More than 30 people marched to the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Station last Monday, chanting against what they called ongoing collaboration between local deputies and federal immigration agents, as sheriff's personnel locked the station's doors and strung yellow tape to keep the crowd back. Protesters banged on the glass doors anyway, demanding answers at a building that is supposed to remain open to the public.
The October 26 demonstration was organized by Centro CSO, according to Fight Back! News, which reported that online videos showed masked ICE agents staging in the parking lot directly in front of the station. The outlet also reported that at least three people were kidnapped by masked ICE agents near the station in October, and that one person was kidnapped by ICE on October 31 after being released from sheriff's department custody — an incident the article presented as evidence of ongoing collaboration between the two agencies. Those accounts have not been independently corroborated, and neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security has responded to the specific allegations in the available record.
Sheriff's Department Denies Civil Immigration Role
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department maintains it plays no part in civil immigration enforcement. We do not engage in civil immigration enforcement which is the role of the federal government, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department states on its website. California and Los Angeles County both have laws and policies intended to limit or ban local police collaboration with federal ICE agents, though the evidence available does not establish whether the conduct described at the East LA station violated those policies. Under the state's Values Act, an official may cooperate with immigration authorities only if doing so would not violate federal, state, or local law or local policy, according to the text posted by California Legislative Information.
Speakers at the protest included members of Centro CSO, the Check the Sheriff Coalition, and the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network, per the Fight Back! News account. Emiliano Martin del Campo told the crowd that the public has a right to know how the community is policed, who is policing it, and how resources are used, and said ICE and sheriff collaboration must stop immediately to protect the community from further harm. Brianna Mosqueda said Centro CSO would continue demanding that the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Department stop collaborating with ICE.
Nods to a Decades-Old Nickname and Fresh Grievances
Verita Topete, chair of Centro CSO's immigration committee, said raza in Aztlán have faced criminalization and deportation targeting across generations and reject national oppression. Marchers chanted “La migra, la policía, la misma porquería!” as they approached the station. Attendees said deputies would stop protests but ignore masked ICE agents kidnapping people from the public park outside, according to the report.
The station carries the nickname “Fort Apache,” which the same outlet has reported originated during the 1970 Chicano Moratorium. It was also the site of an earlier Centro CSO press conference on October 23, held to condemn sheriff's deputies after the Dodgers' October 20 National League Championship Series victory celebration. At that event, Gabriel Quiroz Jr. said deputies blocked people in and fired tear gas without clear direction, telling the outlet, “They blocked us all in and didn't tell us where to go, and then they shot tear gas at us.”
Broader Enforcement Surge Forms the Backdrop
The East LA demonstration comes amid what federal officials have described as a 45-day immigration enforcement surge across the state. ICE has launched a 45-day enforcement surge in California, according to NBC 7 San Diego, which attributed the operation's name, Operation Safe California, to reporting by the Washington Examiner. San Diego community organizers told the station they had already seen an increase in enforcement on the ground, with more agents and vehicles visible on the streets.
The LA Public Press reported that the surge, described as a 45-day effort by DHS targeting immigrants with and without criminal records, has led to dozens of arrests across the region. At least 45 people, and as many as 80, have been arrested across Southern California since Monday, the outlet reported, citing figures from L.A. Taco. A 2025 Los Angeles Times report had already flagged the friction such operations create for local agencies, noting that increasingly aggressive immigration raids carried out by masked federal agents, sometimes using unmarked vehicles, were creating problems for local law enforcement agencies. That same report described masked men in fatigues detaining at least three people at a car wash in Bell, which drew a large protest of its own.
Centro CSO organizers asked attendees at the East LA march to sign up at a table and stay involved, and encouraged people to follow the group's social media accounts for updates on future actions.
