The Brief

In a video shared on TikTok in September, a masked man in a tactical vest runs across a street in Chicago toward a Ford SUV. More people in tactical police vests get inside the vehicle, as an angry crowd forms around it, yelling profanities.

"You guys are separating families," one woman shouts at the car, which is flashing red and blue lights. "And for what?"

The woman tells others not to come near the area because "la migra" is there, which is how some Spanish speakers refer to U.S. immigration authorities. But there is little to reveal whether the Ford belongs to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency that is leading President Trump's push for mass arrests and deportations of those suspected of being in the U.S. without legal status, or any other federal unit tasked with carrying out immigration-related arrests. The car has no license plates on the back and appears to have no words on the side that indicate it is government property.

Over the past year, many federal law enforcement agents conducting immigration arrests have been concealing their faces under masks and gaiters when making arrests in public, in what DHS says is an effort to avoid doxing, or publishing agents' personal information online. Dozens of pending proposals across the country now seek to ban masking of federal policing authorities in public places.

Less public attention has centered on the masking of agents' cars.

But some vehicles being used in what appear to be immigration-related arrests do not have license plates, or have traded license plates, NPR found in a review of videos shot by bystanders and reporters, and those circulating on social media. The videos appear to come from areas where the administration has focused its immigration enforcement across the country, including Illinois, California and Washington state.

Witnesses and activists have alleged similar behavior concerning license plates in court filings and in media reports, while the Illinois Secretary of State, a Democrat, has condemned the apparent trading of license plates as illegal in his state.

NPR sent several requests for comment to ICE citing the specific photos and videos that appear to show license plate removal or manipulation during immigration enforcement operations. The department did not respond to the specific examples.

Immigration advocates say that as the agency increases its presence across the country thanks to an infusion of cash from Congress, untraceable vehicles may add to confusion over what tactics immigration officers can or should be using, and could prevent people from holding officers accountable.

"Most people are not used to interacting with federal law enforcement on our streets," said Bruno Huizar, policy manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center. Not knowing the identity of law enforcement – or not knowing if the enforcement is legitimate – exacerbates lack of trust in police, and makes it harder for people to defend their legal rights, he said.

Officers who appeared to be conducting immigration arrests in unmarked vehicles were captured on videos shot across the country and shared online on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Eyes Up, an application that tracks where federal agents have arrested migrants. NPR reviewed all videos cited in this story and confirmed the dates of the videos and locations of law enforcement presence and bystanders when possible. When details couldn't be verified, NPR corroborated information with immigration experts, activists, and a developer for an app that documents confrontations with federal agents.

File image from May 7, 2025 in Newark, N.J., shows a badge hanging over the uniform of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

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In a video shared in June that takes place in Washington state, a federal agent in a police vest is seen driving a black Ford SUV with no license plate on the back of the vehicle.

And in another video posted on the Eyes Up app, labeled as shot in July in a Los Angeles suburb, a blue Nissan is seen with a placard on the back of the car that reads "Lexus of Valencia" in the space where a license plate is usually placed. The vehicle is seen parked near others that federal agents were seen using while detaining a person.

NPR asked ICE to confirm whether these vehicles and others like them belonged to federal employees working for the agency. The agency did not respond.

In an earlier statement provided in response to questions about the vehicle with the "Lexus of Valencia" placard, ICE spokesperson Mike Alvarez told NPR in a statement that ICE officers and agents do not use personal or rental vehicles while conducting immigration enforcement operations.

"Further, per federal code, federal law enforcement agency vehicles used primarily for investigative, law enforcement, intelligence, or security duties are exempt from displaying U.S. Government license plates or motor vehicle identification when such identification would interfere with these critical duties," Alvarez said.

Appearing "like a ghost"

It used to be rare for ICE employees to drive cars without plates when conducting arrests, said Darius Reeves, a former Baltimore field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. He left the agency this year.

"The agency clearly wants to appear like a ghost," Reeves said. "I have never experienced this."

The federal code, or regulation, that Alvarez cited requires that vehicles used by government employees display government license plates on the front and rear of the vehicle – except when identifying these cars would interfere with investigative, law enforcement, intelligence, or security duties.

Federal regulation also prohibits swapping license plates from one car to another.

But ICE guidelines for agents on managing vehicle fleets indicate that operating a vehicle without license plates is meant to be the exception, not the rule.

