A rumor that street gangs in Los Angeles called for a truce with each other in order to help keep immigrants from being "abducted" by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents circulated online in late June 2025.
Users across social media platforms such as X (archived), Facebook (archived) and Reddit shared the rumor with comments like "the gangs of LA have brokered a temporary truce to defend immigrants and citizens from kidnappings of ICE in their communities."
The spread of the rumor led Snopes readers to reach out via email to determine the veracity of the claim.
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as the truth, but no evidence exists that street gangs in Los Angeles called for a truce in order to defend immigrants from ICE. No reputable news outlets reported this claim.
Instead, the rumor originated with a post from an account called The Halfway Post — a social media page that describes its output as humorous or satirical in nature. The bio on the X page reads: "Halfway true comedy and satire by @DashMacIntyre. I don't report the facts, I improve them." Furthermore, The Halfway Post sells a book, titled, "Satire in the Trump Years."
On June 21, 2025, The Halfway Post wrote on X (archived), "BREAKING: Several gangs in LA are reportedly trucing so they can accompany people to their immigration hearings and prevent ICE from abducting them, and it's effective because ICE officials are afraid of them, which is why ICE goes after assimilated immigrants with families."
The fictional story spread as Los Angeles endured an increase in ICE activity, resulting in massive protests. Though this particular claim was labeled satire, on June 24, 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported a story about the vice mayor of Cudahy, a city in Los Angeles County, allegedly calling for gang members to protect their neighborhoods from ICE.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims involving ICE since the immigration crackdown began following U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration, including claims California Democrats bought bricks for protesters, a fake Fox News chyron of AG Pam Bondi announcing punishments of 15 years in prison for anti-Trump speech and claims that ICE paused its hotline due to an influx of calls about Trump adviser Elon Musk.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.