ICE Isn’t About Immigration with Memo Torres *TEASER*

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Are you actually worried about some some retribution?

[00:00:02]>> Yeah, I think we're definitely going down that road.

[00:00:04]>> Yeah, I mean they're really good at provoking people. It's always a group of six or seven running together because they're afraid of community coming out and yelling at them.

[00:00:11]A whole bunch of [ __ ] Being grabbed and taken is one thing, but where they end up, that's like that's what needs to get shut down. I think right now the concentration and the focus should be at the detention center. The some of the bravest people out there are the women.

[00:00:23]The soccer moms.

[00:00:24]>> Have you ever been contacted by a family member of an ICE agent?

[00:00:30]To say like, [music] "This is my cousin.

[00:00:32]This is my brother." or something. "This is what I know."

[00:00:36]>> Yeah.

[00:00:36]>> Here in Southern California, we know there are a lot of black and brown ICE agents, a lot of Latinos, Asians as well.

[00:00:43]How do you make sense of that?

[00:00:44]>> Nobody's more [ __ ] racist than Mexicans. And I told her, I'm like, "Look, we just we need strong leadership. You're not pulling people together." Like, this is some crazy ass [ __ ] cuz this is what's really happening. ICE is not about immigrants.

[00:00:59]>> What do you do [music] when local media is dying, but your local community is under attack? You document it in detail.

[00:01:06]My guest is LA Taco's Memo Torres, who is the host of the Daily Memo that has been tracking ICE raids in Los Angeles and beyond every single day. He's also a huge foodie and has a lot of opinions about the best tacos in Los Angeles.

[00:01:23]Welcome, Memo Torres, to The Situation Room.

[00:01:26]>> Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

[00:01:28]>> Yeah, yeah. So, you're the son of immigrants, born and raised in Los Angeles. You are third generation Jarocho, from what I read. Uh you had a landscaping company that you sold to focus on journalism. You're a foodie.

[00:01:42]You've reviewed many taquerias throughout the city. I feel like everything that you've done, whether it's in your work or in your reporting, is really about immigrant culture, and specifically the culture of LA. So, when we say like, immigrants built this country or immigrants are of the fabric of this country, what does that mean to you as an Angeleno?

[00:02:04]>> I mean and that's the truth. That's my reality. I mean growing up and like my family, you know, the it it Growing up as a jardinero, you know, it's like you go out and and and it's that was I mean I did a bunch of jobs.

[00:02:16]I've had like 20 something jobs. I've I've worked at taquerias. I've worked at liquor stores. I've worked at different places.

[00:02:22]Um so from my upbringing, my viewpoint is always like this is the real LA.

[00:02:27]The immigrant, you know, the immigrants that that that raised it and built it and took care of it. Um from their houses to the streets.

[00:02:35]Um and then there's the LA that they think they know, which is the LA that's [snorts] usually, you know, the major media focuses on, which is the strip from like West Hollywood, Silver Lake to Malibu.

[00:02:46]Down down Wilshire and Sunset. Um so there's always been two LAs for me, you know? There's the the people we serve. And then there's the people that actually live it and bring the culture and bring the beauty and build it. Um so for me that's kind of the reason why I really love LA Taco and joined LA Taco because it was very focused on highlighting those communities for me.

[00:03:09]>> Yeah.

[00:03:09]>> You know? So for me that's for me that's that's my LA.

[00:03:12]>> Yeah. A working LA, too.

[00:03:14]>> Working LA. And people that love it here and they're proud of it. Like I mean we we would work on these projects building these hotels or parks or hospitals and and you know, the people would be like the that I worked with. All immigrants and you would be proud of it. Like yeah, we did that. We built that.

[00:03:30]Meanwhile, some guy, you know, white guy in a suit goes and cuts the ribbon and be like I did this. You're like yeah, bro. Which plan or which brick did you lay, you know?

[00:03:37]>> Absolutely.

[00:03:38]>> But people forget that.

[00:03:39]>> I mean and now it's like you have a white nationalist administration. I mean you've got sadly a I guess he's an Angeleno, Stephen Miller, national security advisor who who we know this is all his fantasy that we're just living in.

[00:03:55]Trying to like de-brown and de-immigrant Los Angeles >> Mhm.

