After a series of immigration raids across Southern California last week, social media has been buzzing about Immigration and Customs Enforcement checkpoints in Van Nuys. But authorities say there is no truth to the rumors.
From Friday through Monday, there were multiple reports on Twitter urging users to “spread the word” about an undocumented immigrant checkpoint at Van Nuys Boulevard and Oxnard Street.
“Hey any immigrants, or people who know any near the valley in CA. There’s an ICE checkpoint at Van Nuys and Oxnard! Stay safe, & be careful!” one person tweeted Friday morning.
Later in the day, another Twitter user wrote: “There is an ICE check point at Van Nuys and Oxnard right now……they are arresting people WITHOUT criminal records.”
But ICE officials said there were no checkpoints.
“Our agency doesn’t utilize them,” said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice on Monday.
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez, whose district includes Van Nuys, said in a statement Monday that “media reports” of ICE checkpoints in the San Fernando Valley scared a lot of people over the weekend.
“Since (Donald) Trump was sworn in as President, it seems like every day there is a new attack on segments of our community,” Martinez said. “Of course immigrant communities are frightened this administration will follow-through on their promises to tear apart families and communities.”
The social media frenzy came after ICE officials announced last week that 161 foreign nationals were arrested during a five-day enforcement operation in Southern California, which included Van Nuys.
Francesca T. Amodeo, spokeswoman for Congressman Tony Cardenas (D-Panorama City), said in a statement she believes people in the community are concerned given the raids and the tone of the Trump administration.
“That being said, these were just rumors,” Amodeo said. “The Congressman reiterated over the weekend his support for our immigrant communities after the ICE raids took place. He will continue to be a voice on these issues and stand up for the people he represents.”
As for local police taking part in possible raids, Sgt. Don Muniz of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys station said the LAPD does not conduct immigration checkpoints.
“It’s against our policy,” Muniz explained. “We’ve never done anything like that. A lot of that is hyped up on social media.”
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
