The Raid

A local officer runs the plates on a Ford Explorer parked outside a town hall — and the story the driver gives him falls apart within minutes. In this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey breaks down what happened outside Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's August 6th town hall in Richfield, Minnesota, when a woman claiming to be private security turned out to be a federal Homeland Security Investigations agent.  This episode looks past the single parking-lot encounter to ask a bigger question: what does it mean for a community that already believes it is being watched? Is this a story about voter suppression, or something more corrosive — the chilling effect of surveillance that never needs to be proven to change how people show up to political life.  https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/08/10/rep-ilhan-omar-raises-questions-about-undercover-ice-agent-at-town-hall/  https://omar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/omar-evo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026.08.07-rep-omar-letter-to-hsi.pdf  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A father in New Mexico thought he was going to an interview to reunite with his kids. Instead, ICE put him in chains. On this episode of The Raid,  John Carlos Frey traces how the Trump administration is using migrant children in federal custody as leverage to locate and detain their parents and relatives — and how that's just one piece of a much bigger strategy to dismantle long standing protections for migrant children and to fast track their deportation. This is a story assembled from public reporting, court filings, and a sitting U.S. senator's letter to HHS — not hidden, just scattered. We put the pieces together.  KFF Health News — investigation on ORR/ICE coordinating to use migrant children to locate and detain relatives https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/the-week-in-brief-immigration-enforcement-migrant-kids-detention/  The Hill — Sen. Ron Wyden's June 2026 letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warning of fast-tracked deportation of 500+ children https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5941396-wyden-warns-trump-deportations-migrant-children/  CNN Politics — reporting on the administration accelerating deportations of migrant children in US custody https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/28/politics/migrant-children-deportations-trump  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey investigates the killing of Isaias Sanchez Barbosa, a 31-year-old man shot three times by a Border Patrol agent on a private ranch in Starr County, Texas, on December 11th.  Frey lays out how this case fits a long-running pattern: agency self-investigation, a fast public statement built on the same handful of justifying phrases, records that surface only when a reporter or a lawsuit forces them out, and grand juries that almost never indict. He also makes the case for why a border shooting like this one belongs on the same list as the interior immigration-enforcement killings that have made national headlines this year, since Border Patrol and ICE operate under the same department, the same use-of-force policy, and the same chain of command.  Border Report - Syndicated Texas Tribune coverage: https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/texas-tribune/a-border-agent-killed-a-migrant-who-crossed-into-starr-county-eight-months-later-its-still-under-investigation/  San Antonio Current - "A Border Patrol agent killed a migrant in Texas last December. Officials are still withholding details.": https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/a-border-patrol-agent-killed-a-migrant-in-texas-last-december-officials-are-still-withholding-details/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For over a year, LA Taco staff reporter Izzy Ramirez has been on the ground documenting ICE and Border Patrol raids across Southern California — logging arrests, archiving footage, and standing between agents and the communities they're targeting. In this deeply personal follow-up conversation, host John Carlos Frey asks the question most interviews skip: what has doing this work actually done to you? Izzy opens up about the drinking, the public "crash outs" on social media, the nights he can't stop scrolling, and the death of a teenager whose story hit painfully close to home. He and Frey talk honestly about burnout, the absence of any real support system for reporters covering trauma in real time, the guilt of stepping away even for a moment, and the "savior complex" that keeps so many activists and journalists from resting. It's a raw look at what it costs to bear witness — and why Izzy says he isn't planning to stop.  This episode covers heavy material, including grief, substance use, and a young man's death. Listener discretion advised.  https://lataco.com/author/izzy-ramirez  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey sits down with longtime civil rights organizer Eric Ward — Executive Vice President of Race Forward and a Senior Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center — to unpack the argument at the center of his recent Colorlines essay, "The Latest ICE Surge Is Political Violence."  Drawing on nearly four decades of organizing work, Ward lays out why he believes the current wave of ICE enforcement is not simply aggressive immigration policy, but a deliberate campaign of political intimidation — one aimed at all Americans, not only immigrants and refugees. He traces the throughline from the three cornerstone pillars of the 1960s civil rights victories (the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Act) to the tactics now on display: masked agents, unmarked vehicles, courthouse and workplace operations, missing body-camera footage, and resistance to transparency.  Ward and Frey dig into the data behind the rhetoric of "public safety" and "criminality," the rise of Great Replacement Theory inside mainstream political discourse, and the historical parallel Ward draws to selective enforcement under Jim Crow. The conversation closes on a practical note: what ordinary people — voters, journalists, artists, and neighbors — can actually do to push back, from small daily acts of courage to showing up at the polls in November.  https://colorlines.com/article/project/latest-ice-surge-political-violence  https://www.raceforward.org/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

