The President Stands By His Tough Approach To Immigration Enforcement
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I'm Abby Hornacek. I'm Ben Dominich. I'm Dana Perino, and this is the Fox News Rundown. Tuesday, June 10th, 2025. I'm Dave Anthony.

The protests continue around illegal immigration raids and deportations being resisted in Los Angeles and beyond. And this is why Trump won the election. People are just sick and tired of this and they want bad people. They want these criminal and gang members out of the country. And that's what they were trying to do.

I'm Jessica Rosenthal. It's primary day in New Jersey, and both sides of the political aisle are paying attention to margins and turnout, but also the President Trump effect. You know, as we go into this election cycle, to win in New Jersey, it's going to take the same fundamentals that it takes in any battleground state. We speak with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Watley. And I'm Howard Cusick. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown.

There have been days of anger and unrest in Los Angeles over illegal immigration raids and arrests. Some of the demonstrators wore masks, smashing windows, setting cars on fire, throwing things at police and attacking law enforcement. The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators, they're insurrectionists, they're bad people, they should be in jail.

President Trump says he'd even support arresting California Governor Gavin Newsom. I like Gavin Newsom. He's a nice guy, but he's grossly incompetent. Everybody knows. The governor says the president's been acting like a dictator. It's my job to clean up Donald Trump's mess. The Democratic governor telling Fox 11 TV... He's acting recklessly. He's acting unlawfully.

He's putting people's lives at risk. It all started with those Friday raids. The same day, perhaps the most infamous deportee was brought back to the U.S. from El Salvador, where Kilmar Abrega-Garcia was sent in March with other alleged gang members, but the Supreme Court had ordered the Trump administration facilitate his return. However...

He's not free. Abrego Garcia is jailed in Tennessee facing federal human trafficking charges. Over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring. Attorney General Pam Bondi, if convicted, he faces prison time and then possibly deportation again. He'd been doing this for years is the point. Probably smuggled, we think, close to his life.

close to a thousand illegal aliens, including MS-13 gang members. This is exactly the type of individual we want out of the country. Congressman Michael McCaul is a Republican from Texas. He's also vice chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and chairman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee. And we talked to him early Monday afternoon.

I was a federal prosecutor at one time myself that he will get convicted and he'll be in prison here. And then when he's done with his time, he'll be deported back to El Salvador. But what I've really been amazed at is how the Democrats really held him up as like a golden boy sort of poster child.

cause celeb that they're all going to rally behind this guy who, you know, the more we find out about him, the worse it gets. He beats his wife. He's an MS-13 gang member. He transported illegally, smuggled thousands of gang members. And this is why Trump won the election.

People are just sick and tired of this, and they want bad people. They want these criminal and gang members out of the country, and that's what they were trying to do. And I think when he was pulled over before he was arrested, there were eight individuals in his car, all without luggage.

That says something right there. And all the passengers provided the same home address as Garcia. That's a classic human trafficking sign when they don't have any luggage and they all claim to be related or family members of this person at that one address. Well, they're not related to Garcia. They're in the car. They're being smuggled to his home to be trafficked, whether it be human or sex trafficking.

It's exactly the type of person you just don't want in this country. His supporters say, well, he was helping people, transporting them for work, and he wasn't arrested that day. He was let go. He had an expired license, but there were no charges brought against him that day. And when he was deported, they say there were no criminal charges to back up the deportation. And they say he's not a gang member. He's a sheet worker and a father in Maryland. That's what the supporters say.

Well, and you're right. He was not arrested after that, although I think there would have been a lot of suspicion. This was also under the Biden administration, where we saw countless times where aggravated felons were released. In fact, I remember Secretary Mayorkas, I was one of the impeachment managers. The reason

And I don't take that lightly. The reason I felt it was justified was he wrote a memo to his agents at the border and to ICE and to CBP and Border Patrol not to adhere to the statutory requirement that says shall detain aggravated felons, but rather says, well, use your own judgment. You know, if you use your own discretion. Well, you know, as a lawmaker, shall means shall.

