Are ICE Agents Detaining Latinos Based on Appearance? Videos Renew Debate Over Operations

Posted on 07/30/26 at 19:23

The American Civil Liberties Union has presented new evidence in federal court that it says shows ICE agents used racial profiling during operations carried out in Los Angeles.

The materials include body-camera videos, text messages and sworn testimony that, according to the organization, indicate that Latino appearance influenced some detentions, EFE reported.

• Why it matters: If the court finds that the evidence shows a pattern of racial profiling, the case could change how future immigration operations are conducted and reinforce constitutional limits on detentions.

Are ICE agents detaining Latinos based on appearance?

The evidence is part of an ACLU request asking a judge to issue an injunction limiting immigration operations in Latino neighborhoods across the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

According to the lawsuit, one video shows an agent telling another, “Just assign us where you see some ‘tonks.’” The ACLU says the term is a derogatory slur used against migrants and reflects a culture of discrimination within some teams deployed in the raids.

The organization also says other agents were recorded using the word “wet,” a shortened form of the racist slur “wetback,” to refer to people they considered immigrants based only on appearance.

The complaint also includes internal text messages and sworn witness statements that, according to the plaintiffs, support the racial-profiling allegation.

The ACLU lawsuit says physical appearance influenced some detentions

One central part of the case is testimony from people who said under oath that Hispanic appearance influenced the decision to stop or hold certain people during the operations.

For the ACLU, the recordings and testimony show a broader pattern, not merely isolated comments.

Mayra Joachin, deputy director of the immigrants’ rights program at ACLU of Southern California, said that “the government’s own records expose a pattern of racial profiling that violates some of the most fundamental protections in our Constitution.”

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Angélica Salas, director of CHIRLA, said the community had reported these practices from the beginning of the raids. “The evidence does not lie: these detentions were never about security, but about skin color,” the activist said.

Both the ACLU and CHIRLA say operations ordered by the Donald Trump administration were used as a pretext for race-based detentions. That allegation must be evaluated by the court.

Judge will decide whether the evidence changes the rules for operations

So far, the evidence presented consists of the plaintiffs’ allegations and is not a judicial determination about the agents’ conduct.

The government will have an opportunity to respond during the case, and the court will decide whether an unlawful pattern of racial profiling existed and whether additional restrictions on operations are warranted.

A ruling in favor of the ACLU could become a precedent for future lawsuits involving immigration raids in other U.S. cities.

• What’s next: The federal judge will review the recordings, messages and testimony before deciding whether to grant the requested injunction while the litigation continues.