A profound sense of being hunted': with all eyes on Minneapolis, ICE arrests continue quietly across the US

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/07/ice-arrests-continue

With the public’s outrage and attention focused on the deadly surge of federal agents in Minneapolis, immigration operations have quietly continued across the US – albeit in less noticeable but still troubling ways, advocates say.

In recent weeks there have been day laborers swept up at a Home Depot in San Diego. A taco truck vendor chased down outside a church in Los Angeles. Immigrants arrested at check-ins in North Carolina, and during traffic stops in the nation’s capital.

In southern California, under-the-radar arrests have continued at a fast clip in the first few weeks of 2026, activists and legal experts say.

___


What has changed across southern California, experts say, is how quickly ICE is making those arrests. Earlier in 2025, the typical ICE tactic in LA seemed to involve setting up in one location, like a parking lot near Dodger Stadium, and conducting operations in that general area for an extended period of time, Johansen-Méndez said.

But in the last few months, she said, the tactic has felt more like “smash and grab”. ICE arrests now often begin and end in a matter of minutes.

“They just kind of show up in an area, do a sweep, grab a bunch of people, and by the time any responders can get there, they’re gone,” she said. “So people aren’t catching it on camera. There’s no time for protesters or for attorneys, or any legal observers, to show up. And so they’re flying under the radar by doing it faster.”