The Raid

John Carlos Frey
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Hosted by six-time Emmy Award winner John Carlos Frey, THE RAID PODCAST is a deep dive into the frontlines of the ICE and Border Patrol immigration raids being implemented by the Trump administration. With an expert team of journalists and community members, the ever changing landscape and stories of the “mass deportation” are documented and broadcast. Learn firsthand what the raids feel like, whether they are lawful and what is happening to the people swept up by the unprecedented and ever increasing show of force.

  1. 1d ago

    A Year of People Getting Taken - Izzy Ramirez

    For over a year, LA Taco staff reporter Izzy Ramirez has been on the ground documenting ICE and Border Patrol raids across Southern California — logging arrests, archiving footage, and standing between agents and the communities they're targeting. In this deeply personal follow-up conversation, host John Carlos Frey asks the question most interviews skip: what has doing this work actually done to you? Izzy opens up about the drinking, the public "crash outs" on social media, the nights he can't stop scrolling, and the death of a teenager whose story hit painfully close to home. He and Frey talk honestly about burnout, the absence of any real support system for reporters covering trauma in real time, the guilt of stepping away even for a moment, and the "savior complex" that keeps so many activists and journalists from resting. It's a raw look at what it costs to bear witness — and why Izzy says he isn't planning to stop.  This episode covers heavy material, including grief, substance use, and a young man's death. Listener discretion advised.  https://lataco.com/author/izzy-ramirez  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.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    A Year of People Getting Taken - Izzy Ramirez

  2. 5d ago

    ICE Is Political Violence — with Eric Ward

    Host John Carlos Frey sits down with longtime civil rights organizer Eric Ward — Executive Vice President of Race Forward and a Senior Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center — to unpack the argument at the center of his recent Colorlines essay, "The Latest ICE Surge Is Political Violence."  Drawing on nearly four decades of organizing work, Ward lays out why he believes the current wave of ICE enforcement is not simply aggressive immigration policy, but a deliberate campaign of political intimidation — one aimed at all Americans, not only immigrants and refugees. He traces the throughline from the three cornerstone pillars of the 1960s civil rights victories (the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Act) to the tactics now on display: masked agents, unmarked vehicles, courthouse and workplace operations, missing body-camera footage, and resistance to transparency.  Ward and Frey dig into the data behind the rhetoric of "public safety" and "criminality," the rise of Great Replacement Theory inside mainstream political discourse, and the historical parallel Ward draws to selective enforcement under Jim Crow. The conversation closes on a practical note: what ordinary people — voters, journalists, artists, and neighbors — can actually do to push back, from small daily acts of courage to showing up at the polls in November.  https://colorlines.com/article/project/latest-ice-surge-political-violence  https://www.raceforward.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.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    ICE Is Political Violence — with Eric Ward

  3. 6d ago

    ICE Is Paramilitary — ACLU's Naureen Shah

    ICE has become a national deportation policing force — and according to a bombshell new ACLU report, it's operating with a level of violence and impunity America has never seen before.  In this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey sits down with Naureen Shah, Director of Government Affairs for the Equality Division at the American Civil Liberties Union and a longtime human rights lawyer, researcher, and advocate. Naureen leads the ACLU's immigration policy and advocacy work and previously served as Senior Director of Campaigns at Amnesty International USA and Acting Director of Columbia Law School's Human Rights Clinic.  She joins the podcast to break down the ACLU's new report, "Agents of Chaos and Cruelty: How the Trump Administration's National Deportation Policing Force Has Attacked American Communities." The report documents 1,200 incidents across eight states in 2025, more than 400 of which involved corroborated civil rights violations — including U.S. citizens caught in the crossfire, dangerous restraint tactics used dozens of times, and a pattern of force used not in response to threats, but as a tool of intimidation and control.  https://www.aclu.org/publications/agents-of-chaos-and-cruelty-how-the-trump-administrations-national-deportation-policing-force-has-attacked-american-communities  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.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    ICE Is Paramilitary — ACLU's Naureen Shah

