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.
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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.
“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.
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.
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