Podcast Summary: Click Here - "The Neighborhood Patrol"
Date: October 24, 2025
Host: Dina Temple-Raston (Recorded Future News)
Guest: Francisco “Chavo” Romero (Union del Barrio)
Episode Overview
This episode of Click Here delves into the grassroots efforts by community activists in Southern California to monitor Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities in their neighborhoods. Host Dina Temple-Raston speaks with Francisco “Chavo” Romero, a key activist, about the origins, tactics, and everyday realities of these citizen patrols. The episode provides an in-depth look at the motivations behind organizing community resistance, the dangers involved, and the evolving relationship between law enforcement and the watched communities. The tone is personal, urgent, and resolute, with a focus on lived experiences rather than technical details.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Genesis of the Movement and Community Duty
- Francisco’s Background: The Romero family emigrated from Mexico in the 1970s; Francisco was born in the U.S., giving him dual identity and a sense of responsibility.
- Community Obligation: With citizenship comes a self-imposed duty to help those who cannot act openly.
- Quote:
“It is my duty to take it to the next level where people can't.”
(Francisco Romero, 03:41) - Community members often express gratitude and regret for not being able to join due to lack of papers.
- Quote:
2. Activist Operations: Tracking ICE the Old-Fashioned Way
- Hotlines & Patrols: Activists operate early-warning systems, using hotlines, neighborhood patrols, word of mouth, and walkie-talkies to observe and track ICE.
- Typical patrol hours: 5am to 8am, when ICE operations "stage" before raids.
- Activists coordinate via vehicles and social media, mapping out areas and training volunteers.
- Quote:
“We go super early in the morning... to look for what we call the staging of the operations before they launch.”
(Francisco Romero, 05:28)
- Documentation & Protest: Groups track agents, inform the community, and sometimes directly interact with ICE to both observe and protest.
- Quote:
“I go up to their windows, I knock... 'Hey, how you doing, officer? What agency are you?'”
(Francisco Romero, 06:39)
- Quote:
3. Legal Rights and Strategic Approaches
- Lawful Observation: Activists emphasize staying within legal boundaries, relying on constitutional rights to observe law enforcement as long as there’s no interference.
- Community Training: Trainings stress not provoking arrest, and activists distribute literature to clarify their rights and intentions.
4. Evolving ICE Tactics: From Obama to Trump to Biden
- ICE raids and tactics have intensified, shifting from what Francisco calls a “velvet glove” to an overtly militarized “iron fist.”
- Raids now sometimes involve helicopters, armored vehicles, and highly publicized operations ("Operation Midway Blitz").
- Quote:
“Right now we’re dealing with ‘mano dura’... the iron fist approach, where it’s just openly, just brutal. The tactics, it's really militarized visually, but also in the way they actually roll out their... operations.”
(Francisco Romero, 10:48)
5. Risks, Surveillance, and Paranoia
- Awareness of Surveillance: Activists operate assuming they’re always being watched—by drones, unmarked cars, or electronic monitoring.
- Quote:
“The way we operate is under the assumption that we're being monitored at all times, period.”
(Francisco Romero, 12:57)
- Quote:
- Psychological Toll: Despite the intense scrutiny and risk—such as threats from politicians or being branded as “domestic terrorists”—Romero insists organizers remain fearless and focused.
- Quote:
“If we walk around being afraid and paranoid, then the reign of terror has worked. So we are not afraid.”
(Francisco Romero, 12:57) - Activists prepare spiritually, mentally, and physically for possible arrest or imprisonment:
“If it means that we're going to be captured and taken to jail, then, you know... I'll organize inside the prison if that's the case.”
(Francisco Romero, 14:12)
- Quote:
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
Community Commitment:
“All it is is a community getting organized, walking or in bikes, you know, but mainly in our vehicles. We sort of map out the neighborhoods that we're going to commit to. … That's really what's going to save us, I think.”
(Francisco Romero, 07:05; 07:43) -
On Media, Fear, and Tactics:
“It's a brutal spectacle really designed to... showcase the terror. Right, and try to instill that into the bones of the people that are out here.”
(Francisco Romero, 04:52) -
Long-Term Perspective:
“Rest assured that the tensions and deportations have been occurring nearly at the same levels. Under Biden. Under Obama. … Under Clinton.”
(Francisco Romero, 10:48) -
Defiance and Readiness:
“We are preparing mentally, physically, spiritually to be ready to be behind bars at one point. … We know that what we're doing is righteous, right? We're on the right side of history.”
(Francisco Romero, 14:12–14:50)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [00:02–01:04]: Introduction to ICE monitoring and rise of community patrols
- [02:17–03:41]: Francisco on motivation and sense of community duty
- [05:10–06:16]: Description of daily patrols and community involvement
- [06:39–07:05]: Interactions with ICE and commitment to lawful observation
- [10:41–12:44]: Historical context and transition to more militarized ICE tactics
- [12:57–13:59]: Responding to surveillance, state scrutiny, and maintaining resolve
- [14:12–14:50]: Preparing for the possibility of arrest and continued activism
Conclusion
This episode provides an intimate, ground-level view of digital and analog resistance to ICE operations in Southern California. Listeners are immersed in the lived dilemmas of community activists, their strategies, and the constant balancing act between vigilance and fear. Anchored by Francisco Romero's voice, the narrative stresses collective action, resilience, and moral clarity amidst a challenging climate of enforcement and surveillance.
For more details and related coverage, visit Click Here and the Record from Recorded Future News.