-
In October 2025, after Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency, the claim circulated that the reason behind the declaration was that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids had exposed “foreign-backed tunnels, safe houses and trafficking hubs” in the area.
-
The claim appeared to come from an article on Gazeteller.com, an independent news website that receives reader-submitted articles.
-
According to that article, the Departments of Defense and Justice were assisting ICE in an investigation into an alleged “hidden logistics network” that used nonprofit organizations and people without legal status in the US to “dark money, globalist data tracking operations and, in some cases, organ harvesting.”
-
ICE had reportedly discovered that network during its raids, leading the local government (Los Angeles County) to attempt to block further federal access through a state of emergency declaration, according to Gazeteller.com.
-
Los Angeles County Supervisors Lindsey P. Horvath and Janice Hahn, who co-introduced the state of emergency declaration, dismissed the emailed article as “absurd.”
-
Snopes could not independently verify Gazeteller.com’s claim. We reached out to the federal departments and agencies mentioned in the article to ask if they could confirm the reported details and wait for a response.
In October 2025, a say (filed) circulated online that Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids exposed “tunnels, safe houses and foreign-backed trafficking centers” in the area.
Los Angeles County includes dozens of cities in Southern California, the most populous of which is Los Angeles. county supervisors voted declare a state of emergency on October 14, 2025, after ICE stepped up enforcement actions in June (filed).
Popular unknown and Facebook (filed) posts sharing the claim began with an all-caps headline that read: “Los Angeles DECLARE STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER TRUMP ICE RAIDS EXPOSE FOREIGN-BACKED TUNNELS, SHELTERS AND TRAFFIC CENTERS HIDDEN WITHIN SANCTUARY PROGRAMS.”
The claim also circulated in instagram (filed) and Rags (filed). Snopes readers wrote in asking if the claim was true.
Los Angeles County’s state of emergency declaration made no mention of the ICE findings or the reported investigation. According to the statement, the state of emergency was necessary because ICE raids had “created a climate of fear” that kept people affected by law enforcement actions in their homes, causing “long-term harm to workers, families and businesses.”
The claim appeared to come from an (archived) article on Gazetteller.com that featured the same all-caps headline seen in online claims. Gazeteller.com is an independent news website that accepts reader-submitted articles. That article appeared to be the only source of the claim, as searches on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo produced no similar reports from other news outlets (archived, archived, archived, archived).
The Gazeteller.com article claimed that ICE raids had “exposed foreign-backed tunnels, safe houses and trafficking centers” within “sanctuary programs.” According to Gazeteller.com, the Departments of Defense and Justice were assisting ICE in an investigation into an alleged “shadow network” that used nonprofit organizations and people without legal status in the US to “dark money, globalist data tracking operations and, in some cases, organ harvesting.”
The central claim of the article was that the real reason Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency was to try to keep federal agents away after the discovery of the alleged “hidden logistics network.” Snopes could not independently verify this claim. Therefore, we leave this story unclassified.
Los Angeles County Supervisors Lindsey P. Horvath and Janice Hahn, who co-introduced after the state of emergency was declared, he told Snopes via email: “This is absurd. There is not one iota of truth in this. What is true is that ICE is terrorizing our communities and ripping law-abiding people from their workplaces and their families.”
We reached out to ICE and the Departments of Defense and Justice to ask if they could confirm the details of the Gazeteller.com article and await responses to our questions. We also approach Gazetteer.com to ask what sources they used for the article and wait for a response.
Los Angeles County statement is a response to ‘climate of fear’
Although Gazetteller.com claimed it was the alleged ICE discoveries that prompted the state of emergency declaration, the Los Angeles County statement said it was the effects of the raids on the local population that prompted the county to act.
Los Angeles County wrote in its state of emergency declaration:
Law enforcement actions and tactics have created a climate of fear, resulting in widespread disruption to daily life and adverse impacts on our regional economy due to decreased workplace attendance, temporary or permanent closure of businesses and restaurants, and increased pressure on our local institutions such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
Horvath, who co-sponsored the declaration, said it would allow the county to “protect and stabilize” communities affected by ICE actions.
In practice, the declaration allowed officials to seek financial assistance and mutual aid outside the county to support people affected by ICE enforcement actions. That could mean helping them financially or with free legal assistance. The declaration allowed the county to accelerate hiring and acquisitions to achieve this.
The statement does not mention any of the alleged ICE discoveries that Gazetteller.com reported. The website article referenced “internal reports” that said Los Angeles County was using the statement to block federal oversight. Snopes could not find or independently verify these reports.
DHS and ICE websites silent on alleged findings
At the time of this writing, neither the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nor ICE had publicly confirmed any details of the Gazeteller.com article.
ICE stepped up its activity in the city of Los Angeles starting June 6, according to Mayor Karen Bass. ICE saying on June 7 that agents arrested 118 people without legal status in the United States in Los Angeles that week. that number was above to 5,000 arrests by the end of August.
Searches on DHS and ICE websites and social media News about tunnels in Los Angeles produced no results. DHS, ICE, and other government departments do not publish information about all of their work online and may conceal discoveries related to ongoing investigations.
In short, Snopes was unable to independently verify the central claim of the Gazeteller.com article. We await responses from several departments and agencies to inquiries about the details of the article, which two Los Angeles County supervisors called “absurd.”
Los Angeles County’s state of emergency declaration remained in effect at the time of this writing and could only be lifted by the Board of Supervisors. ICE and DHS enforcement actions also continued in Los Angeles and across the country despite the ongoing US government shutdown.
Sources:
Canavan, Will. “Board proclaims immigration emergency in Los Angeles County”. Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath, October 15, 2025, https://lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov/immigration-emergency-declaration/.
Despite riots and assaults, ICE and Border Patrol arrest the worst illegal alien criminals, including rapists, gang members, murderers and pedophiles in Los Angeles | National security. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/27/despite-riots-and-assaults-ice-and-border-patrol-arrest-worst-worst-criminal. Accessed October 24, 2025.
DHS Releases Statement on Violent Rioters Who Assaulted ICE Officers in Los Angeles, CA and Calls on Democratic Politicians to Tone Down Dangerous Rhetoric About ICE | National security. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/07/dhs-releases-statement-violent-rioters-assaulting-ice-officers-los-angeles-ca-and. Accessed October 24, 2025.
ICE arrests the worst of the worst: predators, murderers and child sexual thieves | National security. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/10/24/ice-arrests-worst-worst-child-sexual-predators-murderers-and-thieves. Accessed October 24, 2025.
“LA DECLARES A STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER TRUMP’S ICE RAIDS EXPOSE FOREIGN-BACKED TUNNELS, SHELTERS AND TRAFFIC CENTERS HIDDEN WITHIN SANCTUARY PROGRAMS!” Gazetteller.Com, Oct. 23, 2025, https://gazetteller.com/la-declares-state-of-emergency-after-trumps-ice-raids-expose-tunnels-safehouses-and-foreign-backed-trafficking-hubs-hidden-inside-sanctuary-programs/.
“What does the Los Angeles Emergency Declaration mean about ICE raids?” LAist, October 15, 2025, https://laist.com/news/politics/what-does-las-emergency-declaration-on-the-ice-raids-mean.
X, et al. “Los Angeles County declares state of emergency to fight ICE immigration raids”. Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2025, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-15/la-county-declares-state-of-emergency-to-fight-back-against-ice-immigration-raids.
YEN, EDWARD, et al. “Proclamation of Existence of a Local Emergency for Federal Immigration Actions in Los Angeles County.” County Attorney’s Office, Oct. 14, 2025, https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/bos/supdocs/208457.pdf.