5 days ago
Fact Check: Are California Tow Trucks Targeting ICE Vehicles?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Multiple viral videos on TikTok claim California tow truck drivers are banding together to stymy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation efforts, but is the story real?
User ABA_Online777 drew more than four million views within three days of a video in which a tow truck hauled off a white SUV in Oxnard, California, saying that "a bunch" of tow truck drivers were "following" ICE and towing them, "the minute that they park" illegally.
User dj36367, meanwhile, cited a viral video from user Georgia_Speaks_Out who made a similar statement using the same clip.
The claims, however, appear to be exaggerated.
Stock image: Person wearing 'Police ICE' jacket.
Stock image: Person wearing 'Police ICE' jacket.
Photo by Lawrey / Getty Images
'Vandalized' vehicle
The towing company in the popular viral clip is Oxnard towing service Airport Towing.
When contacted by Newsweek by phone, the company confirmed the white SUV was an ICE vehicle that had been parked illegally on Thursday, July 10.
However, viral reports that the tow truck driver was "following" ICE are inaccurate.
According to Airport Towing, the vehicle had been parked illegally on private property for more than an hour when the company arrived to tow it.
ICE officers also would not have been able to move the vehicle out of its illegally parked position without a tow truck—the vehicle's tires had been slashed.
ICE has not contacted Airport Towing since the incident.
Claims that "a bunch" of tow truck drivers are working together to counter ICE also appear to be fabricated.
In a June 28 post, fact-checking website Snopes traced the social-media reports back to a satirical website that says it doesn't, "just report the facts, I improve them."
Other ICE Fact Checks
The potential presence of ICE in communities has led to several online rumors.
One rumor is that ICE raids have led to less traffic in Los Angeles and California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla told Newsweek that, "Trump's cruel and inhumane mass deportation agenda has turned communities across Los Angeles into ghost towns."
However, some Los Angeles residents disagree, citing other factors including summer break for students.
"The level of misinformation about this is nuts," Jason Lemus, an insurance claims adjuster and Los Angeles resident, said on the social platform X, adding, "There's been no significant impact to traffic in LA."
An ICE raid on a California cannabis farm turned tragic when 57-year-old worker Jaime Alanis fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof where he was hiding.
Alanis broke his neck and died, becoming the first person to die in one of President Donald Trump's administration's anti-immigration operations since he took office in January.
Newsweek reached out to ICE requesting comment.
