Illegal alien activist groups are demanding answers over “abductions” of crew members in front of passengers on a Disney cruise by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Benjamin Prado from Union del Barrio spoke at a press conference at the pier in San Diego along with other migrant groups to express their outrage that ICE was doing its job.

‘It was really unsettling. … Does the family even know that he’s not getting back on the ship today?’

“This is not an isolated incident,” Prado said. “In fact, it has become a growing pattern, not only here in San Diego but throughout this country.”

He went on to claim that the detainees were being denied their due process rights and access to legal representation.

“It is our responsibility as a society, as working people, to really denounce these actions by Customs and Border Protection, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the prolonged detention of migrant workers, whether it be here in our own community as well as those that work on ships,” Prado added.

Prado and the other groups demanded that Disney do more to protect its workers.

One of the passengers on the Disney cruise said her family was traumatized by seeing the crew members being detained by ICE.

“It was really unsettling,” Dharmi Mehta said at the briefing.

Mehta said they had gotten to know a head waiter during the five-day cruise, and they saw him and others being detained after they arrived in San Diego. She was distressed by the fact that they did not have any personal belongings with them.

“So that was just my big concern — like, how is he gonna reach out to his family? Does the family even know that he’s not getting back on the ship today?” Mehta added.

The migrant groups said four others were also detained by ICE from Holland America’s Zaandam cruise ship at the same pier. Around 10 were detained from the Disney cruise.

Protesters behind Mehta held signs demanding due process for Filipino workers.

RELATED: ‘GayDays’ at Disney World on ice after sponsors pull out

A spokesperson for the Port of San Diego released a statement to KNSD-TV.

“The Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department did not have any involvement in the reported enforcement actions on April 23 or April 25 at the B Street Cruise Terminal,” the statement reads. “We did not receive any calls for service related to these incidents. In accordance with California law, including SB 54, Harbor Police does not participate in immigration enforcement activities.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Immigration and customs enforcement, Disney cruise, Illegal alien activists, Illegal alien advocate groups, Politics 

A massive operation targeting the “notorious open-air drug market” in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles began Wednesday, according to a Justice Dept. statement.

Details of “Operation Free MacArthur Park” were posted on social media by Bill Essayli, the first assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California.

At least 19 kilograms of fentanyl and 17 arrests were initially reported in the operation targeting the ‘notorious open-air drug market.’

“We are going after street dealers and suppliers of massive amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine,” he wrote. “Over the last 24 hours, federal and local law enforcement have started arresting 25 defendants charged in a federal criminal complaint with possessing and distributing dangerous narcotics, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.”

At least 19 kilograms of fentanyl and 17 arrests were initially reported in the operation targeting the “notorious open-air drug market” as described by Essayli.

He said the top drug trafficker, a resident of Calabasas, was already in federal custody and faced life in prison if convicted. Other defendants also faced decades in prison.

Essayli also posted video from the operation showing the many officers involved.

More than 300 agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Justice, and the Los Angeles Police Dept. were included, according to a Fox News report.

“The LAPD is currently assisting our federal partners in a joint narcotics enforcement operation in the MacArthur Park Area. This operation is focused solely on drug‑related criminal activity,” reads a statement from the LAPD on social media.

“There is no connection to immigration enforcement,” it added.

A video from the California Post showed many of the suspects being arrested or detained.

“We are attacking the open-air drug market that’s been allowed to proliferate under California policies for too long. You go down there, and there’s people actively selling fentanyl, methamphetamine. There’s people using in the open,” Essalyi said in an interview on the scene.

“To the drug dealers poisoning the streets of Los Angeles: your safe haven is gone,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote.

The DEA indicated that one of the goals of the operation was “cleaning up the community” before the World Cup and Olympics.

RELATED: ‘Disgusting criminal’ illegal alien tortured dogs at animal training center in Las Vegas, DHS says

Ironically, Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass angrily denounced federal agents during another similar operation at MacArthur Park in July 2025.

“This is footage from today in MacArthur Park. Minutes before, there were more than 20 kids playing — then, the MILITARY comes through,” she wrote on social media at the time. “The SECOND I heard about this, I went to the park to speak to the person in charge to tell them it needed to end NOW. Absolutely outrageous.”

Federal officials denied that she had been able to shut down the operation.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Cartel macarthur park drugs, Massive drug bust los angeles, Operation free macarthur park, Federal operation los angeles, Politics 

Activists who demand strict oversight for homeschooling rarely apply the same standards to public schools, entrepreneur and defense contractor Palmer Luckey argued this week.

