DHS Spokesperson Responds to LA Mayor on ICE Raids and Protests

DHS Stance on Immigration Enforcement

• 🛡️ The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will not be deterred or intimidated by violent rioters and will continue ICE enforcement operations.
• 🚨 In the last 72 hours, operations have apprehended individuals including five gang members, child rapists, murderers, and convicted felons.
• 🗣️ DHS urges individuals to use the CBP Home app for voluntary self-deportation and the opportunity to return legally, warning that failure to do so will result in arrest and deportation.
• 📈 DHS reports a 413% increase in assaults against ICE enforcement officers, who are described as simply carrying out the law.

Response to Mayor Karen Bass and Protests

• 🚫 DHS states that Mayor Bass is doing a disservice by not encouraging self-deportation and by vilifying ICE.
• 🇺🇸 The DHS spokesperson agrees with President Trump's statement that Los Angeles was "under siege" and will not allow the city to be "invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy."
• 💥 Protesters were described as surrounding ICE officers, throwing rocks, burning American flags, and hoisting foreign flags outside a federal facility.

Deployment of Military and National Guard

• 🏛️ The deployment of thousands of troops, including Marines and the National Guard, is intended to maintain law and order and protect ICE enforcement officers.
• ⏱️ The LA Police Department's response time to an incident where ICE officers were attacked was noted as two hours, suggesting a need for additional support.
• 📢 The DHS spokesperson stated that President Trump is bringing law and order by calling in the National Guard and Marines.

Escalation of Rhetoric and Protests

• 📢 DHS attributes the escalation of protests to the rhetoric of politicians, including comparisons of ICE officers to Nazis and the Gestapo.
• 🚫 This rhetoric is seen as giving violent rioters a "free pass" to attack officers.
• 🌍 Protests are spreading to other cities like Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and San Francisco, with threats of equal or greater force.

ICE Arrest Quotas and Public Opinion

• 📰 Reporting suggests demands for ICE agents to arrest 3,000 people a day, with pressure to meet arrest numbers.
• 🚫 DHS disputes the characterization of those arrested as "day workers," stating they are in the country illegally and that companies exploit cheap foreign labor.
• 📊 While polls show support for President Trump's goals on immigration, a majority reportedly dislike the way he is implementing them.
• 🇺🇸 DHS maintains that the American people are behind President Trump and Secretary Gnome, citing the promise of mass deportations.
• ⚖️ The controversy stems from arrests of individuals with no criminal record other than being in the country illegally, though DHS states 75% of those arrested have prior convictions.