No, ICE agents didn’t raid this Los Angeles elementary school

In an emotional video that quickly went viral, a school worker told of an elementary school immigration raid that forced parents to flee and leave their children behind.

"I can’t handle this y’all," the man began, wiping tears from his cheeks.

He said a neighboring school, Gratts Learning Academy for Young Scholars, was hosting its graduation as helicopters flew overhead.

"All of a sudden a bunch of parents have to run out because (ICE) is there," the man said in his June 6 Instagram post. "Parents had to run out because they don’t have papers and they had to leave their kids because the kids do." 

The video also received millions of views on TikTok and was shared across other platforms, including Facebook and X.

But Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said rumors of the Gratt Learning Academy raid were wrong. 

"We’ve investigated it, and all the reports that came back were that no such event happened," Carvalho said during a June 6 press conference. The school district also disputed the rumor June 10 on Instagram, saying, "These claims are false." 

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dicho el Junio 24, 2025 en a TikTok post

A new “community recognition” law allows people to apply for “permanent residency directly, quickly, and without leaving the country” if they have “resided continuously in the United States for at least seven years, regardless of their current immigration status.”

Some in Los Angeles have been on edge since June 6, when immigration agents detained day laborers outside a Home Depot and went on to raid businesses, eventually detaining dozens of people who allegedly violated immigration law. In the week since, demonstrators have spoken out against the raids and in opposition to the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard and U.S. Marines to the area.

The school district has taken steps to try to increase security at local campuses as the school  year ends, including deploying school police to set up safe zones around graduation ceremonies. Carvalho said in a June 9 press conference that two of the district’s schools reported seeing "federal vans" parked near their campuses. 

"No action has been taken, but we interpret those actions as actions of intimidation, instilling fear that may lead to self-deportation," he said.

But this claim that ICE agents raided Los Angeles' Gratts Learning Academy during a June graduation ceremony is False.