"All ICE owned, or leased motor vehicles must display DHS or [General Services Administration] license plates, unless exempted," the guidelines state. To operate a vehicle without a federal license plate, someone must submit a request for a waiver to the unit that manages ICE's fleet, according to the guidelines.

In August, NPR requested to review all license plate waivers submitted by ICE over the previous year. At the time of publication, ICE had not provided the documents to reporters, though according to the federal Freedom of Information Act, the agency should have provided them by September.

An automatic email message received this month stated all federal records offices would not communicate with reporters about records until the end of the "funding hiatus," referring to the shutdown of the federal government that began on October 1.

Alvarez, the ICE spokesperson, did not respond to a question from NPR about how many times employees had submitted waivers to operate vehicles without a license plate.

Removing and swapping license plates

Some states prohibit swapping license plates on vehicles. But photos taken by activists and a video shared to social media suggest federal agents are doing this anyway in Illinois and California.

A video posted to a TikTok account in October shows a man dressed like a federal agent who said that changing license plates on vehicles was standard practice.

"We change the plates out every day," says in the video, which was described by the poster as having taken place in Round Lake, Ill., as he walks around an otherwise unmarked black Jeep SUV with an Illinois license plate.

On Oct. 22, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias posted the video to X, stating that Illinois had "zero tolerance for this type of illegal activity."

"Flipping license plates or altering them in any way to avoid detection is strictly prohibited in Illinois," said Giannoulias in the video, urging residents to report similar violations to a hotline. "No one, including a federal agent, is above the law."

Alvarez, the ICE spokesperson, identified the officers in that video as Border Patrol. A separate agency inside DHS that has been involved with immigration enforcement, Border Patrol has been among the agencies tasked with conducting immigration-related arrests, particularly in cities like Chicago in recent weeks. Customs and Border Protection, the branch of DHS it is housed within, did not respond to a request for comment from NPR asking about their practice of switching license plates.

Activists for the Harbor Area Peace Patrol, a community group based in Los Angeles, Calif., have said they also noticed behavior that seems to contradict state guidelines about license plates.

Since June, the activists say, they have monitored federal agents almost every day as they leave Terminal Island, an artificial island in southern Los Angeles that has been used as a staging area for agents before they arrest migrants and conduct raids throughout the city. More than once, activists documented people on Terminal Island, a part of LA, removing plates from vehicles.

"We've seen that multiple times," said Elijah Chiland, an activist with the group.

Activists said they have additionally noticed that sometimes, federal agents left the staging area in the same car, but with different license plates on the vehicle than the car had on a previous day. And multiple times, the activists said, they noticed something else: Vehicles departing from Terminal Island were spotted with one license plate on the front and a different plate on the back.

"I've seen seven or eight different times that a car had a license plate that it didn't originally have," said Victor Maldonado, another of the group's activists. ICE did not respond to NPR questions about the allegations of license plate-switching near Terminal Island.

Mexican markings in Washington and Illinois

Some videos shared online appear to show federal agents making arrests using vehicles marked with Mexican objects or icons.

In the video recorded in Spokane Valley, Wash., where a car without license plates was used, another vehicle drew attention from bystanders. In front of the car without plates, two masked federal agents in tactical vests are seen entering a white Jeep SUV with a back license plate from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

"Tamaulipas on the license plate, can you believe this?" says a bystander, who can be heard on the audio in the clip.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment asking if this was their vehicle or operation.

A similar tactic was observed in a video that appears to be recorded in Illinois and was shared on TikTok in September. In the video, a man in a tactical police vest marked with the words "U.S. Border Patrol" is seen entering a silver Ford Explorer with a large Mexican flag across the hood of the car. Mexican flag stickers are seen stuck to the car's back and side windows.

"ICE using Mexican flag to target immigrants!!" read the words typed across the video, shared to TikTok, though it is unclear that anyone working for ICE is in the vehicle.

Another video shared the same day showed multiple men in tactical vests loading into a vehicle with a similar Mexican flag splayed across the hood.

When asked about whether Border Patrol agents were using a vehicle with Mexican flag decals, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated the agency believes its employees are not camouflaging their identities, though she acknowledged agents do wear masks to protect themselves from harm. ICE did not respond.

"DHS is not going to confirm our vehicles and put an even larger target on our officers' backs," McLaughlin said in an emailed statement. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to questions regarding current CBP policy for markings on cars including painted hoods and stickers.

