The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleges that U.S. immigration agents used Google to select businesses for immigration raids in the Los Angeles area, according to new evidence filed in a federal lawsuit seeking to halt the operations.
Court filings claim agents conducted mobile patrols without specific targets and searched Google for nearby businesses before choosing a car wash in Whittier for a June 2025 enforcement operation. According to testimony included in the filing, the business was selected because it appeared as one of the closest locations in the search results.
The lawsuit also alleges that a U.S. citizen of Latino descent was detained during the operation while agents verified his immigration status.
The ACLU’s filing includes body camera footage that it says captures agents making racist remarks about Latino and working-class individuals. The organization argues the evidence shows the operations relied on racial profiling and is asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the raids in Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
