By T N Ashok
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles, the city of angels (Mexican), is on fire on Reality TV playing to the advantage of the master of the Apprentice show and Art of the Deal as the city of Hollywood battles the federal government over its powers to federalize the state national guard on matters of crime and policing as it rides roughshod in its pursuit of illegal immigrants keeping an election pledge that brought the Republican Party led by Donald Trump to power In 2024 November elections.
It all started with ICE – Immigration Customs Enforcement – agents storm trooping popular shopping centres such as Home Depot to whisk away Latino workers considered illegal immigrants with an alleged criminal record.
The situation was exacerbated when a very popular union leader, David Huerta , leader of several unions in the state, was detained and hurt besides an Australian got shot in an overtly armed excessive use of force by the national guard which was federalized without the consent of the state governor who belongs to the Democratic Party..
The state of California has sued the federal government for its alleged illegal action as the 10th amendment in the constitution forbids the federal government to interfere in a state’s law and order situation, which is a state subject, by federalizing the national guard against the state overruling its powers.
The city has been on fire as protesters against Trump’s immigration policy have torched cars, vandalised public places provoking Trump to federalise the national guard and deploying 700 special marines from the army to quell the riots as he seeks to push through his agenda against aliens on which he was voted to power. The federal guard action using weapons to control the riots is going live on TV as a reality show much to the advantage of the Republican supporters who support Trump on his agenda.
The upcoming gubernatorial battle in New Jersey is another testing ground for Trump’s 2nd term endorsement from the people in a largely blue state where governor Democrat Phil Murphy cannot contest again as he has exceeded his term.
Trump in 2024 elections stormed into the bastion of the two blue states New Jersey and California reducing the Democrats margin but failed to stake the states. White House officials say that Trump has a mandate to carry out his hard-line immigration agenda and that politically, battling it out with a blue state is a winning issue for them.
President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda has met a groundswell of opposition in Los Angeles, the country’s second-largest city. California, which was carved out of the erstwhile larger Mexico, has a dominant immigrant population consisting of latinos mostly from Mexico.
The White House has retaliated threatening to arrest California’s governor Gavin Newsom and mobilized Marines to support National Guard troops in defending federal property — even though state officials say they don’t want the assistance and are now suing the administration.
For the White House, this scene — Trump battling a blue state over his signature issue — is a political win, officials said. It’s a nationally watched saga on live TV, of the sort that has long defined his career: a made-for-TV moment. Trump’s Art of the Deal and Apprentice show playing larger than life on nationwide Television, he is enjoying every moment of it as it fuels groundswell of support for his actions from the GOP supporters.
“We’re happy to have this fight,” a White House official said, emphasizing that politically, the administration sees it as a winning issue. Democrats and immigration activists have broadly blasted the Los Angeles operation as illegal and inhumane and insisted that it’s all about politics — and not about sound public policy.
“This Administration’s actions are not about public safety — they’re about stoking fear,” former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Los Angeles resident who ran against Trump last year, wrote in a statement.
But Trump allies argue that it’s simply Trump carrying out the hardline immigration agenda that was the centrepiece of his campaign. NBC News spoke with four White House officials, in addition to other Trump supporters, who requested anonymity to speak candidly.
“This is what America voted for, period,” a Trump adviser said. “This is the America First focus that got the president elected and is driven by nothing else than what he promised American voters.” “Look at the violence, the attacks on law enforcement,” the adviser added. “If Democrats want to support that, let them. This is why we win elections, and they do not.” Trump advisers also pointed to the fact that the president’s immigration policies continue to get high marks in most public polling.
Trump advisers say the president also points to the fact that he got more votes in California in 2024 than in his previous campaigns, even though he still badly lost the heavily Democratic-leaning state. The administration’s response to the protests does seem to have one eye on the reaction in conservative media, a space increasingly dominated by pro-Trump influencers.
The Trump adviser, asked about McGraw’s involvement, said: “This is an important moment in American history. People have a right to see it in a way not unfairly skewed by a biased mainstream media.” The adviser wouldn’t elaborate on how McGraw, whose presence was first reported by CNN, was able to have front-line access to the federal immigration operations. A spokesman for McGraw didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Republicans more broadly also see the fight as a political winner and say Democrats are functionally taking the bait on an issue in which polling has given Trump an advantage. “I think it is a symptom of how far left this party has done when you have major Democrats standing on the side of illegal aliens that are torching vehicles,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News on Monday. “It is one of the reasons the Democratic Party is struggling so much nationally,” he added.
Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump administration official, said the raids shouldn’t be a surprise because immigration is a “legitimate issue” the voters have signalled they care about. “There is no political upside in defending or denying the images of burning cars, rioters and looting and the destruction,” he said of Democrats. “
A feeling that things have spun out of control in California and that the government can’t effectively govern. … It has changed the conversation from illegal immigration to a breakdown in society. (of law and order)”. Still, there has been some disagreement — at least in public messaging — about how far to push in going after California Democrats, a break between what may be politically popular with the base and what’s politically realistic.
The clearest example centres on the Trump administration’s authorizing the deployment of National Guard troops over the opposition of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have argued that inserting National Guard troops will inflame tensions and potential violence — a response that has led Trump to signal he would consider arresting Newsom if he were to continue what the administration considers to be his interference.
“I would do it if I were Tom,” Trump said, referring to his “border czar,” Tom Homan, the head of ICE overseeing the operations in LA. . “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity. But I do think it would be a great thing.” While detaining Newsom would no doubt please Trump’s MAGA base, White House officials privately say it’s not currently in the cards. “It’s not being actively planned or considered,” a senior White House official said. “But anyone who breaks federal law puts themselves at risk of being arrested. That’s just a basic fact.”
A second White House official said that if either Newsom or Bass, a former Democratic congresswoman, do something at odds with federal immigration law, they could be detained. But the official also acknowledged that the optics of arresting California officials amid an immigration fight they believe most Americans support could backfire with some Republican voters because, at the moment, it doesn’t appear they have actually broken any immigration laws.
On Monday, California sued the Trump administration, arguing that Trump’s federalizing the state’s National Guard is “unlawful.” “Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion,” Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends. Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the president’s authority under the law — and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
However, Trump supporters have lined up behind him, with some even offering to head to Los Angeles to help, despite having no law enforcement experience. “Preparing to deploy … to Los Angeles,” vocal Trump supporter Benny Johnson said on X. He followed up with a post to his 3.7 million followers showing him wearing military-style gear with his name on it. The battle between the MAGA Republicans led by President Trump and the Democrats led by California Governor is on and it is not ending shortly as Trump has a political agenda. (IPA Service)
