Southwest
EXCLUSIVE: DHS fires back at claims ICE raided 'wrong home' in Oklahoma smuggling investigation
EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is setting the record straight after media reports claimed ICE raided “the wrong home” and targeted U.S. citizens, setting Democrats fuming.
The Independent ran a headline on Wednesday reading: “ICE raids wrong Oklahoma home, seizes life savings and leaves family ‘traumatized for life’” writing that an Oklahoma mother and daughters were subject to a “violent and humiliating raid by federal agents last week, despite allegedly not being the intended targets of the operation.”
That same day, Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, claimed that ICE agents mistakenly “terrorized” a family of naturalized U.S. citizens — including children — in a raid at a home in northwest Oklahoma City.
Balint claimed that “this was all a colossal mistake” and placed the blame squarely on President Donald Trump, saying “this is Trump’s America.”
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The raid in question occurred on April 24 at a single-family home in northwest Oklahoma City. When ICE agents, assisted by Oklahoma state police, carried out the raid, they encountered a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Guatemala as well as three others, the youngest of whom was 17. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Kerwin Moore via Wikimedia Commons)
The raid in question occurred on April 24 at a single-family home in northwest Oklahoma City. When ICE agents, assisted by Oklahoma state police, carried out the raid, they encountered a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Guatemala as well as three others, the youngest of whom was 17.
A representative for DHS told Fox News Digital that the raid was a “lawful, court-authorized action explicitly targeting a property, which was a hub for human smuggling, not specific individuals as falsely suggested by media reports.”
The representative clarified that the warrant “targeted the property itself, not specific individuals, and its execution was not contingent on the presence of any person.”
According to the DHS spokesperson, the warrant, which was signed by a federal judge the day before, was based on an 84-page affidavit detailing probable cause that the address served as a “stash house” for human and drug smuggling.
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Raul Calderon-Interiano, who was in the U.S. illegally, was convicted of sex crimes in Baltimore and released, despite a detainer from ICE. (ICE)
From its months-long surveillance of the property, including observations as recently as April 20, DHS had probable cause to believe that the primary targets of the warrant, Cidia Lima-Lopez and V. Lima-Lopez, illegal aliens from Guatemala, were continuing to use the house for illegal activities.
The spokesperson said that Homeland Security Investigations agents further confirmed via utility records that a member of the Lima Lopez transnational criminal organization was still paying utilities at the residence.
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DHS said that the warrant authorized the seizure of evidence, including electronic devices and documents, “regardless of who was present.”
The representative said that agents “executed the warrant with precision, seizing electronic devices as authorized,” calling the raid “a critical strike against a dangerous human smuggling network in furtherance of our mission to protect American communities from the chaos unleashed by the Biden administration’s open-border policies.”
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ICE Houston deportation. (ICE Houston)
Though the family living in the home is no longer in federal custody, the spokesperson said that the investigation is still ongoing and “we have not ruled out current occupants’ involvement in the smuggling ring.”
Fox News Digital reached out for comment from Balint and The Independent but did not immediately hear back.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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