The recent actions by the federal government for immigration enforcement in Los Angeles have provoked an appalling reaction from hardline criminal elements in society. Immigration and Customs Enforcement focused on illegal aliens who have committed some of the worst crimes imaginable.
There is nothing compassionate or progressive about making communities live with hardened criminals who have no legal right to be here.
And yet, the Democrats have run to their far-left base — just as they did with the so-called “Maryland family man” — and have woefully failed on basic law and order within Los Angeles.
Rather than condemn looters and rioters, they appear more concerned with shielding criminals than protecting the public.
Let’s be clear: The people who live, work and run businesses in downtown Los Angeles are often immigrants themselves. There is nothing about standing up for immigration rights in looting a sushi restaurant or smashing the windows of a family-run store. Stealing from an Apple shop to grab the latest iPhone isn’t civil disobedience, it’s opportunistic criminality, plain and simple.
There is nothing in our cherished First Amendment that says it’s acceptable to torch cars or destroy property. There is nothing liberal or progressive about igniting fires in a city still recovering from some of the most devastating wildfires in California’s history. And yet again, the Democrats — who never miss a chance to spend other people’s money — are suddenly concerned about the cost of deploying the National Guard.
If Mayor Karen Bass did her job (a rare sensation), and if Gov. Gavin Newsom wasn’t more focused on auditioning for the 2028 presidential nomination than maintaining order, perhaps President Donald Trump wouldn’t have had to step in.
The reality is simple: ICE raids happen because California has made itself a magnet for illegal immigration.
Let’s look at some of the illegal criminals the Democrats are trying to turn into martyrs.
• Emiliano Garduno-Galvez – A previously deported Mexican national charged with attempted murder after hurling a Molotov cocktail at federal law enforcement.
• Cuong Chanh Phan – A 49-year-old Vietnamese national convicted of second-degree murder for a mass shooting at a graduation party.
• Rolando Veneracion-Enriquez – A 55-year-old from the Philippines with convictions for burglary and sexual assault.
• Lionel Sanchez-Laguna – Convicted of firing a weapon at a dwelling, spousal battery, child cruelty, DUI, and unlawful firearm use.
• Armando Ordaz – Mexican national with convictions for sexual battery, theft and stolen property possession.
And these are just a few. ICE also arrested sex offenders, gang members, and drug dealers operating across neighborhoods and local businesses.
There is certainly nothing Christian or “love thy neighbor” about burning down your neighbor’s property. That’s not a protest. That’s thuggery.
Millions of us get up early, go to work, and pay our taxes — and it is simply unacceptable that those same taxpayers subsidize health care for illegal immigrants. We work hard to put food on our families’ tables, not to bankroll failed policies.
But the Democrats don’t care. Let’s face it, Mayor Bass and Gov. Newsom ignored the threat until they were shamed into acting. The Democrats can whine about President Trump all day long, but if they had done their jobs, neither ICE nor the National Guard would need to be this involved.
And why don’t they care? Because you don’t matter, only their hard-left base matters. They pander to them.
Take Thursday afternoon, Sen. Alex Padilla does a piece of performance art, helpfully filmed by his aides, and in an Oscar-worthy scene comes charging at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s briefing and then wonders why he gets stopped and dragged away.
U.S. senators receive security briefings, including methods to identify themselves to police to avoid being hassled in Senate office buildings. If you’re not wearing your senatorial pin or any other identifying clothing like a suit, you did it deliberately.
Even CNN, hardly a pro-Trump outlet, had a legal expert saying that the senator was wrong.
This whole mess is the direct result of four years of President Joe Biden being asleep at the wheel, the autopen, or whoever was running the federal government, and the long-standing liberal regimes of Mayor Bass and Gov. Newsom.
If we want sensible immigration policies and real law and order, we must support this administration. Once again, rather than deal with the issues at hand, the Democrats scream and wail like a toddler who didn’t get enough ice cream, all while making excuses for hardened criminals and thugs robbing and looting the very people the Democrats are apparently “standing up for.”
As long as Democrats run California, we will remain at risk of riots, looting and violent criminal elements being protected under the false banner of “progress.”
Neil Fitzgerald is an international nonprofit leader having served in the U.S., U.K. and globally for various nonprofit and charity boards. He served as a conservative council member in the U.K. and as a campaign manager. “Right Here, Right Now” regularly appears on Saturdays and rotates among local Republicans.
