Immigration advocates and federal officials say reports of heightened deportations in Los Angeles wildfire areas are unfounded, and urge residents to be wary of spreading misinformation. Social media posts have falsely claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been apprehending residents through checkpoints and raids.
Pedro Trujillo, organizing director for CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles), said the group also received phone calls on its Immigrant Assistance Hotline, describing checkpoints and ICE vehicles around the county and city.
Trujillo said CHIRLA’s Raids Rapid Response Network went to seven sites in the San Fernando Valley, El Segundo, Los Angeles and Pasadena that callers suspected were ICE checkpoints. They found no evidence of any ICE checkpoints or raids at those sites.
What they did find at some of the reported sites were utility vehicles or city/county vehicles responding to the fires the city or county was dealing with. Trujillo believes that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) vehicles, which carry the Department of Homeland Security logo, as do ICE vehicles, may have led to confusion in identifying the vehicles or operations.
Trujillo said that because of the Kern County ICE operations that happened early last week, people were anxious, hyper-vigilant and filled with good intentions, and they wanted to inform the community of what they had perceived as ICE activity in Los Angeles County.
According to Alethea Smock, director of communications, Northwest Region, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, no such activity has occurred in the affected areas. Smock linked to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security about its role during the fires in Los Angeles County. In the released statement dated Jan. 8, DHS states that “ICE and CBP do not conduct immigration enforcement activities at protected areas such as along evacuation routes, sites used for sheltering or the distribution of emergency supplies, food or water, or registration sites for disaster-related assistance or the reunification of families and loved ones.” The department also states that “ICE and CBP may help conduct search and rescue, air traffic de-confliction and public safety missions. ICE and CBP provide emergency assistance to individuals regardless of their immigration status. DHS officials do not and will not pose as individuals providing emergency-related information as part of any enforcement activities.”
Spreading misinformation during disasters can have deadly consequences and put more people in danger in already dangerous situations.
Meta recently announced that it is ending its third-party fact-checking program. With greater potential for misinformation, Trujillo said that residents need more education on the best way to respond to sightings in their communities. “Take photos and videos, and describe the intersection; really tell us what you saw,” Trujillo said. “Create power, not fear, with your posts.”
Kate Morrissey contributed to this report.