ICE has become a national deportation policing force — and according to a bombshell new ACLU report, it's operating with a level of violence and impunity America has never seen before.  In this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey sits down with Naureen Shah, Director of Government Affairs for the Equality Division at the American Civil Liberties Union and a longtime human rights lawyer, researcher, and advocate. Naureen leads the ACLU's immigration policy and advocacy work and previously served as Senior Director of Campaigns at Amnesty International USA and Acting Director of Columbia Law School's Human Rights Clinic.  She joins the podcast to break down the ACLU's new report, "Agents of Chaos and Cruelty: How the Trump Administration's National Deportation Policing Force Has Attacked American Communities." The report documents 1,200 incidents across eight states in 2025, more than 400 of which involved corroborated civil rights violations — including U.S. citizens caught in the crossfire, dangerous restraint tactics used dozens of times, and a pattern of force used not in response to threats, but as a tool of intimidation and control.  https://www.aclu.org/publications/agents-of-chaos-and-cruelty-how-the-trump-administrations-national-deportation-policing-force-has-attacked-american-communities  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey sits down with Sennett Devermont — known online as Mr. Checkpoint — the Southern California activist who built a nationwide alert network for DUI checkpoints, ICE operations, and police activity. Sennett traces his journey from a 2011 San Diego State student warning classmates about unconstitutional, unpublicized checkpoints to becoming one of the most recognizable "film the police" advocates in the country.  The two also confront the sharper edges of the moment: the lack of accountability inside police departments, the retaliation faced by officers who report misconduct, and how ICE operates with even less transparency and oversight than local law enforcement. Sennett connects the dots to the billions of dollars flowing into policing and surveillance infrastructure, the criminalization of witnesses and citizen journalists, and why he now sees jury duty and law school — he just started his second year — as his next front line for reform.  It's a candid, sometimes emotional conversation about fear, privilege, and what it actually costs to keep a camera rolling — plus concrete advice for anyone who wants to document an ICE or police encounter but doesn't know where to start.  https://aftp.org/  @afp_foundation  https://mrcheckpoint.com/en/  @Mrcheckpoint   https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For months, The Raid has covered America's deportation machine through the eyes of journalists, experts, and activists — but the voices most missing from the conversation have been the immigrants living it. In this episode, host John Carlos Frey sits down with veteran journalist Charles Fleming, a 40-year newsroom journalist and former Los Angeles Times editor, who came out of retirement to find and tell the personal stories that mainstream media can't — often under strict anonymity, because the people he interviews have too much to lose.  Fleming shares the story of Javier, who paints and sells his work under the name "Deported Artist." Born in Tijuana by accident — his mother crossed the border late in her pregnancy to see her dying father — Javier was raised his entire life in Oakland, California, alongside U.S. citizen siblings, with no understanding that he was undocumented. After serving a lengthy prison sentence, he was deported to Tijuana, a country he'd never known, where he has spent the last seven years rebuilding his life from nothing. His art — raw, political, and deeply personal — has become both his therapy and his voice.  This is a conversation about who gets a second chance in America, who doesn't, and what's lost when a country stops asking that question.  https://fleminguncounted.substack.com/p/uncounted https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At just 27, Sasha Renée Pérez became the youngest female mayor in San Gabriel Valley history. Now she's the youngest member of the California State Senate — and she's using that seat to take on ICE. Host, John Carlos Frey sits down with Senator Pérez to talk about her journey from Alhambra City Council to Sacramento, and the wave of legislation she's championing to protect immigrant communities across California.  Pérez talks candidly about the online threats she receives, why she believes conversation (not conflict) is the path to bridging political divides, and what she thinks everyday people can do in the run-up to the midterms to protect their undocumented neighbors and preserve democracy.  https://sd25.senate.ca.gov/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A federal guard pleads guilty to nine separate counts involving women held in the same detention facility. The government's own records show over 1,310 abuse complaints filed against ICE detention staff in a single three-year window — and outside researchers have found over a thousand more. On this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey traces how a system built with almost no independent oversight lets this happen again and again.  This is not one bad guard. This is a pattern, documented in the government's own paperwork — and the story of what happens when the people holding all the keys are also the ones investigating themselves.  