[00:04:00]>> and Southern California. Something that is impossible and also not geographically accurate in >> No.

[00:04:08]He'll never do it.

[00:04:09]>> when the US was created, how this used to be Mexico, etc. >> Mhm.

[00:04:14]Yeah, I know. I mean, [ __ ] [snorts] Stephen Miller. [ __ ] you, Stephen Miller.

[00:04:18]>> Yeah.

[00:04:18]>> I mean, this guy, he's from Samo He went to Santa Monica High School. He's local here. And I think I read somewhere that the reason why he hates Mexicans specifically so much is because he has he had a lot toxic Latina girlfriend.

[00:04:30]>> [laughter] >> Way to blame the Latinas. They're like This is what you That is First of all, I >> That's what I read. No. First of all, I understand that girl. I would totally have like Yeah, if >> Yeah.

[00:04:43]>> If you were I was Stephen Miller, yeah, [ __ ] this guy. He's production from the beginning. Have you seen his videos in high school?

[00:04:48]>> Oh, yeah. He's like, "Why should we pick up our >> trash?"

[00:04:50]>> Yeah.

[00:04:50]>> Stephen Miller, I know he wasn't, but he does have the energy of someone who was always bald.

[00:04:56]>> [laughter] >> I can't imagine him with hair.

[00:05:00]>> Like I get it. If you were all If you were a 13-year-old bald kid, understood.

[00:05:03]But no, I think he was a definitely like a demon seed >> Yeah.

[00:05:07]>> and or a Latina girlfriend, uh you know, was a little too was like, >> What the [ __ ] is wrong with him? Yeah.

[00:05:13]>> He's like, "I don't open doors."

[00:05:14]>> Yeah. So, I don't blame that Latina. I get her. I understand her. I I applaud her for surviving that relationship.

[00:05:20]>> [laughter] >> The premise of a a day without a Mexican, I mean, no city would grind to a more screeching halt than Los Angeles were that true.

[00:05:29]>> Yeah. I mean, seriously, I mean, I think there's like 3 million immigrants here in the city alone. Um about 1.5 of them contribute our work in the city. Um I mean, think about 17% of LA's budget comes from undocumented immigrants. And I mean, it's just it's a you can't Come on.

[00:05:49]Think of LA without our immigrants. What kind of city is that?

[00:05:51]>> No, a terrible one.

[00:05:52]>> Yeah, it's all transplants and media moguls.

[00:05:55]>> It's Palm Springs, but worse. It's just a green golf course that's brown because no one's there to water it.

[00:06:02]>> Yeah, exactly. No one's there to mow it.

[00:06:03]>> What's changed in this year? And also, did you think this would still be going on a year ago?

[00:06:12]>> I remember the first couple weeks we were I were covering ICE raids. The main question was like, "But this is over in 30 days. I heard this is going to be over in 30 days." I was like, "No, it's not. It's going to be long-term. It's going to be going the whole administration." So, I'm not surprised it's still going. Um what I am surprised is how um interestingly enough they've had to change and adapt their tactics based on either rapid response um response um um also people's opinions.

[00:06:36]>> Yep.

[00:06:37]>> You know, they killed Renee Good and Alex Preddy and the that too was enough for the administration to pull back and fire people and make some changes.

[00:06:45]>> There's been change in the last year, specifically personnel change at the DHS level. Kirstjen Nielsen gets fired, ostensibly unrelated to the ICE handling in Minneapolis.

[00:06:57]>> Basically cuz she threw Trump under the bus saying that Trump approved the her expenditures and that $200 million ad.

[00:07:03]>> It was it was just the ads that did it, not the fact that ICE murdered Renee Good and Alex Preddy in cold blood. But anyway, we'll take it.

[00:07:10]>> That drew attention to her and drew a questioning to her. And Trump didn't care about anything else other than I bet. He got implicated in the you know, the money scandal that she was lottery money.

[00:07:19]>> When she he's like, "Only I get to launder money. Hang on. Hang on." Um and then of course, Greg Bovino was out, right? The little uh little Napoleon of DHS of ICE.

[00:07:29]>> Yep.

[00:07:30]>> Um who liked to rappel off of apartment buildings in the middle of the night uh and do crazy [ __ ] like that.

