NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 6: An ICE agent monitors hundreds of asylum seekers being processed upon entering the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on June 6, 2023 in New York City. New York City has provided sanctuary to over 46,000 asylum seekers since 2013, when the city passed a law prohibiting city agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement agencies unless there is a warrant for the person's arrest.(Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Los Angeles County, California – Newly released surveillance footage from a Southern California school has sparked outrage and renewed calls for accountability after federal immigration officers were allegedly caught urinating on school property near a playground in broad daylight.
The El Rancho Unified School District released video footage Wednesday from June 17, showing a group of immigration agents — reportedly from both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — entering the grounds of Ruben Salazar High School in Pico Rivera without a warrant. According to district officials, approximately ten marked and unmarked vehicles pulled onto campus between 8:54 and 9:04 a.m. Surveillance cameras captured several agents relieving themselves behind shipping containers located near an active summer school site and in view of a nearby public park and elementary school.
Although Salazar High School was not in session at the time, district officials emphasized that students and staff were present just steps away at adjacent Valencia Elementary School, where summer programming was underway. The agents reportedly left the premises only after being confronted by district personnel.
“Not only did ICE agents unlawfully trespass on school grounds,” said John Contreras, board president of the El Rancho Unified School District, “but they also did not exercise sound and respectful judgment with the risk of exposing themselves to minors and committing a public offense under California law.”
Contreras added that the actions were not only inappropriate but a clear violation of public trust. “This behavior occurred in broad daylight, on a school campus, near a playground. There is no excuse for it.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the matter is under investigation. Neither ICE nor CBP have publicly commented on the incident.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn condemned the agents’ conduct and called for a formal federal investigation. “It’s not enough that they’ve spent weeks violently ambushing people,” Hahn said in a statement. “Now ICE and CBP agents are allegedly entering school campuses, pulling down their pants, and urinating on playgrounds. It’s a slap in the face to our communities — especially to our children.”
The incident comes amid mounting criticism of federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s second term, during which ICE has been granted expanded powers to conduct raids in locations once considered off-limits, including schools, churches, and hospitals. Advocates and local leaders say such tactics are not only destabilizing but dehumanizing, especially when they encroach on spaces meant to be safe for children and families.
As investigations proceed, community members and officials alike are left grappling with a basic question: What does it mean when federal authority is used not just to enforce policy — but to violate dignity in the process?