https://theappeal.org/trump-doj-defunds-national-prison-rape-resource-center/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An ICE check-in used to be paperwork. Now it can be a trap — and that shift is doing the work that raids and deportation flights can't. John Carlos Frey talks with Kimberly Avalos, a multimedia journalist and supervising producer at The News Movement, whose documentary "American Dreamers: Self-Deporting from the United States" was an Online News Association finalist for Excellence in Social Justice Reporting. Her latest film follows a subject she never expected to report on: her own uncle.  Avalos and Frey get into the reporting decisions behind the film and the machinery it documents:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-se_lNefnU  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The federal government owes nearly $1 million to Estrella del Paso, the largest provider of free legal services to unaccompanied migrant children in West Texas and New Mexico — and it isn't paying up.  On this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey sits down with Executive Director Melissa Lopez to break down how the administration tried to terminate a 20-year-old, congressionally mandated legal aid program, lost in federal court, and is now allegedly conditioning payment on providers handing over confidential client information about the children they represent.  With reimbursements frozen since November 2025 and a contract deadline looming on August 1, Estrella del Paso and 90+ partner organizations nationwide are fighting in federal court to keep the program alive. Lopez lays out what's at stake if they lose: children facing deportation, alone, with no attorney and no advocate.  https://estrelladelpaso.org/ https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it actually take for a detention system to qualify as a "concentration camp" — historically, not emotionally?  In this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey sets aside the online shouting match and applies the definition historians actually use: mass detention of civilians, without due process or trial, based on identity rather than conduct — a framework traced back to camps in 1890s Cuba and South Africa, and used by researchers like journalist Andrea Pitzer.  This isn't about winning an argument online. It's about being precise with a word that carries real historical weight — and deciding, with the facts in front of you, whether it applies - and it does.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps: https://andreapitzer.com/home/  https://luskin.ucla.edu/new-analysis-reveals-sharp-rise-in-ice-detention-of-immigrants-with-no-criminal-convictions  https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/06/25/dying-in-detention/rising-deaths-in-an-expanding-us-immigration-detention-system Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before this year's midterms, ICE told a federal judge it had no records on any plans to send agents to polling places. That wasn't true.  In this episode of The Raid, John Carlos Frey traces what actually happened when two Homeland Security agents walked into an active polling site in Syracuse, NY, to pressure a poll worker over a months-old social media post — and how that incident became the evidence that forced ICE to admit it's sitting on more than 11,000 pages it had denied existed.  We go inside the Syracuse confrontation, the earlier enforcement actions in Texas and California that set the pattern, and the ongoing court fight over documents the public still hasn't seen — plus what election-security experts say this kind of incident does to voter turnout, whether or not it's ever repeated.  https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/ice-agents-polling-places-documents-democrats-foia-demand/  https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-trump-troops-voting-democrats-information-request/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this urgent, unfiltered conversation, host John Carlos Frey sits down with Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03) — the first Latina elected to Congress from Illinois and the Midwest — to confront the escalating violence of America's immigration enforcement system.  Rep. Ramirez, a member of the Homeland Security Committee and the only member of Congress in a mixed-status family, doesn't hold back. She and Frey discuss the recent deaths linked to ICE and Border Patrol operations, the $70 billion appropriation given to DHS after the government shutdown, and why she believes promises of "reform" — including body cameras — are hollow gestures from an agency she says needs to be abolished.  This is a raw, emotional exchange between a journalist and a sitting member of Congress about power, accountability, and what justice really means in America right now.  https://ramirez.house.gov/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey tells the story of Gabriel Cariaco's arrest in Bellevue, Nebraska — a legal asylum seeker who fled Venezuela, accused of being a member of the gang Tren de Aragua, and charged with attempted murder of a federal agent. Frey traces how the government's account changed within 24 hours of the arrest, how a tattoo meant to honor his son's birthday became "evidence" of gang membership, and how bystander video ultimately contradicted the sworn federal complaint filed against him.  A year later, a federal judge called the original report "at worst a misrepresentation and at best complete negligence" — and said, from the bench, that he had doubts about trusting law enforcement in this case. This is a story about how a false narrative gets built, how fast it travels, and what it takes to unravel it once it's already made headlines.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/a-venezuelan-man-was-accused-of-attempting-to-choke-an-ice-officer-to-death-in-bellevue-bystander-video-tells-a-different-story/  https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-slams-feds-for-distorting-nebraska-ice-arrest-but-still-sentences-suspect-to-14-months/  https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/20/ice-arrests-criminal-illegal-alien-tren-de-aragua-gang-member-attempting-murder-ice Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Three men are dead in fourteen days — Houston, Biddeford, St. Augustine — all in encounters with ICE. In the same week, border czar Tom Homan told Fox News that ICE agents are "well-trained in vehicle stops," then said he'd personally requested the agency's training curriculum to review it. Both things can't be true even though the president vetoed the review.  