Multiple agencies, few agency markings on cars

Involvement of other federal agencies in immigration activities further complicates the situation, said Reeves, the former ICE employee.

Employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Park Police have been involved with arresting migrants. But during arrests, the officers' clothing hasn't appeared to always match the cars they drive, according to media reports and NPR's own reporting.

In one instance, after President Trump deployed the National Guard to patrol D.C. in early August, a group of officers detained two migrants. The officers' clothing indicated some of them worked for the FBI, ATF and U.S. Park Police, reporters observed. One person wore a tactical vest labeled "police." Another wore a tactical vest with no description on it at all. A U.S. Park Police vehicle was the only car visible that was labeled with the name of a law enforcement agency.

Making arrests while operating cars that aren't clearly identified can erode the public's trust in local police, said Daniel Hodges, a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C., which has also worked with ICE on immigration arrests in the city. Hodges was attacked during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"We've got to live with that destruction of trust after the feds go away," said Hodges. "Ethically and in terms of long-term effectiveness of our police departments, it's only detrimental as far as I can see."

David Bier, the director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said that removing or switching license plates can be detrimental for another reason: It helps federal agencies avoid further scrutiny.

"It removes the opportunity for accountability if you don't know what officers were conducting an operation. There's no way to track back, 'This person was using this vehicle,'" Bier said. "It's unclear exactly how they track these actions. So it could genuinely be impossible to ever determine who was involved and in what operation."

Bier said not knowing which agency or people are involved in an arrest can make it difficult for Congress or lawyers to investigate specific claims if officers are accused of violating people's rights.

"Of course, if you're being charged with a crime or being arrested or detained, you have a right to know who is leveling this charge against you, who's claiming that you violated the law," Bier said. "These are all basic principles of liberal democracy that we've just taken for granted."

Nick McMillan contributed reporting.
Copyright 2025 NPR

In what could be a major change in oversight of L.A. homelessness spending, the City Council’s homelessness committee is recommending the city start shifting some programs away from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) over the course of the upcoming fiscal year. Which programs and who would oversee them remains to be seen.

The move comes a year after L.A. County decided to pull its funding from the joint city-county agency in response to multiple audits that found LAHSA failed to properly track and manage billions of homelessness dollars. Officials are also warning homelessness services may have to be cut due to ongoing, years’ long delays on LAHSA’s part in reimbursing service providers for their work. The committee’s chair, Councilmember Nithya Raman, describes LAHSA as “plagued with scandal” in her mayoral platform.

On Wednesday, the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee voted to recommend multiple changes to city homelessness spending, including a recommendation by Raman to shift management of some city programs away from LAHSA during the next fiscal year that starts July 1.

Another recommendation advanced by the committee, which was proposed by Councilmember Tim McOsker, is to pursue negotiations to give the city “a clear majority” in the governance and decision-making control at LAHSA — including over federal funding meant for 84 other cities in L.A. County. Currently, LAHSA’s governing commission is split 50-50 between city and county appointees. Starting next year, the city will be by far the largest funder of LAHSA.

[Click here to read the recommendations a majority of the committee voted to make.]

The recommendations call for city officials to send the council a report by July 1 analyzing which city programs make sense to shift away from LAHSA and instead be managed by the county, the city or another entity. If approved by the council, $450,000 would be budgeted to hire consultants to advise the city about the funding shift, and city officials would be directed to update the council every 30 days about the transition.

The recommendations now go to the full City Council for a decision.

Mayor Karen Bass has expressed concern that moving too quickly to shift funds from LAHSA could harm services for unhoused people. That concern was echoed at Wednesday’s committee meeting by Gita O’Neill, who is serving as LAHSA CEO during a year-long leave from being an attorney at the city attorney’s office.

“ I would just ask this committee to take their time to look at the issues. Sometimes when things are rushed and hurried, unfortunately our unhoused folks fall through the cracks,” O’Neill said. “Seeing it go really quickly, sometimes things can get lost, sometimes contracts can get lost.”

Councilmember Heather Hutt, who is on the council’s homelessness committee, said Wednesday she does not support shifting spending yet to the county or in-house.

“It's too premature, too early and too rushed,” Hutt said. “Given the actions of the county and the federal government, we need to make sure our system is stabilized over the next two years before we think about what a longer transition looks like.”

