ICE Agents Used Racial Slurs During Los Angeles Crackdown, Court Files Show

Newly released court documents show ICE agents deployed to the Los Angeles area last summer referred to the subjects of their immigration operations using anti-immigrant slurs. In a July 4, 2025 text chain, an unidentified agent wrote that “tonks” — a slur for migrants — were “everywhere selling food for the 4th festivities in long beach right now.” The messages surfaced in a lawsuit accusing agents of denigrating undocumented Mexicans.