ICE Presence at Los Angeles Homeless Shelter Sparks Fear Among Migrant Residents
LOS ANGELES — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been repeatedly seen near a Hollywood homeless shelter since May, prompting staff to escort immigrant residents—many fleeing violence and conflict—to work, court appearances, and daily errands in an effort to protect them.
Lailanie, an executive at the shelter, which serves young adults ages 18 to 24, said she witnessed ICE officers detain and arrest two Venezuelan men after they returned from their jobs. “There was no conversation,” she recalled. “The officers walked up and immediately put their hands behind their backs.” Out of concern for retaliation, she requested that her last name and the shelter’s name remain undisclosed.
Roughly half a dozen agents were involved in the arrests. Since then, staff have accompanied immigrant residents in unmarked vehicles without the shelter’s logo, hoping to reduce the risk of further encounters.
The arrests are part of a broader enforcement pattern under the Trump administration, which has led to nearly 3,000 immigration-related detentions in the Los Angeles area. Homeless shelters now join locations such as 7-Elevens, Home Depot parking lots, and cannabis farms as apparent sites of targeted immigration raids.
Advocacy groups and service providers have also reported ICE activity at shelters in North Hollywood and San Diego, though federal officials have not confirmed whether shelters are explicitly being targeted. Requests for comment from immigration authorities went unanswered.
With over 72,000 unhoused individuals, Los Angeles County faces one of the most severe homelessness crises in the U.S. How many of those are immigrants is unclear, as federal counts do not track citizenship status. The incident at the Hollywood shelter occurred just weeks before President Trump deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the region in response to growing protests over immigration enforcement.
Local service organizations say the increasing presence of federal agents is causing widespread fear. “It puts a target on the backs of homeless immigrants,” said Donald Whitehead Jr., executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “It villainizes them.”
At The People Concern, another major shelter in downtown L.A., CEO John Maceri reported that fewer people are using the facility’s showers and day services. Even housed clients, particularly people of color, are limiting their outdoor activity out of fear. “Frankly, anybody who’s dark-skinned—Black or brown—but especially dark-skinned brown people, don’t want to go out,” Maceri said. “Some are missing work. This fear is real.”
According to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), ICE activity is heaviest in predominantly Latino neighborhoods like the San Fernando Valley. CHIRLA released a map showing that 471 out of 2,800 arrests from June 6 to July 20 occurred in the area. The data did not specify how many of those arrested were unhoused.
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, who hails from the San Fernando Valley and was handcuffed during a protest last month alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, accused the Trump administration of targeting vulnerable populations—not just violent offenders. “You’re not going to find dangerous criminals at schools, churches, or homeless shelters,” Padilla said.
CHIRLA President Angelica Salas called the arrests “racial profiling,” though DHS denied that claim, stating: “What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are illegally in the U.S.—not their skin color, race, or ethnicity.”
On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order encouraging cities to clear unhoused populations from public spaces, a move that advocates fear could escalate arrests and deepen trauma for immigrants.
Back at the Hollywood shelter, anxiety remains high. Lailanie said the two Venezuelan men arrested—aged 20 and 22—spoke little English and had only been at the shelter for a few weeks. They had not yet been assigned immigration attorneys. The older man has since been deported; staff have not been able to locate the younger one.
Since their detention, staff say ICE agents have conducted at least three more stakeouts near the facility. In one instance, a uniformed officer asked to use the shelter’s restroom. A maintenance worker, unsure how to respond, let him in.
Employees have also reported spotting unmarked black SUVs parked near the shelter’s lot, raising further concern. More recently, an asylum-seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo was arrested after appearing in immigration court. He had been wearing an ankle monitor issued when he first reported to immigration officials.
Staff say the man, who fears returning to central Africa after his father was killed, went to court seeking permission to remove the monitor. Instead, he was taken into custody and transferred to the High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto while his asylum case remains pending.
“People are scared and people are hurting,” Lailanie said. “But people are also compelled to keep doing the work—to fight for what’s right.”