She voted against Raman’s recommendations to start shifting funding over the next fiscal year, and voted for McOsker’s recommendations to try to beef up city control of LAHSA.

The full City Council is expected to decide on the recommendations at a future meeting. Regardless of what the city does, all of the county’s funding of services through LAHSA will be pulled as of July 1 and moved to full county control.

East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress on Tuesday, days after sexual assault and misconduct allegations against the Democratic front-runner upended California’s wide-open governor’s race.

Swalwell dropped out of the race Sunday and resigned from Congress on Tuesday. His exit comes as a new accuser came forward Tuesday, alleging that Swalwell drugged and raped her in 2018. Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly set Aug. 18 as the date for a special election to fill Swalwell’s seat.

Here’s what happened and what it means for the June 2 statewide primary and the future of Swalwell’s congressional seat.

Why did Swalwell resign from Congress and drop out of the governor’s race?

Swalwell, 45, is accused of sexually assaulting two women and harassing others.

On Friday, he was accused of raping a former staff member twice, when she was too intoxicated to consent, and of harassing three other women, including by sending nude photos and making unwanted physical advances.

Those allegations were detailed in a San Francisco Chronicle investigation and a subsequent report by CNN. The latest allegation was made by another woman, Lonna Drewes, who told reporters at a press conference Tuesday that Swalwell drugged and raped her in 2018 in a West Hollywood hotel.

Attorney Lisa Bloom (right) comforts Lonna Drewes during a press conference in which Drewes accused U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexual assault Tuesday in Beverly Hills.

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Swalwell has denied the allegations since they broke April 10, and his lawyers sent the women accusing him cease-and-desist letters demanding they retract their claims. In a video message Swalwell posted late Friday, he seemed to acknowledge he’d been unfaithful to his wife.

On Tuesday, after the second allegation of rape, Swalwell issued a statement through an attorney, which the lawyer posted on social media. It said that Swalwell “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault” and calls them a “calculated and transparent political hit job." His lawyer, Sara Azari, also went on News Nation on Tuesday night and said that “regret is not rape.”

The most serious allegations involve a woman who worked for Swalwell’s presidential campaign and in his congressional office, a job she began at age 21. She told the Chronicle that Swalwell, who is 17 years older than she, began pursuing her within weeks of joining his office in 2019, sending her explicit pictures on Snapchat and asking for nude photos in return.

She alleged that in September 2019, she went out drinking with a group, including Swalwell, in Pleasanton and woke up the next day naked in his hotel room, feeling the effects of vaginal intercourse.

The woman also described a similar alleged assault in 2024 in New York City after a night of drinking, recalling portions of the night, including being in Swalwell’s hotel room, pushing him off of her and telling him no. She said she woke up alone in his hotel room with vaginal bleeding and bruising.

Swalwell is also facing possible criminal investigations in both New York and California. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Saturday that it is looking into the alleged 2024 assault, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said over the weekend that prosecutors there are “evaluating whether any alleged criminal conduct occurred within Alameda County.” And on Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it is investigating Drewe’s allegations.

What happens to Eric Swalwell’s seat now?

Swalwell represented California’s 14th Congressional District, which includes the East Bay cities of Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore and Hayward. He submitted his resignation Tuesday. The seat is now vacant.

Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly called a special election this summer to replace him. Whoever wins will fill the seat for the remaining months of Swalwell’s term, which ends in January. In the meantime, the district has no voting representation in Congress, only the staff who have remained to assist constituents.

Meanwhile, the election cycle for the next term, beginning in January, continues on its regular schedule, with the June 2 primary and a potential runoff in the November general election.

Swalwell is not on the ballot for his congressional seat because he was running for governor. However, his name will still appear on the June ballot for governor, since it’s legally too late to remove it.

When is the special election for Swalwell’s seat and who might run?

Newsom has scheduled a special election to fill the remainder of Swalwell’s term. First, a special primary election will be held June 16. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, they would win outright and immediately take his seat in Congress.

A frontrunner for California governor, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign Sunday after a series of women accused him of sexual assault and harassment.

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If no candidate clears that threshold, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff election Aug. 18. Whoever wins will serve only the remainder of Swalwell’s term until January.

That means that if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in both the statewide primary and the special primary, voters in Swalwell’s East Bay district could potentially cast four separate ballots for their congressional representative this year.

