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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Jackie Botts in Oxnard, California

Immigration activists whose homes were raided accuse federal agents of intimidation campaign

National Guard troops with riot shields face a crowd of protesters on a road with fields beyond
California national guard troops face off with protesters during an immigration raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, on 10 July 2025. Photograph: Blake Fagan/AFP/Getty Images

Federal agents have raided the homes of three southern California immigration activists in what the activists allege is the latest escalation in a Trump administration campaign to harass a volunteer-led advocacy group that organizes neighborhood ICE-watch patrols.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the main investigatory branch of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), executed a pre-dawn raid on 13 May at the home and business of Leonardo Martinez, whose group VC Defensa runs a rapid response hotline and supports immigrant families across Ventura county. The homes of two other current and former VC Defensa volunteers were also targeted. No arrests were made.

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