In yet another piece of evidence that America is rapidly sliding into outright fascism, Trump‘s goons are coming for first-graders. As per a report in the Los Angeles Times, agents with the Homeland Security Investigations unit, an investigative arm of ICE, have begun appearing at Los Angeles elementary schools attempting to seize children.
The incidents have taken place over the past few weeks, with one in April seeing federal agents arriving unannounced at Los Angeles elementary schools to, as they put it, “get in touch” with students whose parents the agents claim entered the country illegally.
BREAKING: Federal agents in plain clothes & unmarked cars tried to snatch 1st graders from LA elementary schools—told staff they had "parental consent."
— Kye (@GxldSociety) June 10, 2025
They lied. When pressed, they HID THEIR IDS. DHS admits they sent them. This was a test run for a police state. pic.twitter.com/B3qqW2zXOs
Skeptical school administrators barred them from entering and noted they were reluctant to show their government IDs. The agents then claimed that the target children’s parents had permitted them to contact them. This was an outright lie, with School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho explaining:
“They declared to the principals in both instances that the caretakers of these students have authorized them to go to the school. We have confirmed that that is a falsehood. We’ve spoken with the caretakers of these children, in some cases parents, and they deny any interactions, deny providing authorization for these individuals to have any contact with these children at the school.”
Sensing that the situation was worsening as the DHS agents continued to demand access to the children, the principals summoned the school district’s legal team to argue that the agents had no right to snatch their students. At that point, they gave up, retreating to dark vehicles and leaving.
They come for the kids first
The visibly angry Carvalho was stunned that DHS agents would come for kids, saying: ““I’m still mystified as to how a first-, second-, third-, fourth- or sixth-grader would pose any type of risk to the national security of our nation that would require Homeland Security to deploy its agents to elementary schools. Schools are places for learning. Schools are places for understanding. Schools are places for instruction, schools are not places of fear.”
Assistant DHS secretary Tricia McLaughlin attempted to wave away these visits as “wellness checks”, though confirmed they were part of a Home Security Investigations ICE unit. It is, sadly, fairly clear what’s going on here. The most efficient way to detain adults is to first detain their kids. If you tell a parent you’re holding their child in detention, no mother or father will be able to abandon them, and when they arrive, you can arrest them and do what you like.
In a way, it’s darkly ironic that MAGA conspiracy theorists raved for years about the government coming to abduct kids. Now that this is actually no kidding happening, they’re cheering from the rooftops as first-graders are thrown into ICE’s “baby jails”. Faced with all this, is it any wonder people are out on the streets of Los Angeles fighting back against these terrifyingly authoritarian tactics?
