The US government is conducting an ongoing campaign of raids and detentions across the country to advance a policy of mass deportation that is ripping families apart and terrorizing entire communities.This campaign started, in its most aggressive form, in Los Angeles this past summer, setting the stage for similar tactics in other US cities, and relies in large part on detaining people based on their perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin.The US government should stop this violent campaign, which violates human rights on a vast scale. (Los Angeles) – The United States federal government’s violent campaign of raids and detentions during the summer of 2025 in Los Angeles set the stage for similar and subsequent abuses in cities around the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Then and now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials stalk and seize people they suspect lack authorization to be in the country, separate families, and terrorize communities. Since late May, ICE, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), and other federal law enforcement agencies have staged hundreds of raids in and around Los Angeles at places where Latino people work, shop, eat, and live, with violence and disregard for human rights. ICE agents have arrested food vendors and their customers. They have targeted car washes and other businesses that have Latino employees, and raided Home Depot parking lots where individuals look for work. Federal officials acknowledge agents consider a person’s perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin as key factors in deciding whom to detain. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is carrying out similar campaigns in other cities throughout the United States. The July 2025 federal budget bill for the coming year allocates a previously unheard of $170 billion for border enforcement, detention, and deportations.“These raids, mostly targeting Latino communities, have inflicted devastating harm on the people of Los Angeles and have continued and even expanded their tactics as they have spread to other US cities,” said John Raphling, associate US program director at Human Rights Watch. “They tear apart families, cause people to live in fear, and showcase the cruelty of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.” These widespread raids followed the late-May exhortation by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, that immigration officials should substantially increase the numbers of undocumented people arrested for deportation. President Trump posted on Truth Social at the time that he intended to “liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion.” Human Rights Watch analyzed videos, photographs, and written accounts in news and social media and interviewed 39 people, including those detained and released, families of those detained and deported, witnesses, people who provide services to Latino communities affected, and a Los Angeles County official. Human Rights Watch analysis of ICE arrest data, excluding arrests by CBP or other agencies, confirms that from May 28 through July 28, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers dramatically increased arrests, primarily of people without violent or even any US criminal history. The agents almost invariably incarcerated people arrested in ICE detention facilities pending deportation proceedings. Some individuals interviewed said officials have inappropriately pressured people to agree to “voluntary departures.” Data suggests ICE agents detain people based on their perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin. The raids Human Rights Watch documented from June to September occurred without warning, as agents arrived in unmarked vehicles, jumped out, and swarmed people they targeted. News and social media reports of other raids confirm a consistently similar approach.Witnesses described and videos confirm agents usually carried military-style weaponry, sometimes dressed in civilian clothes or military outfits and often wearing masks hiding their identities and projecting a dangerous, lawless aura. There have been incidents of agents using excessive force and smashing car windows and pulling people from their cars.Arrested people and their relatives said they and their loved ones experienced abusive treatment while being transported and in detention. They said those arrested were shackled for extended periods, denied food and water, forced to sleep on floors, and refused contact with family and lawyers.Family members reported substantial harm of those arrested, including emotional and physical pain caused by separation from their loved ones, financial crises, and difficulty paying for childcare, elder care, and care for family members with disabilities.The raids have constrained and discouraged many Latino people from participating in public life in Los Angeles. Immigrants interviewed almost uniformly confirmed the raids made them fear appearing in public, leading to them missing graduation ceremonies, medical appointments, and work.People in Los Angeles have protested, advised people of their rights, filmed federal agents, implemented networks to warn of raids, and cared for people in hiding.“The US government is inflicting abuse and putting Latino communities in a state of terror,” Raphling said. “Dramatically increased funding for ICE at a moment when its abuses are going totally unchecked will cause untold harm.”Widespread RaidsBeginning in late May, federal officials saturated the Los Angeles region with teams of agents who conducted rapid raids where Latino people work or congregate. These raids have targeted Home Depot parking lots and other locations where people seek day laborer jobs; car washes, swap meets, and shopping centers; restaurants, food trucks and street vendor stands; and commercial farms. Agents have arrested workers, customers, vendors, and students. Federal agents conducted the raids—in most cases documented and observed through social media and news coverage—by converging on a targeted person, group of people, or business in unmarked vehicles, then grabbing people, handcuffing them, and sometimes loading them into their vehicles without trying to determine their immigration status.Agents frequently covered their faces and wore civilian clothes or military-style uniforms. Their clothing often did not identify their agency. In most videos Human Rights Watch observed and in witness descriptions, agents carry firearms, including military-style rifles. Agents arrest some of the people they detain in this way then incarcerate them in a detention facility. Data available to Human Rights Watch extends only through the end of July, but interviews documented raids through September. At the time of publication, social media and news coverage indicates the Los Angeles raids are ongoing. Human Rights Watch analysis of the data confirms the sharp increase in arrests during the surge in raids from May 28 through July 28, the last day of available data. During this period, ICE alone—the data does not include arrests by CBP or other agencies in Los Angeles at the time—arrested 540 people per week on average. That is an increase from the 139 people per week on average from President Trump’s inauguration until the surge in raids began, and the 87 per week in the 16 months before Trump became president. Witnesses said ICE and CBP agents detained people and took them into custody without appearing to know who they were in advance. They said