By skyforbes 
Immigration ICE raids across the United States have surfaced on TikTok, particularly in California: Latino communities’ local businesses, churches, schools, and residential homes.
Over the past month, Latinos in the U.S. have consistently been posting TikTok videos of ice raids in their communities. These videos shared on social media have been a powerful tool to inform residents of masked Federal ICE and FBI agents entering their neighborhoods, particularly in Southern California, where community members, activists, and US-born Latino residents have been actively filming. Since then, TikTok videos have been circulating with hashtags like ice raids, immigration, and deportation.
The raids on June 6th, conducted by federal immigration agents in Los Angeles, sparked outrage among residents as TikTok videos surfaced in the Fashion District. A young woman sobbed, pressing her hands against the glass, as she watched ice agents detain her father at his job. More videos circulated of unlicensed plated vehicle ice agents showing up at Home Depot lots, where they detained day laborers. That same day, a protest erupted in Downtown Los Angeles, Compton, and Inglewood, sparking a riot over the weekend with the Los Angeles police department clashing with protestors. In response, Donald Trump ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to deploy to de-escalate the situation, and at least 700 Marines joined the troops to assist with immigration enforcement actions and protect federal buildings.
Employees from the Glenn Valley Foods slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska, recorded on TikTok live footage of immigration authorities rounding them up in the break room and later arresting over eighty undocumented workers. More TikTok videos emerged online; ICE agents chased farmworkers in California fields. An Oxnard field worker, Ary Cruz, wept uncontrollably over fear of being arrested; she begged online viewers to repost and notify her family in case ICE agents took her into custody. A Tamale Street Vendor in Pacoima, Matilde Rivera, had a heart attack and fainted after an ICE agent knocked Rivera from behind.
After Trump ordered to double down on mass deportation raids across sanctuary cities, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, in the last two weeks, there has been a staggering number of agents and bounty hunters targeting hardworking people, mostly elderly vendors and essential workers. Additionally, U.S. citizens have been racially profiled, beaten, and abducted by unidentified ICE agents, violating their constitutional rights. The Department of Homeland Security denies such claims, but videos on TikTok have been circulating of Latino community residents becoming targets.
Last week, Andrea Guadalupe Velez, a Marketing Designer Cal Poly Pomona graduate, was dropped off at work by family members. Early that morning, ICE agents in unmarked vehicles raided Downtown Los Angeles. Her sister and mother watched in distress as they detained Velez, repeatedly yelling that she is a U.S. citizen. She remained in a federal detention center for two days and later released on a $5,000 bond. Velez’s lawyers have filed a civil lawsuit against federal agents.
As the ICE Raids continue to terrorize communities, TikTok has been a vital tool for Latino communities to mobilize and self-report ICE raids to help identify detainees, as well as provide evidence of unlawful arrests and mistreatment.