There's no discretion there. And so he's giving his agents powers that defy the statute in federal law itself. So what they did was, for lack of detention space as well, they started releasing all these aggravated felons into the country. And that's probably how Mr. Garcia got out on the streets, you know, as well. And he was finally turned after he was sent back to El Salvador,

But then his return, you're correct, he was indicted in Tennessee on the human smuggling charges upon his return. Okay, you said you're a prosecutor, obviously, in your past before you were a member of Congress. This is what his attorney had to say. He said there's no way a jury is going to see the evidence and agree that this sheet metal worker, talking to this client, Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, is the leader of an international MS-13 smuggling conspiracy. Do they have to prove he's the leader of the conspiracy to be involved in smuggling?

No. I mean, all they have to show is that he was part of a conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens. It doesn't even have to be gang members, although the indictment does spell out that they were thousands of undocumented immigrants who

including minors and also alleged MS-13 members. But it's not necessary that they be MS-13. It's not necessary that he be the leader of the conspiracy. It's just that he was a part of the conspiracy. They also allege he was a participant in the killing of a gang member's mother. However, he's not charged with that. Is that a charge they would bring coming? Or is that something you add in there to just get the judge to make sure that the person's not released?

Right. It could be they don't have adequate evidence to make that case yet. However, if they do, they can file what's called a superseding indictment that would add that charge up.

to the conspiracy to transport the undocumented aliens charge. So that's still possibly very viable. I think they probably have more investigation to do because once you indict a case, then you're kind of limited in terms of discovery. So I'm sure they're getting more evidence on that. All right. Now let's get back to the case involving his deportation. Democrats certainly had concerns.

been rallying and there were a lot of protests to bring him back, which ultimately happened. In April, Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, went to El Salvador, met with Kilmar Abregu-Garcia. I want you to hear what he has to say. I have repeatedly said that we're not vouching for

Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We are vouching for his constitutional rights, because if you trample over his constitutional rights, you threaten them for every American and everybody who resides in America. What is your thought when you hear that? I do find it interesting. I mean, look, I get the argument due process and the Constitution. Obviously, the Supreme Court agreed with that. But the extent to which they are attaching themselves to this man is

From just a purely political optics scenario, I think it just looks terrible. We had the Secretary of Homeland testify, you know, Kristi Noem before our committee. The entire hearing was about this one man picture up on a poster, literally the poster child, the poster boy for the Democrats at that hearing. And they can say that about due process, and perhaps they're right about that. But I just think attaching themselves so closely to this issue

dangerous criminal who was, according to the indictment, smuggling MS-13 gang members. I don't think the American people are really going to have a lot of empathy for that, no matter what the process was. And it's precisely why President Trump won by such a large margin. No.

Now, the court rulings against him on other deportations, there are people who they want returned from El Salvador. There's a Guatemalan man who was returned after being deported. There's lots of legal challenges to what the president is doing. Do you think that he might lose some more of these cases and this puts his agenda at risk? I think these are just a handful of cases where they were swept up in raids and perhaps he didn't pay attention to all the details.

But this is not indicative of what's happening across the country. I think this is kind of a small segment. There have been about 14,000 aggravated felons arrested since the president came into office. Those are dangerous actors that have no right to be in this country under our Constitution, have no right to be in this country. Some of those illegal immigrants with criminal records are

were arrested Friday in Los Angeles in those much-protested immigration raids. ICE was serving a series of criminal warrants at a business being investigated for money laundering, custom fraud. Reporters are Tom Holman also tells Fox. We're arresting bad people. One of those taken into custody is a convicted murderer. Well, you know, when you have AOC saying we need to occupy every ICE office, Karen Bass, the mayor, L.A. saying ICE is sowing terror.

San Diego councilman saying this is state-sponsored terrorism. Yeah. I mean, the rhetoric is ratcheting up, but I know that the goal here, that the ones that they're targeting are the aggravated felons that the Biden administration let into this country. And I think most Americans agree that they don't have a right to be here and they don't want them to be here because it's a safety issue. And so I think it's generated a lot of...

hatred. What's interesting, Dave, is when I chaired the Homeland Security Committee, I authorized the Department of Homeland Security. And overwhelmingly, the majority of Democrats voted to authorize ICE into law. That just shows you how far we've come since that time. And that was, yeah, that was probably, you know, eight years ago. But they have Democrats saying communities are in fear. It's forcing these people to live in the shadows and live underground.

