The Raid

John Carlos Frey tells the story of Gabriel Cariaco's arrest in Bellevue, Nebraska — a legal asylum seeker who fled Venezuela, accused of being a member of the gang Tren de Aragua, and charged with attempted murder of a federal agent. Frey traces how the government's account changed within 24 hours of the arrest, how a tattoo meant to honor his son's birthday became "evidence" of gang membership, and how bystander video ultimately contradicted the sworn federal complaint filed against him. 

A year later, a federal judge called the original report "at worst a misrepresentation and at best complete negligence" — and said, from the bench, that he had doubts about trusting law enforcement in this case. This is a story about how a false narrative gets built, how fast it travels, and what it takes to unravel it once it's already made headlines. 

https://theraidpodcast.org/ 

https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/a-venezuelan-man-was-accused-of-attempting-to-choke-an-ice-officer-to-death-in-bellevue-bystander-video-tells-a-different-story/ 

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-slams-feds-for-distorting-nebraska-ice-arrest-but-still-sentences-suspect-to-14-months/ 

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/20/ice-arrests-criminal-illegal-alien-tren-de-aragua-gang-member-attempting-murder-ice

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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Three men are dead in fourteen days — Houston, Biddeford, St. Augustine — all in encounters with ICE. In the same week, border czar Tom Homan told Fox News that ICE agents are "well-trained in vehicle stops," then said he'd personally requested the agency's training curriculum to review it. Both things can't be true even though the president vetoed the review. 

John Carlos Frey goes on the record about ICE's budget, its oversight, and its body count — and why an agency now funded at nearly seven times its historic budget, with more money than the FBI, DOJ, and Bureau of Prisons combined, still can't execute a routine traffic stop without someone ending up dead. 

This one's personal. 

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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John Carlos Frey sits down with Jennifer Huerta, a sixth-grade language teacher in Bakersfield, California, and a recipient of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Brought to the U.S. from Michoacán, Mexico at just two years old, Jennifer grew up not fully understanding what it meant to be undocumented — until college applications and financial aid forms made the distinction painfully clear. 

Jennifer walks through her journey: applying for DACA as a teenager, navigating a separate, more difficult path to higher education than her U.S.-citizen peers, graduating debt-free from Cal State Bakersfield through state aid and private scholarships (since DACA recipients don't qualify for federal aid), and eventually becoming the teacher her parents — both farmworkers — always hoped she'd become. 

The conversation covers the cost and burden of reapplying every two years, the ripple effects on students, families, and communities when DACA recipients in critical roles (teachers, nurses, attorneys) lose their status, and what it feels like to build a life in the only country you've ever known — only to watch it hang in the balance as DACA approvals have been increasingly delayed. 

https://theraidpodcast.org/ 

@heyitsmisshuerta

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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Ten people. Ten families still waiting for someone in the U.S. government to be held responsible for their deaths. In this episode, John Carlos Frey goes case by case through ten people killed by ICE and Border Patrol this year, including the most recent ICE relating killings. Frey relies on his original reporting about the Border Patrol's "Critical Incident Teams," internal units whose own stated mission was "mitigation of civil liability" rather than the truth. 

The Southern Border Communities Coalition has documented 377 deaths at the hands of ICE and Border Patrol since 2010. Almost none have resulted in an on-duty conviction. This episode is about making sure that number has names attached to it. 

https://www.southernborder.org/ 

https://substack.com/@jennbudd https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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Every unaccompanied immigrant child facing deportation is legally entitled to a lawyer — it's the law, not a favor. But the federal contract funding that representation for over 20,000 children expires this month, and instead of an open replacement process, reporting from the Texas Tribune reveals a series of phone calls: the Trump administration quietly asking Texas's Attorney General's office, then the ten-person Texas Indigent Defense Commission, to take on the job — an agency with no experience, no funding, and no legal authority to do it. 

John Carlos Frey breaks down the facts. 

https://theraidpodcast.org/ 

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/03/trump-texas-doj-indigent-defense-unaccompanied-immigrant-children/ 

https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-07-06/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation 

https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation/

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John Carlos Frey talks with Nicole Locklin — a Miami attorney and first-time candidate now running as the Democratic nominee for Florida's 26th Congressional District against 24-year incumbent Mario Diaz-Balart. 

Locklin explains what pushed her into the race. She explains the district's dramatic post-redistricting shift, the role of ICE and Stephen Miller in the current wave of immigration raids, the financial toll of the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention facility, and her platform centered on affordability, government accountability, and abolishing ICE. 

The conversation closes with a frank look at her odds in a historically red-leaning, minority-majority district and how her campaign plans to combine political organizing with direct community aid. 

https://locklinforcongress.com/ 

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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John Carlos Frey sits down with Flor Melendrez to talk about the wave of ICE raids that swept through Los Angeles car washes over the past year. Melendez shares her personal path into labor organizing — growing up the child of garment worker parents, negotiating wages for them as a child, and later working with day laborers before helping build the clean car wash campaign into what is now the Clean Car Wash Worker Center where she is the Executive Director. 

The two also discuss the racial and political dimensions of the raids — why car washes, garment factories, and Home Depot parking lots were targeted, and whether the operations reflect broader anti-immigrant sentiment tied to the upcoming election. Melendrez closes with reflections on more raids yet to come, community resilience, the networks that have formed in response to the raids and how people can support the organization's work. 

https://www.cleancarwash.org/ 

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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ICE has been targeting labor leaders and organizers along with thousands of workers who are now more afraid than ever to fight for better working conditions. 

In this podcast, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey traces how that pattern has grown from a single farm in Albion, New York into a nationwide crisis in 2026 — one that is reshaping labor markets, collapsing organizing campaigns, and keeping some of the most vulnerable workers in America in a state of permanent fear. 

https://portside.org/2025-05-11/they-actually-had-list-ice-arrests-workers-involved-landmark-labor-rights-case 

https://documentedny.com/2025/08/27/lyn-ette-farms-ice-detention/ 

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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What if ICE raids aren't just about immigration enforcement — what if they're part of something much bigger? 

In this episode, host John Carlos Frey sits down with journalist and activist Lee Stedman, whose on-the-ground reporting during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis revealed a pattern that goes far beyond deportation. 

From the criminalization of rapid response networks to the rise of a coordinated interagency task force, Stedman connects the dots between surveillance technology, propaganda, and what he sees as a deliberate effort to consolidate power ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 

https://www.instagram.com/ghost_lee19/?hl=en 

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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On August 28, 2025, three immigrant rights activists followed an unmarked ICE vehicle through Los Angeles and livestreamed what they saw — exactly what rapid responders across Southern California had been doing for months. That afternoon ended with federal charges. 

Cynthia Raygoza, Ashleigh Brown, and Sandra Samane became known as the Baldwin Park Three. Their case didn't just put three women on trial, it put the First Amendment on trial — asking whether the right to document the government ends the moment a federal agent pulls into a residential street. John Carlos Frey investigates the prosecution, the politics, and the precedent. 

@ice_out_ofla 

gofund.me/19efb412f 

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates").  The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.   

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