Beware claim LA gangs called truce to protect immigrants from ICE

A rumor spread online in January 2026 that street gangs in Los Angeles agreed to a truce with each other in an effort to help protect immigrants from being “abducted” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The rumor spread amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s self-described immigration crackdown, with posts like the below-displayed TikTok (archived) video. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@afterthebite/photo/7594678173682437389

That TikTok video, posted on Jan. 12, 2026, features a screenshot of an X post reading: “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.“

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.“

This particular claim has been circulating since at least June 2025. That’s when the Halfway Post published the X post (archived) featured in the January 2026 TikTok video.

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, including claims California Democrats bought bricks for protesters, Fox News aired a chyron of Attorney General Pam Bondi threatening Trump critics with prison time and ICE paused its hotline due to an influx of calls about Elon Musk.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.