Agents, some in unmarked cars and street clothes, are arresting L.A. immigrants. Who are they?

Immigration arrests in Los Angeles have been headline news and the subject of legal disputes for the past few weeks, but Angelenos watching the drama play out on television and in their communities may be confused about who exactly is putting people in handcuffs and hauling them off.After all, some of the federal agents involved in the raids are in unmarked vehicles, without visible badges, wearing street clothes and covering their faces.Are they U.S.

Department of Homeland Security agents, U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers or Homeland Security Investigations officials? What is the difference?All these federal agencies are branches of the Department of Homeland Security, which was created to combat terrorism in the United States in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Its duties include responding to natural disasters, terrorism and homeland security threats, enforcing trade laws (by checking goods coming into and out of the U.S.), as well as managing the flow of people and products at U.S.borders.

Three branches of Homeland Security carry out the enforcement of these missions: U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S.

Customs and Border Patrol.Federal agents were most recently sighted without identifying clothing or badges, sporting face coverings and armed with pistols at Dodger Stadium’s entry gates on Thursday.When protesters learned of the officials’ presence and demonstrated outside the stadium, they held signs that read “ICE out of L.A.”But the officials outside the stadium were actually U.S.

Customs and Border Protection agents who “were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,” the agency said.Confused? Immigration officials’ way of identifying themselves when conducting operations is by verbally saying they’re ICE or Homeland Security agents, Homeland Security officials told The Times in a statement.The federal agency also said immigratio...