[00:07:37]>> Or to tear gas at kids in the street.

[00:07:39]>> Absolutely.

[00:07:40]>> Yeah.

[00:07:40]>> And it And it themselves, as we've seen ICE do a bang-up job at throwing tear gas at themselves.

[00:07:46]>> Mhm.

[00:07:47]>> Um and now we have former senator um and also >> MMA fighter.

[00:07:55]>> MMA fighter, former senator, and then Tom Homan who really does sound like a high school bully got out of dental surgery.

[00:08:00]>> [laughter] >> I mean like a Ren and Stimpy character straight up.

[00:08:07]>> Yeah.

[00:08:08]>> Um and give me a read. Are they responding to public pressure? Do you feel like they're changing tactics because of some of not just the you know resistance, but also the reporting on exactly these atrocities that are happening on a daily basis?

[00:08:24]>> Yeah, most definitely. I mean I I mean look, they fired they fired Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino and a lot of it had to do with the shooting of the two white people, right? Alex Braddy and uh Renee Good. There's 64 other people that have died and nobody's paid attention to them really. But yeah, after that they got fired and um you know, Mark Mullin has just literally has been saying you know, he's going for a quieter approach.

[00:08:48]>> Mhm.

[00:08:48]>> Tom Homan is saying that massive protection is still the goal and you know, he emphasized that you ain't seen [ __ ] quote unquote.

[00:08:55]Um so they're changing strategy and changing tactics. They're trying to keep the noise down.

[00:08:59]>> Mhm.

[00:08:59]>> And I've seen instances where like they've gone out and they've rammed another patrol's vehicle and they you know, they they they harass them and take them to the hospital and start getting attention.

[00:09:08]Supervisor will come in and be like let them go. Just let them go. Let it let the story die.

[00:09:12]Cuz they don't want that kind of attention. So yeah, there's an emphasis on them trying to do the operations, increase the operations, but doing them quieter so they don't get the national attention or get the viral videos because they've been losing a lot of support from the GOP, their fan base.

[00:09:26]>> When did you guys actually start doing the daily memo and tracking these ICE raids and getting you know, the reports specifically and and and decided to you know what? Someone's got to do this.

[00:09:37]When When did you guys start?

[00:09:38]>> Yeah, so the the we started First it was the the protest that started um after the raid on June 6th where they came down to the apparel company in downtown LA at the Fashion District. And then there was 9 days of protest, 3-day pro- uh protest in downtown LA. That's when, you know, as we said, LAPD, CHP, um every agency came out to like basically beat up protesters. And then >> Free-for-all.

[00:10:00]>> Free-for-all. You know, National Guard came down to like protect federal buildings, the DHS were out there. It was a big old shitshow. Like every And then even LAPD and sheriffs were firing at each other cuz they didn't even know what the what the hell they were doing.

[00:10:12]So [snorts] >> No.

[00:10:13]>> Yeah, you didn't hear about that? No, this They were >> No, but that just seems crazy. LAPD and sheriffs just firing willy-nilly. When has that ever happened?

[00:10:21]>> No, it's not like they don't like to go out there and bust heads. They're excited about it. So we were down there covering that for like 9 straight days, and then at that same time I started getting all these reports about raids happening all over the city, and it was like, okay, well, we started reporting on each one individually, but it was so much. It was like, how do we report on every single one? And so then uh my team had the idea of the me doing the daily memo. I was on vacation, I came back to like, "Memo, we got this idea for you."

[00:10:43]>> Oh boy. That's when the worst things happen. You're out You're away, and then >> First of all, they feel the impact of you being away. They're like, "Shit, where's Memo?"

[00:10:51]>> "Where's Memo? We need you to do this thing called the daily memo." And I was like, "That's cheesy as hell cuz my name's Memo, I get the pun."

[00:10:58]>> I'm a stand-up comic, trust me, that would be That'd be your special. It's like, got the memo >> Yeah.

[00:11:04]>> with Memo's daughter.

[00:11:05]>> The daily memo with Memo.

[00:11:06]>> [laughter] >> No, so I was like, "I'm not doing it."

[00:11:08]>> with these ICE agents? Anyway, we'll workshop it.

[00:11:11]>> [laughter] >> So, you come back and this and you guys start What What day did you start?

