'Secret police': Trump's immigration enforcers spark fury and fear in US

After night fell on the outskirts of Los Angeles on Thursday, around 50 people clanged metal pots and blasted air horns outside a hotel in a noisy bedtime protest targeting US immigration agents.

The "No Sleep For ICE" rally underscored growing anger at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a once obscure agency that has become the focal point of President Donald Trump's migrant crackdown.

"They terrorize our community the entire day. Why do they get a good night's sleep?" said Nathanael Landaverde, 23, who banged a dismantled frying pan at the protest.

Dramatic images have shown federal agents, often masked and sometimes armed with assault rifles, chasing down migrants and handcuffing them at courthouses, farms and on the streets.

ICE officials have also detained some US citizens for allegedly intervening in arrests, including a mayoral candidate in New York this week.

The heavy-handed approach has sparked fear among immigrants and infuriated many Americans, particularly in liberal cities such as Los Angeles, where large-scale street protests erupted this month over ICE raids.

"If they don't sleep they're not gonna do their job effectively. They're gonna get less people," added Landaverde, as passing vehicles honked in apparent support for the late-night rally.

It was not certain whether ICE agents were staying at the three-star hotel, but protest organizers claimed to have photo evidence.

Dozens of people danced to a deafening cacophony as they waved signs reading "No rest for ICE" and "ICE out of LA" towards the hotel, where some guests peered through the curtains.

One woman simply screamed into a megaphone. Another man wore earmuffs as he blasted distorted white noise through a speaker.

"They're ripping families apart, and it's horrifying to watch in my community. They can't sleep if they're gonna do that here," said Juliet Austin, 22, who was playing a small blue accordion.

- 'Secret police' -

Trump was elected to a second term in large part for his promise to deport thousands of migrants.

But alongside their aggressive tactics, critics have denounced federal immigration agents for wearing face masks to hide their identities -- a highly unusual but legal practice in US law enforcement.

"At what point will we as a nation find ourselves with a secret police?" Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute think tank, wrote last month.

"For the Trump administration, turning masked raids into standard practice fits into a wider effort to dodge accountability for potentially illegal and unconstitutional actions," he added.

In California, lawmakers have introduced the "No Secret Police Act" that would restrict federal agents from wearing masks.

Federal officials have rejected this criticism by claiming that agents wear masks to protect them from potential reprisals.

Meanwhile, ICE has frequently boasted about its activities and posted pictures of detained migrants on social media.

And it crucially still enjoys Trump's support, who last weekend praised ICE agents' "incredible strength, determination, and courage."

Still, anger over ICE looks unlikely to go away as long as immigration arrests continue, and protesters Thursday were adamant they would not back down.

"I think it's a modern Gestapo here in America," said Austin, a dance teacher.

"This city is not the one to mess with... We're not gonna let it happen. We're not tired," she added.