Immigration arrests in Los Angeles have been headline news and the subject of legal disputes for the past few weeks, but Angelenos watching the drama play out on television and in their communities may be confused about who exactly is putting people in handcuffs and hauling them off.
After all, some of the federal agents involved in the raids are in unmarked vehicles, without visible badges, wearing street clothes and covering their faces. Are they U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers or Homeland Security Investigations officials? What is the difference?
All these federal agencies are branches of the Department of Homeland Security, which was created to combat terrorism in the United States in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Its duties include responding to natural disasters, terrorism and homeland security threats, enforcing trade laws (by checking goods coming into and out of the U.S.), as well as managing the flow of people and products at U.S. borders. Three branches of Homeland Security carry out the enforcement of these missions: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Federal agents were most recently sighted without identifying clothing or badges, sporting face coverings and armed with pistols at Dodger Stadium’s entry gates on Thursday.
When protesters learned of the officials’ presence and demonstrated outside the stadium, they held signs that read “ICE out of L.A.”
But the officials outside the stadium were actually U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who “were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,” the agency said.
Confused?
Immigration officials’ way of identifying themselves when conducting operations is by verbally saying they’re ICE or Homeland Security agents, Homeland Security officials told The Times in a statement. The federal agency also said immigration agents wear vests that say “ICE/ERO” or “Homeland Security” on them, and the name of their respective department is on either one or both sides of their vehicles.
“When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of Homeland Security.
So which immigration officials are in Los Angeles and what is their purpose here?
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Have U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials been in Los Angeles? At the start of the month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials raided a fashion warehouse in downtown Los Angeles and arrested more than 40 immigrant workers, sparking anti-immigration protests across the county.
What is ICE’s mission? ICE, along with the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations officials, identify, arrest, detain and remove immigrants without authorization in the U.S., according to the federal agency’s website.
ERO agents target public safety threats, the website states, such as convicted criminal undocumented immigrants, gang members and those who “illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.”
Homeland Security Investigations
Have Homeland Security Investigations officials been in Los Angeles? Two months before immigration officials began aggressive raids across Los Angeles, Homeland Security Investigations officers took part in two separate arrests involving people suspected of being in the country without authorization.
In May, HSI officials raided a nightclub and arrested 36 Chinese and Taiwanese individuals there. The location of the club was not disclosed.
The officials were also involved in arresting 12 Mexican citizens, suspected of being unlawfully in the U.S. after traveling in a small boat from Mexico to Long Beach.
What is HSI’s mission? HSI is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security and a branch within Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homeland Security Investigations focuses on investigating crime “on a global scale — at home, abroad and online,” according to the Homeland Security website.
This department conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, drugs, weapons, and illegal technology exports and intellectual property crime into and out of the United States.
Officials also investigate crimes such as child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud and scams.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Have U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials been in Los Angeles? On Thursday, McLaughlin confirmed that CBP officials “arrested 30 illegal aliens in Hollywood, California, and 9 illegal aliens in San Fernando and Pacoima.”
In Hollywood, officers raided the parking lot of a Home Depot where laborers and food vendors worked.
What is CBP’s mission? U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains traffic at checkpoints along highways leading from border areas, conducting city patrols, transportation check and anti-smuggling operations, according to its website.
It monitors international boundaries and coastlines in areas of agency jurisdiction to intercept illegal entry and smuggling of unauthorized individuals into the U.S.
CBP officials carry out traffic checks on major highways leading away from the border to detect and apprehend unauthorized individuals into the United States and detect illegal narcotics.
There are two other federal agencies on the streets:
National Guard
Officials vowed to send at least 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles. So far, they have mainly protected federal buildings.
It’s unclear how many are now on the ground.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Thursday to leave troops in Los Angeles in the hands of the Trump administration while California’s objections are litigated in federal court.
California officials argued the National Guard was not needed.
U.S. Marines
The federal government has also deployed some U.S. Marines to Los Angeles.
The U.S. Northern Command, which oversees troops based in the United States, said the Marines will work with National Guard troops under “Task Force 51” — the military’s designation of the Los Angeles forces. The Marines, like the Guard, they said, “have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control and rules for the use of force.”
Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot told The Times earlier this month that the Marines in Los Angeles were limited in their authority, deployed only to defend federal property and federal personnel. They do not have arrest power, he said.
Local officials have also opposed having Marines in L.A.
