Government agencies censured anti-deportation activists after they revealed sensitive information about multiple federal immigration enforcement agents in California.
Multiple flyers displayed across the Los Angeles area recently leaked the names, faces, and job descriptions of at least four people employed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
“CAREFUL WITH THESE FACES,” one flyer reads.
“These armed agents work in Southern California. ICE and HSI racially terrorize and criminalize entire communities with their policies. They kidnap people from their homes and from the streets, separating families and fracturing communities. Many people have died while locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers,” the flyer continues.
The DHS and FBI have condemned the activists for putting the federal agents in danger and are threatening an investigation into the matter.
“These pathetic activists are putting targets on the backs of our law enforcement as they shield MS-13, Tren de Aragua and other vicious gangs that traffic women and children, kidnap for ransom and poison Americans with lethal drugs. These individuals will be held accountable for obstructing the law and justice. This shouldn’t be controversial,” the DHS said in a statement to Newsweek.
In comments to Fox News, an FBI spokesperson said that while the government “safeguards constitutionally-protected rights, including freedom of speech and assembly,” activists who “imped[e] law enforcement operations, potentially threatening the safety of law enforcement agents and subjects of their investigations, [are] subject to investigation and potential prosecution by the Department of Justice.”
The illegal disclosures of ICE and DHS officers’ identities come as President Donald Trump has tasked border czar Tom Homan with cracking down on illegal immigration, with an emphasis on deporting people in the country illegally who have committed crimes.
Federal immigration enforcement officials have repeatedly run into confrontations with activists protesting the deportation effort as law enforcement officials have arrested thousands in operations conducted across multiple states since Trump took office. Demonstrators, including in California, have been seen patrolling areas looking for ICE personnel and in surrounding locations where operations are taking place and yelling instructions to possibly targeted people over how to avoid detention.
In California, the anti-deportation movement gained national attention earlier this month after thousands of protesters gathered in Los Angeles for days to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s stance on illegal immigration. Their actions came as Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and the California governor have signaled fierce opposition to deportation efforts.
“No one should live in fear due to their immigration status,” Bass said on Monday.
As federal agents try to carry out sweeps in the Golden State, local activists have been reported to be “Documenting ICE, recording ICE, uploading them to social media” to warn illegal immigrants about the presence of ICE.
On Fox News Monday night, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she found out who inside the agency has leaked information to the press, saying “they will be fired — there will be consequences.”
Earlier this month, Homan characterized such actions as putting community members and federal officers tasked with detaining illegal immigrants in danger.
“This is not a game,” he told reporters after a Colorado operation targeting Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang members was leaked, and local activists tried to block the raid.
“When operations get leaked like that, it puts our officers at great risk. It’s already a dangerous job. We know TdA is dangerous. Everybody can agree to that, but when they get a heads up we’re coming, it’s only a matter of time before officers are ambushed. Their jobs are dangerous enough, so we’re going to address this very seriously,” Homan continued.
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Recent federal operations targeting illegal immigrants in California have resulted in the arrests of multiple criminals, including a convicted murderer and a Guatemalan national convicted of sexual assault and rape with a gun.
The Washington Examiner reached out to ICE, DHS, and the FBI for comment.