Luckey pushed back against growing calls for tighter regulation of homeschooling, responding to critics who say parents should face more evaluations and state monitoring.

‘Ask them what the consequences should be for homeschooling parents who fail to educate children.’

Home invasion

His comments came after writer Jill Filipovic argued that homeschooling families should accept more scrutiny if they believe homeschooling delivers better educational outcomes.

“If homeschooling is actually super high quality, then homeschooling families should not object to being evaluated, tested, and checked-in-on to make sure their kids are actually learning,” Filipovic wrote in a post viewed more than one million times.

Luckey responded that homeschool students often succeed precisely because they are not forced into what he described as the “slow-progress-across-all-subjects method public schools impose on every student, no matter how they learn.”

He added that standardized oversight would likely undermine the flexibility that makes homeschooling effective in the first place

“The evaluation/testing you are talking about would almost certainly prohibit that sort of tailored education,” Luckey wrote, “especially since they would be designed and administered by a system that wants to eliminate homeschooling in almost all cases.”

Several studies appear to support at least part of Luckey’s argument.

RELATED: Right-wing investor to challenge traditional banking with national crypto bank

Study haul

A 2022 study analyzing results from the Classic Learning Test — a college entrance exam launched in 2015 — found homeschool students outperformed peers from other school systems by margins ranging from three to 12.1 points, including in verbal and writing categories.

A 2025 study by Cardus found that 45% of short-term homeschoolers earned at least a bachelor’s degree, roughly comparable to the 46% rate among non-homeschooled students. The same study also found homeschoolers were more likely to be married, have children, volunteer in their communities, and report higher levels of optimism.

Meanwhile, a 2026 overview of peer-reviewed research found that 62% of studies conducted over a 30-year period concluded homeschool students outperformed their traditionally schooled peers.

RELATED: Anti-Trump Indian investor wants you to use this hat that reads your thoughts

Rubber rooms

Luckey also rejected the argument that public schools better prepare children for real-world socialization.

“We are putting the vast majority of our children into madhouses that no longer have anything to do with how society works or what they will experience in said society,” he wrote.

Despite the growing body of research and the rapid rise in homeschooling, major media outlets continue to advocate for tighter oversight. The Washington Post reported in 2024 that between 1.9 million and 2.7 million American children were being homeschooled — roughly a 50% increase over six years.

In England, homeschooling numbers rose from fewer than 81,000 students in 2022 to roughly 92,000 in 2023. The Guardian attributed much of the increase to COVID-era lockdowns while simultaneously calling for greater regulation and oversight, arguing public schools provide stronger safeguards for children.

Luckey, however, said critics often apply a double standard — demanding accountability from parents while excusing systemic failures in public education.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Align, Education, Education department, Educational outcomes, Parents rights, Public schools, Bachelors degree, Homeschooling, Lifestyle 

Former California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter’s newest political ad is getting savaged on social media for trying to make a joke about one of her worst moments.

Porter is one of the Democratic candidates in the California gubernatorial race, but her campaign has been dogged by allegations that she has an abusive temper toward her staff and her family members.

‘Whoever shot and produced that video should be fired.’

In Oct. 2025, a damaging video leaked that showed Porter screaming an expletive at a staff member for straying into her video shot.

“Get out of my f**king shot!” she yells. “You also were in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot.”

On Tuesday, Porter’s campaign published a video ad showing the candidate addressing voters while actors in the background hold whiteboards with several campaign slogans. At the end, she turns around and yells at them.

“Now, could you guys please get out of my shot?” she says with a smile.

The bizarre callback has bewildered critics online who questioned why she would refer to one of her worst moments.

“I’m at a loss for words. This is so bad,” replied Democratic political strategist Keith Edwards.

“Does she think verbally abusing staff members is a joke now?” responded the Libs of TikTok account.

“Most people that run for governor — even in CA — are substantially less unhinged,” said another commentator.

“Lol whoever shot and produced that video should be fired,” said another detractor.

RELATED: Katie Porter suggests she will defend truckers who can’t speak English from Trump in bizarre debate moment

“It won’t work. Her ‘advisors’ probably thought it would help deflect from her true self being exposed. It just highlights her narcissism harder,” responded another X user.

While Porter has decent name recognition as a former congresswoman, she has underperformed in the gubernatorial race. In one recent poll, she was tied for fourth place behind the two Republicans in the race and Democratic front-runner Tom Steyer.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Katie porter campaign ad, Katie porter abuses staffers, California gubernatorial race, Online mockery, Politics