Despite ongoing community protests, immigration raids were expected to continue this week in the Southland amid Trump administration guidance focusing on cities run by elected Democrats, while cutting back on enforcement at farms, hotels and restaurants.
“Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History,” President Donald Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People. ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” he continued.
“In order to achieve this, we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside. These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”
The 407-word post also highlighted Trump’s policy differences on gender, crime and other issues with cities run by Democrats, and he vowed to direct his “entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been in a continuing war of words with the president, reacted to Trump’s latest missive with a social media post of his own Monday morning.
“(Trump’s) plan is clear: incite violence and chaos in blue states, have an excuse to militarize our cities, demonize his opponents, keep breaking the law and consolidate power,” Newsom wrote. “It’s illegal and we will not stand for it.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass added on X, “If they can get away with it in the second largest city in the United States, then every city in our country is vulnerable. That’s what Trump pledged to follow through on last night. He’s using the federal government to wage a political war.”
Trump administration officials have reportedly set a goal of up to 3,000 deportations per day, but said Friday they would scale back immigration and arrests at agricultural and hospitality sites in response to complaints from employers.
“President Trump has always stood up for our farmers, who were a major part of his November victory, by working to negotiate fairer trade deals and cut red tape,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement to The New York Times. “He will continue to strengthen our agricultural industry and boost exports while keeping his promise to enforce our immigration laws and remove the millions of unvetted illegals who flooded into the United States under Joe Biden.”
In a Thursday Truth Social post, the president said:
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
Advocates for farm operators applauded the president’s revised guidance on raids at agriculture-related businesses.
“We appreciate President Trump’s comments … recognizing the contributions of farmworkers who play a vital role in growing food across America, and committing to preserve the ability of farms to provide a safe and secure food supply,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement on the group’s website. “Farm employees work hard every day to help produce healthy, American-grown food. If these workers are not present in fields and barns, there is a risk of supply chain disruptions similar to those experienced during the pandemic.
“We look forward to working with the President on solutions that ensure continuity in the food supply in the short term, and we call on Congress to follow the President’s lead to develop a permanent solution that fixes outdated and broken farmworker programs.”
The latest known enforcement effort occurred Saturday when several people were detained during an apparent immigration raid at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet. Video from the scene at 13963 Alondra Blvd. showed masked federal agents apprehending several people Saturday, accompanied by armed U.S. Marines. It was unclear what further actions were taken.
Witnesses told reporters people were gathering for a concert at the Swap Meet that was later canceled following the raid.
The administration began conducting immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles on June 6, prompting daily demonstrations in the street that have — at times — turned violent and resulted in widespread graffiti and other property damage in the downtown area.
The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested 575 people related to protest activity since then, police said Monday.
On Monday, Bass reduced the curfew hours for a one-square-mile section of downtown Los Angeles. It is now in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for an area that includes the Civic Center, Chinatown, Little Tokyo and the Arts and Fashion districts.
Los Angeles Controller Kenneth Mejia said Sunday that the city had spent more than $11.4 million through Friday on activities related to ICE protests, and that was before Saturday’s massive “No Kings” demonstration, which caused officials to deploy extra resources.
Also Sunday, U.S. immigration officials identified two more of the people detained during recent raids who allegedly had criminal records. Alfredo Vasquez-Petronilo was described as a Mexican national with prior convictions for battery, assault and DUI, while Jose Jonathan Delgado was described as a Mexican national who’s been previously deported and was convicted of battery with serious bodily injury.
Officials said Vasquez-Petronilo would stay in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings, and Delgado would stay in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
Last week, Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines to tamp down disruptive demonstrations against the raids.
A federal court hearing is set for Tuesday to determine whether Trump or California Gov. Gavin Newsom will control future National Guard activity going forward. Newsom challenged Trump’s decision to federalize the Guard, an action U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said in a ruling last week did not follow congressionally mandated procedure.
His ruling was stayed by a three-judge appellate panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in response to a Trump administration notice of appeal, temporarily keeping the National Guard troops under federal control.