agents detained all Latino people in a particular location who were selling food or looking for work, without asking for identification. These actions suggest the agents were choosing whom to detain based on assumptions about their immigration status due to their perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin or their presence in a location or occupation the agents believed made them more suspicious. Latino people—nearly half of Los Angeles’ population—are heavily concentrated in certain occupations, especially construction labor, food services, agricultural work, and clothing production.Federal agents detained some US citizens or people with lawful authorization to be in the US, further evidence agents did not have reliable criteria for detaining people.Federal officials have acknowledged in court proceedings they are detaining people based on their perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin, their location or occupation, and/or their use of the Spanish language. A Los Angeles federal district court on July 11 issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting government officials from making investigative stops based on these factors alone. The DHS, in their application to the Supreme Court to stay enforcement of the district court order, said forbidding their reliance on only these factors would “thwart … enforcement of the immigration laws in [Los Angeles].” On September 8, the Supreme Court stayed the order, giving ICE a free hand at least until the court makes a final decision. ICE data does not directly indicate whether agents detained anyone based on a warrant or previous knowledge of a person’s status. Data analysis suggests ICE did stop many people based on observations they deemed suspicious, including a person’s perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin, spoken language, location and occupation.Prior to late May, on average 50 percent of people arrested by ICE agents had administrative or judicial orders for removal, meaning officials knew they were deportable. From May 28 through July 28, that percentage dropped to 25. This data does not include people detained and then released because they had legal status. Immediately after the temporary restraining order came into effect, arrest numbers plummeted 64 percent, from 104 arrests per day to 38, further suggesting stops based on the characteristics cited in the restraining order were central to the operation.June 6 Ambiance Apparel RaidsOn the morning of June 6, federal agencies, including ICE and the FBI, conducted a series of raids near downtown Los Angeles, including at two facilities of the clothing company Ambiance Apparel. Dozens of agents stormed the locations in tactical gear with military-style weaponry, many wearing face masks. They detained and arrested over 40 workers, shackling them and forcing them into unmarked vans. Family members of those arrested said officials took the workers initially to a lock-up at the federal courthouse, then to one in Santa Ana, and then to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, operated by the private company Geo Group. The acting US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said the agents had a judicial warrant to search for “fictitious business documents.” Family members said federal officials had been to the location some weeks earlier so officials may have identified people to target.Human Rights Watch spoke to 10 family members of people detained and arrested during the Ambiance Apparel raids and one person who was arrested and later released. They described abusive conditions, especially being held shackled in crowded, extremely cold vans for many hours; not receiving food or water for extended periods; not being allowed to use the toilet for many hours; being forced to sleep on floors for several days; and being denied communication with family and lawyers.Several told their family members of coercive efforts to get them to sign documents waiving their rights to contest deportations. One detained person signed and was rapidly deported.One person arrested has lived in the United States for decades, working at Ambiance Apparel for many years. He raised his children, all born in the US, and is his family’s primary source of financial support. His son watched masked federal agents shove him into a van then handcuff other workers and push them into vans. His son said his father reported being kept handcuffed in the van, with cold air blasting and no chance to use the toilet for almost eight hours. The authorities denied him communication with his family for five days, even after moving him to Adelanto.Another man said he has lived in the United States for over 20 years, working at Ambiance Apparel for the last several years. On June 6, federal agents closed off the entrances to the business, trapped him and others inside, handcuffed them, and kept them seated on the floor for several hours. Agents then forced them into a van and held them inside shackled by their hands, feet, and waists overnight with the air conditioner running. Officials refused to remove the handcuffs to allow him to use the toilet. They moved him to the lock-up in Santa Ana and then to Adelanto. He slept on floors until June 9 when they gave him a bed, though others did not get beds until the next day. After two weeks, they released him with an ankle monitor.A third man has lived in the United States for over twenty years, working at Ambiance Apparel for five. One of his daughters said his family had no communication with him for over a day after his detention. He told his daughter that agents yelled at him, demanding he sign papers, but he refused. He remains in detention, and his family is in distress because he is their main source of income and emotional support. His daughter said another one of his daughters has been unable to hold food down due to the distress.All family members of people detained in the Ambiance Apparel raids described financial difficulties and emotional distress. Many described being overwhelmed with fear and not leaving their homes, especially as raids continued.The data analyzed reveals a considerable increase in detentions following arrest while deportation proceedings are pending by the Trump administration, especially during the surge in Los Angeles arrests. During the Biden administration, 74 percent of the people ICE arrested in Los Angeles who did not have a criminal history were released while immigration proceedings occurred. Since the Trump administration began, immigration officials have incarcerated nearly everyone ICE has arrested in Los Angeles, including those with no criminal history. Human Rights Watch data analysis also indicates a substantial increase in “voluntary removal” during the surge of enforcement. Those figures are cause for alarm in light of reports from some family members of pressure to waive rights to contest deportation.Raids at Home Depot Parking LotsHuman Rights Watch documented nine raids at Home Depot parking lots, interviewing witnesses and reviewing photos and video evidence. Researchers also reviewed social media and news coverage of dozens of other raids at these stores. They all follow similar basic patterns of unmarked vans with armed and frequently masked agents driving into the parking lots and chasing down and detaining Latino people who appear to be day laborers or vendors. At some raids, agents detained and arrested large numbers of people, while at others, people escaped.Home Depot is a US chain of large har