[00:11:16]>> So So because there was so much going on to cover, I couldn't cover everything every single day, and it took time to verify things and get information.

[00:11:23]So I decided on June 10th was the very first day I decided to do a recap video, which I didn't call it the daily memo on that day, but >> We were like, "I refuse."

[00:11:31]>> Yeah, I refuse, and then finally it was like, okay, I'll call it The Daily Memo.

[00:11:35]And that's what it and then it was born.

[00:11:37]So, July June 20th was the first day I think I called it The Daily Memo.

[00:11:40]>> How does The Daily Memo come together every single edition?

[00:11:44]>> Yeah, for the first 120 days I was in it alone, but now thanks to member support and people donations and people buying merch, um, we I now have a staff. So, I recruited uh, this kid named Izzy. I have Aisha, too. Um, Aisha helps me do D-Tides. Izzy helps me keep track of the raids. Um, and then we also have Irwin, goes by Los Ocos, who helps me build, um, all the information into a document.

[00:12:06]So, we Every day we're getting information.

[00:12:08]We're tracking videos online. Um, we're we're contacting rapid response groups.

[00:12:13]And we're verifying information with everybody and then sending that information to Irwin.

[00:12:17]Um, Izzy's helping me build up the context around the getting the stories behind each individual raid.

[00:12:22]>> And people are contacting you guys through a hotline or is it DMs or kind of all of the above?

[00:12:27]>> Um, through DMs, um, and but things are kind of like, you know, at first it was all over the [ __ ] place.

[00:12:33]>> Mhm.

[00:12:33]>> It was it was just all over the place.

[00:12:35]But now there's kind of some systems have been in place and so now there's some routines. So, now a lot of information gets through the responders first and then they feed us that information.

[00:12:43]Um, if we get information on the side, then we feed that back to the responders and they verify things for us.

[00:12:48]>> And rapid responders, these are people who are taking time out of their week, out of their day and they're basically tailing ICE and figuring out where they're at. Um, because, correct me if I'm wrong, but every morning, you know, ICE kind of deploy from the same spot.

[00:13:01]Can you just explain how that works?

[00:13:03]>> Yeah, so for a long time, so there's different agencies. There's Border Patrol, there's ICE and then there's HSI and ERO. HSI and ERO are work under ICE, are part of the arms of ICE. Border Patrol is a separate agency that was also doing, um, raids. Border Patrol is gone, but but when Border Patrol was here, they were the ones based out of Terminal Island. ICE is based out of their field offices which are in Santa Ana, San Bernardino, Camarillo, um, downtown LA and the new one in Van Nuys. So, yeah, every morning people will document the cars coming out. Call them bolos, be on the lookouts.

[00:13:33]>> Mhm.

[00:13:34]>> So, people will document the bolos, the cars, the license plates, send them out to rapid responders, and then they're out in the neighborhoods early in the morning looking for the bolos.

[00:13:41]And then when they spot them, they start tracking them, following them, and then they start, you know, documenting the arrest or the kidnappings. And um yeah, it's a whole community effort, and then they they document those things, and then they share them with their other groups. We get the information fed to us. We document it on our on our side.

[00:13:57]We get the videos, too, and we have been creating an archive as well. And so, it's just really a big community effort.

[00:14:02]>> it's a it's a truly a humanitarian effort. It's an it's a journalistic effort from LA Taco. It's a humanitarian effort. It's a community effort. It's all of these things combined. And I will just say I am a terrible rapid responder cuz I tried to tail an ICE agent cuz I found out they were in my neighborhood. I tried to tail them.

[00:14:20]>> Yeah.

[00:14:20]>> And I you know, you got to make some kind of ballsy turns. You got to make some moves. Otherwise, you're going to lose them.

[00:14:26]I >> Yeah, I know. Some >> I obey traffic laws way too seriously.

[00:14:30]>> I'll tell you this, some of the bravest people out there are the women.

[00:14:34]The soccer moms, you know, shout out Angie Vargas, shout out shout out Miss Sante. Um you guys are [ __ ] amazing.

[00:14:40]Yeah, they have more balls than like I would be, too, like getting up in their faces like that.