John Carlos Frey goes on the record about ICE's budget, its oversight, and its body count — and why an agency now funded at nearly seven times its historic budget, with more money than the FBI, DOJ, and Bureau of Prisons combined, still can't execute a routine traffic stop without someone ending up dead.  This one's personal.  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey sits down with Jennifer Huerta, a sixth-grade language teacher in Bakersfield, California, and a recipient of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Brought to the U.S. from Michoacán, Mexico at just two years old, Jennifer grew up not fully understanding what it meant to be undocumented — until college applications and financial aid forms made the distinction painfully clear.  Jennifer walks through her journey: applying for DACA as a teenager, navigating a separate, more difficult path to higher education than her U.S.-citizen peers, graduating debt-free from Cal State Bakersfield through state aid and private scholarships (since DACA recipients don't qualify for federal aid), and eventually becoming the teacher her parents — both farmworkers — always hoped she'd become.  The conversation covers the cost and burden of reapplying every two years, the ripple effects on students, families, and communities when DACA recipients in critical roles (teachers, nurses, attorneys) lose their status, and what it feels like to build a life in the only country you've ever known — only to watch it hang in the balance as DACA approvals have been increasingly delayed.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  @heyitsmisshuerta Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ten people. Ten families still waiting for someone in the U.S. government to be held responsible for their deaths. In this episode, John Carlos Frey goes case by case through ten people killed by ICE and Border Patrol this year, including the most recent ICE relating killings. Frey relies on his original reporting about the Border Patrol's "Critical Incident Teams," internal units whose own stated mission was "mitigation of civil liability" rather than the truth.  The Southern Border Communities Coalition has documented 377 deaths at the hands of ICE and Border Patrol since 2010. Almost none have resulted in an on-duty conviction. This episode is about making sure that number has names attached to it.  https://www.southernborder.org/  https://substack.com/@jennbudd https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every unaccompanied immigrant child facing deportation is legally entitled to a lawyer — it's the law, not a favor. But the federal contract funding that representation for over 20,000 children expires this month, and instead of an open replacement process, reporting from the Texas Tribune reveals a series of phone calls: the Trump administration quietly asking Texas's Attorney General's office, then the ten-person Texas Indigent Defense Commission, to take on the job — an agency with no experience, no funding, and no legal authority to do it.  John Carlos Frey breaks down the facts.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/03/trump-texas-doj-indigent-defense-unaccompanied-immigrant-children/  https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-07-06/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation  https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey talks with Nicole Locklin — a Miami attorney and first-time candidate now running as the Democratic nominee for Florida's 26th Congressional District against 24-year incumbent Mario Diaz-Balart.  Locklin explains what pushed her into the race. She explains the district's dramatic post-redistricting shift, the role of ICE and Stephen Miller in the current wave of immigration raids, the financial toll of the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention facility, and her platform centered on affordability, government accountability, and abolishing ICE.  The conversation closes with a frank look at her odds in a historically red-leaning, minority-majority district and how her campaign plans to combine political organizing with direct community aid.  https://locklinforcongress.com/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey sits down with Flor Melendrez to talk about the wave of ICE raids that swept through Los Angeles car washes over the past year. Melendez shares her personal path into labor organizing — growing up the child of garment worker parents, negotiating wages for them as a child, and later working with day laborers before helping build the clean car wash campaign into what is now the Clean Car Wash Worker Center where she is the Executive Director.  The two also discuss the racial and political dimensions of the raids — why car washes, garment factories, and Home Depot parking lots were targeted, and whether the operations reflect broader anti-immigrant sentiment tied to the upcoming election. Melendrez closes with reflections on more raids yet to come, community resilience, the networks that have formed in response to the raids and how people can support the organization's work.  https://www.cleancarwash.org/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

