Staff at a Hollywood homeless shelter say federal agents showed up there. ICE says they didn't

Officials with Hope the Mission, a nonprofit that operates a homeless shelter in North Hollywood, said people they believed to be federal immigration agents visited the facility Thursday, but did not take anyone into custody.

Rowan Vansleve, president of the organization, said staff members saw SUVs with tinted windows and U.S. government license plates circling the Saticoy Tiny Homes Village in the afternoon.

He said he was told at least one vehicle had Department of Homeland Security markings.

LAist reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which falls under the authority of Homeland Security — to ask questions about the alleged incident. An ICE spokesperson told LAist Friday that ICE does not confirm the existence or status of operations and publicly announces the results of operations "when appropriate."

A post on X on Thursday said the agency had not gone to any local homeless shelters. In a statement to LAist Friday, a Department of Homeland Security official called claims of ICE agents in homeless shelters, ERs or schools "blatantly false."

What staff at the shelter say happened

According to Hope the Mission staff, the men believed to be federal agents demanded to enter and tour the facility. When shelter security asked them to show identification or a warrant, the men did not provide either, they said.

“We had some gentlemen, plain-clothes, but kind of military-style tattoos on their arms coming out, taking photos, and walking the perimeter fence,” Vansleve said.

When shelter staff told one of the visitors he couldn’t enter the facility, the person walked away. The man quipped, “I’ll be back,” according to Vansleve.

He said it seemed as though federal agents were "scouting" sites.

The information seemed to align with a comment Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass made during a Thursday news conference, where she talked about the ICE raids and the protests that followed.

“Last Thursday, ICE entered our city and provoked the city by chasing people through Home Depots and car washes, and showing up at schools, and today showing up at emergency rooms and homeless shelters,” Bass said. (The first widely reported ICE raid last week happened last Friday.)

ICE denied the mayor’s accusations on social media.

“ICE and its federal partners were NOT in homeless shelters, ERs and schools,” the agency wrote in a post on X, featuring a photograph of Bass. “Your lies are fueling the violent riots in your city. Shameful.”

LA councilmember visits the shelter

More than 100 unhoused Angelenos reside at the tiny home village in North Hollywood, a narrow strip of land between the 170 Freeway and industrial sites lined with shed-sized temporary dwellings.

L.A. City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian visited the site Thursday after learning that staffers there had an encounter with people they believed were federal agents.

“We got reports that some ICE agents were around the area,” Nazarian said on Instagram. “We wanted to come by and see if there was any assistance we could provide.”

Nazarian did not see any federal authorities at the shelter, but the councilmember said he believes agents had been present outside the homeless shelter and left before he arrived.

“This calls into question what they’re searching for and who they’re searching for, or if they’re just trying to gain entry somehow,” the council member said.

Vansleve said the presence of federal agents allegedly at or near the facility further traumatizes a struggling population.

“You know, these are disproportionately people who are victims of trauma and abuse,” he said. “These are people who are in the middle of a crisis, and this is just inhumane.