[00:14:44]>> You know, I've seen that across the country is that like women are really stepping up in their communities. Um even just me and like my friend group, we're like, you know, we'll have like certain meetings and like, you know, figure out what how to you know, how to support, what to do. And then we look around and like everyone's a woman.

[00:15:01]>> [laughter] >> We're just like, maybe we should get some of our partners or our [ __ ] brothers in this. ICE is using their vehicles in, I think, some of the most reckless and insane ways and doing the things that we saw happen in to Renee Nicole Good, like putting their bodies in front of cars and then shooting them almost defensively uh rather than just getting the [ __ ] out the way.

[00:15:24]>> Yeah.

[00:15:25]>> Uh what are some of the other tactics that you've witnessed and that we should all know about? Like the kinds of things that they're they're doing.

[00:15:33]>> Yeah, I mean they're really good at provoking people.

[00:15:35]You know, what what what they want to do is provoke people. I mean, um one of the things they'll do is like when they were raiding Home Depots, they would jump out and they would charge at somebody, like kind of bull charge them. And if the people ran away, they'd use that as an excuse that they were, you know, a suspect that had reasonable suspicion.

[00:15:51]Um they'll go and they'll reverse into cars and then claim that those cars rear-ended them.

[00:15:56]>> [laughter] >> They'll do all kinds of uh uh stupid things like that, though.

[00:16:00]They'll pull people over on the street and then they'll go up to them and um if they don't roll down their windows, then that's an excuse for them to break the window.

[00:16:07]You know, even if it's a citizen or if it's somebody documented.

[00:16:10]>> From the pattern that you've seen of this kind of behavior, um do you think that this is part of the training, that they're being told to do this, or do you think it's more of a do whatever you want?

[00:16:22]>> Yeah, well, the course there was a there was a a whistleblower who was one of the people that was training ICE agents who testified in front of Congress and said uh basically, yeah, that they cut down the hours to to uh what was it? 47 hours of training.

[00:16:37]>> Yep.

[00:16:39]>> number 47, right?

[00:16:40]>> Oh god. Did they do that on purpose? Oh god.

[00:16:43]>> Yeah. So, they did that and then they did a >> just watching memes. The whole thing is just >> Yeah.

[00:16:47]>> looking at different dank memes and seeing which ones make them laugh, like >> Exactly, cuz they're a whole meme society over there.

[00:16:53]>> Yeah.

[00:16:53]>> They carry their own like pro- propaganda cameras around them to record them to do these propaganda videos, to do AI art. Um but they also they cut down the the the they they went from and I read this whole report on how they used to be you know, when you take a test, you're supposed to pass the test, right, before they let you go on?

[00:17:11]>> Sure.

[00:17:12]>> There's no passing or failing. There's just completing the training now.

[00:17:15]>> Right.

[00:17:16]>> So, you don't even have to pass this test.

[00:17:18]>> That whistleblower, Ryan Schwoenk, said that agents were told to violate the Constitution. And then another DHS official said that cadets can quote barely read or write.

[00:17:29]>> Mhm.

[00:17:29]>> Uh as evidence, what are some of the dumber things you've seen ICE agents do?

[00:17:34]>> Yeah, I've seen them I've seen them run and drop their guns, drop their mags.

[00:17:37]I've seen them um I've seen them shoot themselves like in actual videos. I've seen one guy shoot at another guy and then shoot the other guy with a ricochet bullet. Um yeah, it's it's it's some pretty stupid stuff.

[00:17:51]>> And then of course the slipping on all the ice.

[00:17:53]>> The slipping on the ice, uh running and pulling their hamstrings cuz they're so old and fat, um breaking a leg.

[00:18:00]>> Apparently there's a physical test.

[00:18:02]>> Yeah.

[00:18:02]>> Allegedly.

[00:18:03]>> Allegedly.

[00:18:04]>> Another thing the ICE whistleblower did say was that a lot of the people who are ICE agents and cadets are first generation immigrants, are second generation immigrants. And here in Southern California, we know there are a lot of black and brown ICE agents, a lot of Latinos, Asians as well.

[00:18:20]How do you make sense of that? What is your perspective? And um is this just kind of a facet of Southern California politics where it's like just cuz you're Latino or Asian doesn't mean you can't also be a piece of [ __ ] >> [laughter]