ICE has been targeting labor leaders and organizers along with thousands of workers who are now more afraid than ever to fight for better working conditions.  In this podcast, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey traces how that pattern has grown from a single farm in Albion, New York into a nationwide crisis in 2026 — one that is reshaping labor markets, collapsing organizing campaigns, and keeping some of the most vulnerable workers in America in a state of permanent fear.  https://portside.org/2025-05-11/they-actually-had-list-ice-arrests-workers-involved-landmark-labor-rights-case  https://documentedny.com/2025/08/27/lyn-ette-farms-ice-detention/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if ICE raids aren't just about immigration enforcement — what if they're part of something much bigger?  In this episode, host John Carlos Frey sits down with journalist and activist Lee Stedman, whose on-the-ground reporting during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis revealed a pattern that goes far beyond deportation.  From the criminalization of rapid response networks to the rise of a coordinated interagency task force, Stedman connects the dots between surveillance technology, propaganda, and what he sees as a deliberate effort to consolidate power ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.  https://www.instagram.com/ghost_lee19/?hl=en  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On August 28, 2025, three immigrant rights activists followed an unmarked ICE vehicle through Los Angeles and livestreamed what they saw — exactly what rapid responders across Southern California had been doing for months. That afternoon ended with federal charges.  Cynthia Raygoza, Ashleigh Brown, and Sandra Samane became known as the Baldwin Park Three. Their case didn't just put three women on trial, it put the First Amendment on trial — asking whether the right to document the government ends the moment a federal agent pulls into a residential street. John Carlos Frey investigates the prosecution, the politics, and the precedent.  @ice_out_ofla  gofund.me/19efb412f  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The U.S. government wired $70 million to purchase a massive warehouse to house detained immigrants in Surprise, Arizona — without telling the mayor, the city council, or a single one of the 80,000 people who lived there. No announcement. No environmental review. No community input. Just a done deal.  In this episode of The Raid, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey unpacks how the secret purchase unfolded, who pushed back — and what happened when residents realized their own city council wasn't going to fight for them.  This is the story of Surprise, Arizona. And it could be the story of your town next.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-buys-warehouses-immigration-detention/  https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/dhs-reveals-surprise-warehouse-turned-ice-detention-facility-part-38b-plan  https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/041826_surprise_ice_warehouse/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey sits down with Lilian Serrano, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, for a powerful conversation about what's really happening along the U.S.-Mexico border — and what it means for the entire country.  Lillian grew up between Tijuana and San Diego across four generations, and has spent over a decade fighting for human rights and accountability in border enforcement. In this episode, she exposes how racial profiling, Constitutional violations, and unchecked use of force — long normalized in border communities — are now spreading to cities across America.  They discuss the staggering $240 billion in federal funding handed to ICE and Border Patrol with little to no oversight, the gutting of DHS civil rights offices, the militarization of public lands along the border, and what communities can do to fight back. This is not an episode you can afford to tune out.  https://www.southernborder.org/  https://theraidpodcast.org/  Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

He was born in the United States. He has a Real ID, a Social Security number and a birth certificate. ICE detained him three times in less than one year.  Leonardo Garcia Venegas is a 26-year-old construction worker from Baldwin County, Alabama. In May 2025, ICE agents raided a private job site, tackled him to the ground, and held him in handcuffs for over an hour — ignoring his proof of citizenship. Two weeks later, different agents made the same assumption at a different construction site. Then in May 2026 — while he was the lead plaintiff in an active federal lawsuit challenging these exact tactics — agents pulled him from his truck in front of his own house and shackled him.  In this episode of The Raid, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey traces the full story: from the first raid to the federal courthouse to the morning they came back again.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  https://www.newsweek.com/how-ice-agents-detained-one-us-citizen-three-times-11928213  https://abcnews.com/US/lawyer-us-born-citizen-detained-ice-disputes-interfering/story?id=126162608 https://ij.org/case/alabama-construction-site-raids Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey digs into the extra $70 billon just approved for ICE and Border Patrol. What is that money for and how is it all managed? The details are nothing short of a corrupt system. https://theraidpodcast.org/ https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey talks with Nayna Gupta, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council, to break down the Council's new report: Restoring Credibility and Humanity — a detailed framework proposing a path forward for U.S. immigration enforcement.  Nayna and John explore how decades of overly broad immigration laws have enabled the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda, and why simply opposing it isn't enough — elected officials need a credible alternative vision. They also discuss the political landscape in Congress, shifting public opinion, and why the Council believes now is the moment to start building consensus — before the next political opening arrives.  https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/immigration-enforcement/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey speaks with Stephen Sefton — industrial designer, philosopher, and founder of Third Coast Pillows — to explore how one small business owner is fighting back against America's deportation machine with art. When ICE raids intensified across the country — and two people were shot and killed in Minnesota — Stephen used his platform to respond. He designed a politically charged advertisement with a message about immigration enforcement: the who, what, when, and why of the tragedy in Minnesota.  Stephen speaks candidly about why he felt morally obligated to act, how his background in philosophy shapes his view that government policy doesn't define ethics, and what he believes small businesses owe to the communities they serve. A powerful conversation about art as protest, courage in the face of silence, and what it means to refuse to look away.  https://thirdcoastpillows.com/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

