.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was visibly angry after joining ICE officers who were met at apartments in the Denver area by activists who insulted them and used bullhorns to alert residents. He insisted word of the operation was leaked.
“The less people know about these operations, the better,” Homan said outside the White House after the Denver operation resulted in fewer arrests than expected.
ICE referred questions to the Homeland Security Department, which did not respond to questions about the advocates’ tactics and any activities in Los Angeles this week. The agency stopped releasing daily arrest figures, but Homan said last week that it made about 21,000 arrests. That’s an average of more than 600 a day, roughly double what President Joe Biden’s administration did in a 12-month period ending Sept. 30.
In the Los Angeles area, about 150 volunteers fanned out Sunday in response to rumors of ICE operations. Organizers said they spotted ICE in Alhambra and San Fernando, preventing arrests.
Volunteers meet before dawn, as many workers are heading to their jobs and when advocates believe ICE is most likely to move in. They zigzag through quiet residential streets and sleepy intersections, looking for double-parked vehicles, tinted windows and newer cars parked in red zones.
If they spot ICE officers, they hit record on their phones. They blare sirens. And through a megaphone, they announce that ICE is in the neighborhood. “They’re here.”
“We don’t use violence. We don’t break any laws. But we will do anything legally possible to defend our community,” Gochez said.
Back at the parking lot about two hours after Thursday’s mission started, the city was waking up. On the corner, a street vendor had set up her tamales stand.
“We just got a report right now that all of our patrols happening in San Diego, Escondido, California; Los Angeles, California; South Gate and Alhambra, everything is all clear right now,” said Gochez, before heading to his day job as a high school history teacher.
Spagat reported from San Diego.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