  4. Aug 11

    Filming ICE with Mr. Checkpoint

    Host John Carlos Frey sits down with Sennett Devermont — known online as Mr. Checkpoint — the Southern California activist who built a nationwide alert network for DUI checkpoints, ICE operations, and police activity. Sennett traces his journey from a 2011 San Diego State student warning classmates about unconstitutional, unpublicized checkpoints to becoming one of the most recognizable "film the police" advocates in the country.  The two also confront the sharper edges of the moment: the lack of accountability inside police departments, the retaliation faced by officers who report misconduct, and how ICE operates with even less transparency and oversight than local law enforcement. Sennett connects the dots to the billions of dollars flowing into policing and surveillance infrastructure, the criminalization of witnesses and citizen journalists, and why he now sees jury duty and law school — he just started his second year — as his next front line for reform.  It's a candid, sometimes emotional conversation about fear, privilege, and what it actually costs to keep a camera rolling — plus concrete advice for anyone who wants to document an ICE or police encounter but doesn't know where to start.  https://aftp.org/  @afp_foundation  https://mrcheckpoint.com/en/  @Mrcheckpoint   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.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Filming ICE with Mr. Checkpoint

  5. Aug 7

    He Did His Time Then They Deported Him

    For months, The Raid has covered America's deportation machine through the eyes of journalists, experts, and activists — but the voices most missing from the conversation have been the immigrants living it. In this episode, host John Carlos Frey sits down with veteran journalist Charles Fleming, a 40-year newsroom journalist and former Los Angeles Times editor, who came out of retirement to find and tell the personal stories that mainstream media can't — often under strict anonymity, because the people he interviews have too much to lose.  Fleming shares the story of Javier, who paints and sells his work under the name "Deported Artist." Born in Tijuana by accident — his mother crossed the border late in her pregnancy to see her dying father — Javier was raised his entire life in Oakland, California, alongside U.S. citizen siblings, with no understanding that he was undocumented. After serving a lengthy prison sentence, he was deported to Tijuana, a country he'd never known, where he has spent the last seven years rebuilding his life from nothing. His art — raw, political, and deeply personal — has become both his therapy and his voice.  This is a conversation about who gets a second chance in America, who doesn't, and what's lost when a country stops asking that question.  https://fleminguncounted.substack.com/p/uncounted 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.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    He Did His Time Then They Deported Him

  6. Aug 6

    Senator Sasha Renée Pérez on ICE Raids & Saving Democracy

    At just 27, Sasha Renée Pérez became the youngest female mayor in San Gabriel Valley history. Now she's the youngest member of the California State Senate — and she's using that seat to take on ICE. Host, John Carlos Frey sits down with Senator Pérez to talk about her journey from Alhambra City Council to Sacramento, and the wave of legislation she's championing to protect immigrant communities across California.  Pérez talks candidly about the online threats she receives, why she believes conversation (not conflict) is the path to bridging political divides, and what she thinks everyday people can do in the run-up to the midterms to protect their undocumented neighbors and preserve democracy.  https://sd25.senate.ca.gov/  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.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Senator Sasha Renée Pérez on ICE Raids & Saving Democracy

  7. Aug 4

    The Abuse Files ICE Didn't Want You to See

    A federal guard pleads guilty to nine separate counts involving women held in the same detention facility. The government's own records show over 1,310 abuse complaints filed against ICE detention staff in a single three-year window — and outside researchers have found over a thousand more. On this episode of The Raid, host John Carlos Frey traces how a system built with almost no independent oversight lets this happen again and again.  This is not one bad guard. This is a pattern, documented in the government's own paperwork — and the story of what happens when the people holding all the keys are also the ones investigating themselves.  https://theappeal.org/trump-doj-defunds-national-prison-rape-resource-center/  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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Abuse Files ICE Didn't Want You to See

  8. Jul 31

    Filming a Self-Deportation

    An ICE check-in used to be paperwork. Now it can be a trap — and that shift is doing the work that raids and deportation flights can't. John Carlos Frey talks with Kimberly Avalos, a multimedia journalist and supervising producer at The News Movement, whose documentary "American Dreamers: Self-Deporting from the United States" was an Online News Association finalist for Excellence in Social Justice Reporting. Her latest film follows a subject she never expected to report on: her own uncle.  Avalos and Frey get into the reporting decisions behind the film and the machinery it documents:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-se_lNefnU  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.      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Filming a Self-Deportation
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Hosted by six-time Emmy Award winner John Carlos Frey, THE RAID PODCAST is a deep dive into the frontlines of the ICE and Border Patrol immigration raids being implemented by the Trump administration. With an expert team of journalists and community members, the ever changing landscape and stories of the “mass deportation” are documented and broadcast. Learn firsthand what the raids feel like, whether they are lawful and what is happening to the people swept up by the unprecedented and ever increasing show of force.

Information

  • Creator
    John Carlos Frey
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    126
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © John Carlos Frey
  • Show Website
    The Raid