This American Life 880: What Is Your Emergency?
168 snips
Feb 1, 2026 
Meeky Meek, a producer who documented daily raids and archiving efforts. Anianci Diaz-Cortez, a reporter who tracked repeated Home Depot parking-lot raids and day laborer responses. Hannah Jaffe-Walt, a reporter who compiled 911 calls capturing immigration enforcement and public panic. They discuss 911 recordings, recurring parking-lot sweeps, community defenses, and a grassroots project archiving raids.
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911 Can't Always Protect You From Federal Agents
- Local police often refuse to interfere with federal immigration enforcement, leaving callers without protection.
- Dispatchers frequently tell people to comply or leave rather than confront agents.
Man Dragged From Car While Proclaiming Citizenship
- Joshua Long says Border Patrol surrounded and dragged him from his car while he yelled he was a U.S. citizen.
- He was detained for six hours and later charged with assault on a federal officer.
ICE Uses 911 To Pull Local Police Into Operations
- Federal agents also call 911 to get local police to handle crowds or create assistance for their field operations.
- Sometimes agents used 911 to fabricate narratives that secured local police support.