LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Despite ongoing community protests, immigration raids were expected to continue this week in the Southland amid the Trump administration’s guidance focusing on cities run by elected Democrats, while cutting back on enforcement at farms, hotels and restaurants.
“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,” President Donald Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“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 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.”
Trump administration officials have reportedly set a goal of up to 3,000 deportations per day, but said Friday it would scale back immigration and arrests at agricultural and hospitality sites in response to complaints from employers.
On Friday, Trump used a Truth Social post to explain his decision.
“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.”
Meanwhile, protesters returned to the streets of downtown Los Angeles Sunday, one day after a nationwide series of demonstrations against Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and other policies drew massive crowds to the Civic Center and communities throughout Southern California and the nation.
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 Trump 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 561 people related to protest activity since then, police said Sunday. That includes 38 arrests during Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstration downtown. Police said 35 people were arrested for curfew violations, one for failure to disperse, one for resisting, obstructing or delaying a police officer, and one for resisting arrest, according to the department.
Three officers were injured, police added.
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 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 had 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, President Donald Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines to tamp down disruptive demonstrations against immigration raids that continued.
Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 — the contingent of troops ordered into the city by Trump — said Friday morning the deployment of Marines in the Los Angeles area frees up the National Guard, who have been primarily protecting federal property, to serve a more protective role for federal agents conducting enforcement operations in the field
“I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities,” Sherman told reporters. “Rather, they’ll be focused on protecting federal law enforcement personnel.”
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.