Federal agents tried to trick immigrants by arriving in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles in a Penske rental truck.
In video on Fox11, Department of Homeland Security personnel — dressed in green fatigues — can be seen waiting for the roll-up door of the truck’s storage compartment to open and then hopped out Wednesday morning, Aug. 6, to make arrests.
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The operation took place, even though there is a federal court order limiting immigration-enforcement arrests in Southern California, around 7 a.m. near a Home Depot about three blocks west of MacArthur Park.
According to the video of Fox11, which had a crew embedded with U.S. Border Patrol, the personnel ran toward a group of people near a sidewalk food stand. The crowd scattered.
The Border Patrol dubbed it the “Trojan Horse” operation, with officials saying it resulted in the arrest of 16 undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The agency didn’t answer questions in regard to whether the operation violated the court’s temporary restraining order.
Department of Homeland Security officials told Fox News that the notorious MS-13 gang has a “chokehold” on the area, necessitating such operations. Federal officials made similar comments last month when 100 or so personnel swept through MacArthur Park. During that operation, Mayor Karen Bass showed up and ask them to leave.
Penske Truck Rental strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstance, the company said in a statement.
“The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this,” it said. “Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”
Homeland Security responded to Penske by pointing out a 2023 Fox News story about 58 migrants crammed inside a Penske truck in Texas in a human-smuggling case.
“Care to remind the American people what Penske said when this happened?” the statement said. “Silence speaks volumes. The brave agents of @ICEgov and @CBP will continue carrying out their mission to protect Americans.”
In addition to Wednesday’s operations, there had been reports on social media of immigration raids over the weekend.
It seems to me that the public at large is only in favor of deportations of criminals and generally disfavors “roundups” of illegals doing ordinary work such as food stands, gardening and the like, Keep in mind that when the Democrats get control back, possibly next year, they will legislate most of what Trump has done away. It is therefore very important not to piss off the public at large by media-fueled “roundups” which appear serendipitous (even though they are not). I believe that most people want ICE to figure out in advance who the people are who belong to the gangs, have criminal histories,are using false SSNs or fake names to work or get welfare, and remove _those_ people. Best if the public perceives that non-criminals get some due process before deportation. Everybody wants the border CONTROLLED and illegal immigration all but stopped, but the media is having a field day portraying what looks like random, uncontrolled roundups as overly broad and unlawful.
As far as I know, Illegal aliens are not entitled to “due process” in this country and do not have rights under our constitution. Constitutional rights are reserved for citizens and those who are here legally with visas, green cards, etc.
The only “rights” illegal aliens might have in America are those preventing torture and inhumane treatment based on international protection.