ICE has quietly changed how it reports deaths in immigration detention — and the change is designed to make people disappear from the record. Under the new internal policy, a death only counts as an "in-custody death" if it happens inside a detention facility. Deaths that occur after release — even the day after — are no longer reported. In this episode, John Carlos Frey breaks down exactly what this policy change means, why it was made, and who it affects — and why calling it anything other than a cover-up would be dishonest. People are dying in the custody of the United States government. And now, the government has made it significantly easier to make sure those deaths are never counted. https://theraidpodcast.org/ https://www.newsweek.com/ice-updates-reporting-policy-amid-rising-detainee-deaths-12034515  https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ice-ends-post-release-death-reporting-1800942  https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1404918-ice-ends-30-day-detainee-death-reporting-rule-amid-custody-concerns Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Award-winning journalist Jacob Soboroff — author of Separated: Inside an American Tragedy and incoming host of Connect with Jacob Soboroff (premiering June 13 on MSNOW) — sits down with host John Carlos Frey on The Raid to trace his full journey covering U.S. immigration policy.  From his first trip across the border into Tijuana during the Obama era, to the moment he walked into a converted Walmart housing 1,100 separated boys in Brownsville, TX — Soboroff reflects on what he missed, what changed him, and why he refuses to pretend injustice has "two sides." He also opens up about covering the 2025 LA wildfires that burned his childhood neighborhood, how those events shaped his new show's identity, and why he believes human connection — not neutrality — is the future of journalism.  https://www.jacobsoboroff.com/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey speaks with Austin Kocher, a political and legal geographer and Navy veteran (1999–2003), about the deeply underreported issue of immigrant veterans being detained and deported under the current administration. Kocher explains that while this problem predates the Trump administration, deportations of veterans have accelerated dramatically in recent years.  Kocher argues that the current administration has eliminated even the modest administrative protections that previous administrations — both Republican and Democratic — had extended to veteran cases, leaving immigrant veterans with virtually no shield against deportation.  https://austinkocher.substack.com/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the 1960s, the CIA recruited tens of thousands of Hmong farmers and warriors in Laos to fight a secret proxy war on behalf of the United States. They rescued downed American pilots, ran intelligence operations, and died by the thousands — doing work Congress never officially authorized. When the U.S. withdrew in 1975, it left them behind. After surviving massacres, refugee camps, and decades of displacement, most of them rebuilt their lives here, in America. Now the government is deporting them.  Since the summer of 2025, ICE has been arresting Hmong residents across Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin — many of them here for forty years, some U.S. citizens swept up in raids. In Indiana, two Southeast Asian refugees — a Cambodian man named Lorth Sim and a Vietnamese man named Tuan Van Bui — died in the same newly-opened detention facility within weeks of each other. No network interviewed their families. No crew was sent. John Carlos Frey investigates the most underreported deportation story in America: a community that fought for this country, fled to this country, and is now being erased by it — while the cameras look the other way.  https://theraidpodcast.org/  https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/hmong-deportation-ice-minnesota-laos/  https://www.startribune.com/hmong-minnesotans-face-deportation-laos-ice-arrests/601385285  https://asamnews.com/2026/04/08/cambodian-vietnamese-detainee-deaths-ice-indiana/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Four powerful Latinas — actress and activist Diane Guerrero, communications strategist Arianna Rosales, immigration attorney Grisel Ruiz, and liberation-psychology therapist Monica de la Cruz Lopez — come together as powerful unified voice, referring to themselves as, "We Ride at Dawn". They join forces at this critical time to confront the human cost of America's mass deportation machine.  In this raw and moving conversation, they share personal stories of family separation, undocumented life, immigration detention, and systemic dehumanization — and make the case that storytelling is not a retreat from crisis, but its deepest form of resistance. The group explores how shame silences immigrant communities, why psychology has historically been weaponized against the people it claims to help, and how ancestral healing, community organizing, and radical self-love can build the infrastructure for lasting change.  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Investigative journalist René Kladzyk of POGO (Project on Government Oversight) joins host John Carlos Frey to expose the troubling track record of Loyal Source Government Services, a private medical contractor operating inside ICE detention facilities — most notably Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.  