Racial profiling is not law enforcement. It is an abuse of power.

When the agents moved next door to a vehicle service shop, bystanders captured video of an agent forcefully throwing a Latino employee to the ground. The shop’s manager later told local media that the employee was a U.S. citizen and that agents appeared to single him out because of his skin color and accent. The agents offered no explanation, displayed no warrants, and did not identify themselves. The only apparent basis for the stop was the worker’s appearance—and the way he spoke English.

That matters. The Constitution does not permit law enforcement to stop, question, or detain people simply because of race, ethnicity, or perceived national origin. Racial profiling is not only unethical; it is illegal.
The Anaheim incident is especially telling because it was not confined to one location or one individual. Workers at the car wash told reporters that agents chased “anyone who ran.” That is not reasonable suspicion. It is indiscriminate enforcement.

Local officials now confirm that the problem extends far beyond a single encounter. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis has reported that federal agents conducted aggressive identity checks of county government officials in public parks. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman disclosed that one of his own staff members was briefly detained by ICE and later released—an incident he described as unacceptable and deeply distressing.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied that any such detention occurred and dismissed all allegations of racial profiling as “false” and “disgusting.” But those denials are increasingly difficult to reconcile with the growing body of video evidence, eyewitness testimony, and corroborated reports emerging from multiple jurisdictions.

What happened in Los Angeles and Orange counties mirrors events unfolding thousands of miles away.

In Minnesota, armed ICE agents recently forced entry into the home of a naturalized U.S. citizen while searching for undocumented suspects who were not even living there. The man, a Hmong American in his 50s, was handcuffed and dragged outside barefoot and half-naked into subzero temperatures. He was photographed, fingerprinted, and detained—then released without explanation. DHS later said he “matched the description” of a suspect and initially refused to cooperate.

But matching a “description” cannot mean sharing an ethnicity.
Taken together, these cases expose a troubling reality: immigration enforcement is increasingly relying on race-based suspicion and coercive force, rather than individualized evidence.

DHS insists its agents are pursuing dangerous criminals. Yet in Anaheim, no arrests were made. In Minnesota, a citizen was humiliated and released. In Los Angeles County, even a prosecutor’s office employee was briefly detained. If the goal is public safety, these outcomes defy logic.

Racial profiling does not make communities safer. It does the opposite. It erodes trust, discourages cooperation with law enforcement, and places citizens and lawful residents at risk of wrongful detention. It also exposes the government to serious legal liability, as courts have long made clear that accent, skin color, or ethnic appearance cannot justify stops or arrests.

Immigration enforcement is an administrative function. It is governed by statutes, warrants, and constitutional limits. It is not a license to conduct dragnet operations based on who “looks” undocumented.
The video from the Orange County car wash is disturbing not only because of what it shows, but because of how familiar it feels: masked agents, unmarked vehicles, no explanations, no accountability. That is not targeted enforcement. It is intimidation.

ICE must immediately halt any practice that allows agents to stop, question, or detain individuals based on race, accent, or appearance. Congress and the courts have been clear—racial profiling is prohibited. DHS cannot claim to uphold the rule of law while violating it in plain sight.

If immigration enforcement is to retain any legitimacy, it must be rooted in evidence, restraint, and respect for constitutional rights. What communities are witnessing now is none of those things.

Racial profiling is not law enforcement. It is an abuse of power—and it must stop.

By Mooyoung Lee [lee.mooyoung@koreadaily.com]