Nine candidates already were running to succeed Swalwell in the 14th District in the June 2 primary for the full term set to begin in January. State Sen. Aisha Wahab is the only one with statewide elected experience. Former Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez, who serves as president of the BART Board of Directors, also is running.

Those candidates also may run in the special primary election.

Who is running for governor of California now?

The top-polling candidates in the crowded field include two Republicans: businessman Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Two Democrats other than Swalwell also have been enjoying double-digit support in most polls: former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer.

Other Democratic candidates include Xavier Becerra, who previously served as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and California attorney general; San José Mayor Matt Mahan; former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; California Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Thurmond; and former state Controller Betty Yee.

Swalwell’s departure stands to further shake up what has long been an unsettled race — and California’s first wide-open campaign for governor in two decades.

How does Swalwell dropping out affect the California governor’s race?

Prior to Swalwell dropping out, he, Porter and Steyer were the top-polling Democrats. It seems likely that Porter and Steyer could now attract some of his supporters.

California has a “top-two” primary system, meaning the two candidates who receive the most votes in June, regardless of party, will move on to a November runoff. That means two Republicans or two Democrats could face each other in a runoff election.

There’s been concern among Democrats that because no Democratic candidate has consolidated support, Hilton and Bianco could make it into the runoff, shutting out Democrats and resulting in a Republican governor. That seems less likely now, especially since Hilton recently received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, which is likely to play well among Republican voters. The state GOP failed to endorse either candidate at their convention this weekend, though Bianco did get more votes than Hilton from party insiders.

If Hilton surges ahead of Bianco, the race could come down to a contest between Porter and Steyer for a second spot in the runoff.

When is the primary for California governor, and for whom will I be able to vote?

Election Day is June 2. The last day to register to vote is May 18.

Counties will begin sending out mail-in ballots May 4, and in-person early voting starts May 23.

To register to vote, contact your county elections office. The official state information guide is available here.

After about two decades of planning, six years of construction and a cost of $720 million, L.A. County Museum of Art officials gave a preview of the new David Geffen museum galleries on Wednesday.

“This museum is very experimental,” said Michael Govan, LACMA’s CEO. “It's very new, it's very fresh. It's a new way to think about our history and being more accessible at the same time that I think it's more meditative."

Gone is LACMA’s 1965 iconic, boxy gallery building, replaced by an exposed concrete and glass structure distinguished by a soft, curved profile.

“You can stand in the building and know where you are, not in a box… you are here in the city, you can look around the perimeter and know exactly where you are,” said Diana Magaloni, LACMA’s senior deputy director overseeing conservation, curatorial and exhibitions.

LACMA's new David Geffen galleries have floor to ceiling windows and are more open than traditional museum art galleries.

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The feeling of knowing where you are is due largely to the acres of open space and plazas next to the building and ground level, as well as the floor to ceiling windows in the galleries’ second level that allow you to see L.A.’s mountains and urban skylines.

LACMA officials say the design by renowned minimalist Swiss architect Peter Zumthor will better serve the public’s interaction with its massive art collection that spans 6,000 years and cultures from around the globe. The collection includes Southeast Asian sculptures, paintings by Diego Rivera, as well as contemporary art by Southern California artists.

LACMA CEO Michael Govan, left, with Peter Zumthor, the architect who designed LACMA's new David Geffen galleries.

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“One of the nice things about this building is there are many new works of art and then there are old friends,” said Stephanie Barron, head of modern art at LACMA, as she stood next to a 12-foot-tall by 18-foot-wide piece by Henri Matisse.

The 2,000-pound work features multicolored leaves made of ceramic. It’s well known to LACMA’s visitors because it hung for years near the old gallery’s entrance. Now, the work faces northwest toward the Hollywood Hills and the Pacific Ocean.

LACMA opens its new David Geffen galleries to members on April 19 and to the general public on May 4.

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Success, Govan said, will be measured by visitors’ reactions to seeing art in this new setting, as well as what the setting does to people visiting by themselves or with groups of people.

“The way this building works, the way you can wander through galleries, the way the light works, the way it brings collections and thinking together, the way we’re collaborating” centers human interactions, Govan said. “It’s a launch pad, not an end point.”

LACMA’s David Geffen galleries are open to members from Sunday April 19 to Sunday May 3, then to the general public after that.