Border Patrol agents jump out of Penske truck as part of ‘Operation Trojan Horse’

U.S. Border Patrol agents hopped out of a Penske rental truck in a Home Depot parking lot in Los Angeles on Wednesday, in the process arresting more than a dozen people as others fled the scene. The immigration raid dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse” by the agency came just days after a federal appeals court upheld a federal judge’s order to block indiscriminate detentions and arrests in Southern California by federal immigration authorities.

“For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again,” acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned on social media after the raid. “The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.”

Witnesses speak out

Pictures and video circulating on social media capture the moments the rear door of the rental truck opens with a number of agents in full gear and guns inside. 

Witnesses told the Los Angeles Times that the truck driver pulled up to day laborers outside the store and told them he was looking for workers. As people gathered around the truck, more than half a dozen agents jumped out of the back of the truck. Many people ran, and agents arrested at least 16 people in the raid. 

Witnesses said that unmarked white vans and other vehicles showed up along with border agents shortly after the truck to help conduct the raid.

Lupe Carrasco Cardona, an educator with Union del Barrio, an immigrant advocacy organization, told The Associated Press that three street vendors and four day laborers were arrested, and they are still trying to account for the others. Family members said one vendor attempted to show evidence of his legal status through asylum before he was arrested, according to Cardona. 

“They opened the back, they hopped out and they started indiscriminately just grabbing people,” she said.

Cardona said that her advocacy group had been performing regular patrols of the Home Depot when they spotted the Penske truck pull into the parking lot on Monday. She said immigrant workers with and without legal status often wait in the Home Depot parking lots in hopes of finding work. 

Penske responds

A Penske Truck Rental spokesperson released a statement that said the company is investigating the use of its vehicle by federal agents and emphasized its rules banning transporting people in truck cargo areas. 

“The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this,”the company said in a statement on X. “Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”

Did the raid violate a court ruling?

In mid-July, a federal judge temporarily blocked federal agents from using racial profiling in what have been described as indiscriminate arrests following the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Public Counsel, other groups and attorneys filing a lawsuit over the actions, arguing that Southern California is “under siege.”

Justice Department lawyers contended the ruling hampered federal agents’ ability to perform immigration enforcement, but the 9th Circuit court upheld the order. 

City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the area where the raid occurred, said Wednesday’s raid was “yet another attack on our judicial system by the Trump Administration” and called it a “clear violation of the temporary restraining order.”

“Using a rental truck to round up people like cargo is a disgusting reflection of this administration’s total disregard for human life and the rule of law,” Hernandez said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “It is clear that Angelenos– my constituents— are being racially profiled and hunted for political points.”

ACLU lawyer Mohammad Tajsar told the LA Times that his group is investigating reports of recent immigration enforcement operations.

“The evidence available so far raises serious concerns that the federal government may be in violation of the federal judge’s July temporary restraining order,” Tajsar said. “We encourage community members to reach out if they have any specific information about these incidents and we will continue to evaluate the evidence and alert the court at the appropriate juncture of any further unlawful actions.”

Heightened fears among LA community

The raid has renewed fears that another wave of immigration enforcement operations that led to mass protests in Los Angeles are upon the city. Witnesses told the LA Times that they were shaken by the experience. While the Trump administration claims the area is a hotbed for MS-13 operations. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has dismissed that notion in response to the raid at Home Depot.

“So the question I would have is, what were they possibly observing at Home Depot? They were observing people looking for a job for one day,” Bass said.

Bass said she has requested City Attorney Hydee Soto’s office look into the matter to determine if the tactics employed by agents violated the restraining order.