Kladzyk details how Loyal Source has faced years of documented allegations: medical neglect, chronic understaffing, labor violations, deaths under their care, and failures to maintain basic medical records — yet has seen a 1,000% increase in federal contracts, reaching nearly $2 billion in fiscal year 2026.  https://www.pogo.org/investigates/troubled-ice-medical-provider-remains-at-camp-east-montana-despite-outcry  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Carlos Frey looks at the death of Kesley Vial, a 23-year-old Brazilian asylum seeker who died in 2022 at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico — a privately-run facility operated by CoreCivic. The episode investigates how CoreCivic destroyed footage from 14 surveillance cameras after Vial's suicide attempt, while preserving only 49 still images favorable to their defense — even after receiving a legal preservation demand the day he died. https://theintercept.com/2026/05/24/ice-corecivic-death-private-prison-judge/ https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey sits down with Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), to explore the escalating federal crackdown on day laborers across the US. Newman traces his path from law student to frontline advocate. He argues that immigrants defending their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights are protecting everyone's constitutional rights, not just their own, and that today's crisis may finally birth a genuine immigrant rights social movement.  https://ndlon.org/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host John Carlos Frey speaks with Rachel Jordan, Managing Attorney at Safe Passage Project, a New York City-based nonprofit organization providing free legal representation to immigrant and refugee children facing deportation. The conversation covers who unaccompanied minors are, why they come to the U.S., and the legal protections that were designed to shield them — protections now being systematically dismantled by the current administration.  Rachel explains that most of Safe Passage's clients are children fleeing gang violence, gender-based persecution, abuse, or extreme poverty in Central America, with a growing number coming from Venezuela, Ecuador, and West Africa. Many are eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), a designation requiring a court finding that a child has been abused, abandoned, or neglected — yet the administration has worked to strip these children of work permits, deferred action, and legal stability, leaving them in prolonged economic and legal limbo.  https://www.safepassageproject.org/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Trump administration has detained 400,000 immigrants from interior arrests since January 2025. But how many children did it leave behind?  In this episode of The RAID Podcast, John Carlos Frey breaks down a landmark May 2026 study from the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University — the most detailed estimate yet of how many children in America have been separated from their parents by ICE detention. The numbers are staggering and the government? It's keeping no reliable count.  Source: "How many children are affected by parental immigrant detention?" — Brookings Institution, May 2026 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-many-children-are-affected-by-parental-immigrant-detention/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Raid host, John Carlos Frey speaks with Professor David Martinez — director of the Institute for Transborder Indigenous Nations at Arizona State University and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community — about the recent bulldozing by border wall construction of Las Playas, a thousand-year-old geoglyph sacred to the Hia-Ced O'odham people of the Sonoran Desert. Professor Martinez explains the deep spiritual and ceremonial significance of the site, which he describes as a "compass" oriented north-south and linked to the O'odham salt-gathering ceremony — a ritual considered equivalent in importance to war. Martinez expresses righteous anger at the destruction, calling it entirely avoidable, while offering hope rooted in centuries of O'odham resilience: "We've survived centuries of colonization… and we'll be here for another thousand years."  https://theraidpodcast.org/  https://search.asu.edu/profile/1099665 Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this deeply personal and investigative episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey sits down with former Border Patrol agent and whistleblower Jenn Budd to expose what she describes as a systemic culture of sexual misconduct within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Border Patrol, and ICE. Budd, who joined the Border Patrol in 1995, opens by recounting her own sexual trauma during training at the federal law enforcement academy in Glynn County, Georgia — an experience she kept secret for over 15 years, even from her wife.  From her personal trauma, the conversation broadens into a sweeping indictment of a deeply entrenched institutional culture. Budd and Frey walk through a documented list of over 170 agents with allegations or convictions for serious sexual crimes — including rape, child pornography, and sexual assault of migrants. https://theraidpodcast.org/ https://www.amazon.com/Against-Wall-Journey-Immigrant-Activist/dp/1942762933 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent has been indicted on 29 felony charges including ten counts of child sex trafficking. But the case of Bart Conrad Yager isn't just about one agent. It's about a federal agency that had warning signs more than a decade ago and looked away. In this episode, John Carlos Frey breaks down the Yager indictment, the 2014 rape allegation CBP never investigated, and a mounting pattern of sexual misconduct cases against CBP employees. With oversight mechanisms weakening and hiring surges accelerating, Frey asks the question no one at DHS wants to answer: who else fell through the cracks?  https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_5e596767-4575-485b-88e8-0a6265e5bb41.html  https://www.kjzz.org/fronteras-desk/2025-07-23/former-tucson-border-patrol-agent-indicted-on-10-counts-of-child-sex-trafficking-other-felonies  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of The Raid, John Carlos Frey sits down with Adam Isaacson to unpack the systematic dismantling of oversight and accountability mechanisms within the Department of Homeland Security — and what it means for migrants, Border Patrol agents, ICE officials and American democracy. Isaacson, author of the report The Dismantling of Internal Oversight and Accountability at DHS, walks through the agencies tasked with keeping ICE and Customs and Border Protection in check.  https://www.wola.org/staff/adam-isacson/  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Investigative journalist John Carlos Frey has spent 20 years covering ICE and Border Patrol. What he found will shock you. The three highest-ranking officials at the U.S. Border Patrol have all been implicated in sexual misconduct. The current chief bragged about paying for sex abroad — then abolished the agency's anti-fraternization policy. His two deputies left after sexually victimizing female employees. Three officials. Three sex scandals. Zero accountability. Frey documents over 170 cases of criminal behavior by agents nationwide — child sexual abuse material, assault, kidnapping of minors, convicted agents returned to duty with their firearms. And Congress just handed these agencies more money than they've ever had in history. Oversight dismantled. Hiring standards lowered. Accountability measures stripped out. This isn't a few bad apples. This is a system designed to protect predators — funded by your tax dollars. https://theraidpodcast.org/ https://open.substack.com/pub/raidpodcast/p/the-worst-of-the-worst?r=5r26a&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Celeste, co-founder of People Over Papers and ICEOUT.org, discusses the organizations' collaborative effort to map ICE enforcement activity across the US. ICEOUT.org is an anonymous, community-powered platform where users can report and view confirmed ICE sightings on an interactive map. The platform was built to give communities real-time, data-backed awareness of enforcement patterns in their neighborhoods. https://iceout.org/en/ https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.       Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The U.S. government made a promise to half a million people who grew up in in the United States — and it's breaking that promise quietly, deliberately, and one policy at a time. In this episode, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey breaks down the real-time dismantling of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). This isn't happening through a single executive order. It's happening through delayed renewals, secret memos, stacked courts, and administrative rulings most Americans never hear about. This is the most dangerous moment in DACA's 14-year history, and this episode documents exactly how we got here.  https://www.npr.org/2026/04/25/nx-s1-5798943/justice-department-makes-it-easier-to-deport-those-with-daca-status  https://edsource.org/2026/daca-renewal-delays-educators/756448  https://www.npr.org/2026/04/25/nx-s1-5798943/justice-department-makes-it-easier-to-deport-those-with-daca-status Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sara Hernandez — candidate for California State Senate District 26 — joins host John Carlos Frey to talk about what it's like to run for office in a district under siege. A former middle school teacher in South L.A., immigration attorney, and current president of the L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees, Sara brings a ground-level perspective to some of the most pressing issues facing East Los Angeles communities right now.  She shares stories from her classroom — students caught between academic ambition and the threat of deportation — and explains why those experiences led her first to law, then to politics. The conversation covers the limits and possibilities of state-level action against federal immigration enforcement, the constitutional questions raised by ICE's use of administrative warrants, the economic case for immigration reform, the housing crisis squeezing working families out of California, and why her mother's words — "if not you, then who?" — pushed her to run.  Sara also discusses her campaign on the ground: canvassing alongside rapid response networks, her key endorsements from Supervisor Hilda Solis, civil rights icon, Dolores Huerta and major labor unions, and what's at stake for communities in Boyle Heights, Pico Union, Echo Park, and beyond in the June 2nd primary.  @sarahernandez.26  https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For more than twenty years, Meenu Batra sat inside courtrooms and recorded everything — testimony, rulings, the words spoken on the most consequential days of people's lives. She had legal status. She had a career built on institutional trust. She was as embedded in the American legal system as anyone could be. Then ICE apprehended her. In this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey speaks with Gaige Davila — freelance investigative journalist, former Texas Public Radio Border and Immigration Reporter, correspondent for Deceleration News, and contributor to The Texas Observer. Gaige broke the story of what happened to this immigration court reporter in a recent piece published by The Texas Observer — a story that raises urgent questions about due process, the targeting of legal status holders, and what it means when the people who work inside the justice system are no longer safe from it. This is not a story about someone who crossed a border without documentation. This is a story about a woman who spent two decades serving the court — and what happened when the court's enforcement arm turned its attention to her. https://www.texasobserver.org/immigration-court-interpreter-arrested-ice-south-texas-airport/ https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.