Well, that's where the sanctuary city term comes into play. And so when you had ICE targeting this Home Depot business, that's why the LAPD could not assist them when they were throwing, you know, they were physically assaulting officers. They were setting vehicles on fire, blocking freeways, throwing rocks, cement. I mean, that's not acceptable. These are federal law enforcement officers. And to obstruct their duties and to assault them

is the federal offense. How does this not escalate further?

Well, I think the first step is when we get all the aggravated felons, and there are probably about 200,000 of them that were released into the country. You know, I know from my days, you can't arrest everybody. You don't want to. You have to prioritize your resources. And by the way, deterrence has worked because the illegal crossings at the border have gone down to almost zero now. Catch and release is not happening anymore.

there's going to be a return to remain in Mexico. That is having a significant impact on how many people cross in here illegally. And with the resources we're providing with the reconciliation bill, we'll be able to back that up with resources, technology, aviation assets, finishing the wall, everything we need to finally get that border secure once and for all. Then I think you can have the debate on immigration reform,

which some would argue is long overdue. But you couldn't get to that point when you had a wide open border like we saw under the Biden administration. Congressman Michael McCaul represents the 10th District in Texas as a Republican, also vice chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, chairman emeritus of House Foreign Affairs, a member of both committees still. Great to talk to you. Thank you, Congressman. You too, Dave. I appreciate it. Thanks.

Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy, host of the Trey Gowdy Podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com.

I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by Stephen Law. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com. Or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Must listen to podcasts from Fox News Audio. This is Howard Husic with your Fox News commentary coming up.

Today is primary day in the New Jersey race for governor and attention is on turnout, but also on President Trump and how much his agenda weighs on the minds of voters. One Democratic candidate, Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill, told Fox 5 New York that as she focuses on issues like housing affordability and New Jersey's power grid, national politics like President Trump's tariffs

have impacted her constituents. - A developer was telling me he stopped all development because HVAC prices are going up 30 to 40%. So I think it's affecting everyday New Jerseyans, what is coming from Washington, not to mention the fear that is going on in different communities.

Over the weekend, the Democratic National Committee chairman, Ken Martin, visited Somerset County and told voters there that stopping Donald Trump starts right here in New Jersey. Four years ago, Republican State Assemblyman Jack Cittarelli lost to Governor Phil Murphy by a little more than three points. He's running again, and he also told Fox 5 New York he wouldn't allow any city or county in the state to become a so-called sanctuary for illegal aliens if he were governor.

The first job of any governor is to provide for the public safety. And we'll work in partnership with the federal government to guarantee that. I think the people all across this country have spoken. And Donald Trump performed pretty well in New Jersey. So obviously his policies, at least amongst the two million people that voted for him, are something they're in agreement with. While New Jersey is pretty blue by all accounts, they have elected Republican governors in the past. This primary comes seven months after President Trump flipped five counties in New Jersey from blue to red.

43% of the Latino vote went to President Trump. That was 15 points higher than in 2020. Look, I think as we roll into New Jersey, we're very excited about the opportunity we have there. The people of New Jersey are ready for a change.

Michael Watley is the chair of the Republican National Committee, and we spoke with him Monday. What we've seen over the course of the last 20, 25 years with Democratic control is that taxes are too high, services are not what they need to be, and the people of New Jersey are ready for a change. We have a great opportunity coming out of this cycle in 2024 where President Trump brought us in a lot closer than we had been in the past, within five points.

We saw a governor's race four years ago, three and a half percent. So I think that we are definitely ready for a change in New Jersey, that people want to see a common sense agenda that's going to be brought to bear there. What kind of data are you going to look at out of Tuesday, knowing it's a primary? So what are you going to sort of be tracking out of that?

You know, we want to see no vote doing. Yeah, we want to see basically what are the raw vote totals that are coming out? How many Republicans are turning out? How many people are voting in the Republican primary? What is what is that enthusiasm going to going to lead us to? You know, as we go into this election cycle to win in New Jersey, it's going to take the same fundamentals.

that it takes in any battleground state. You have to have a really good candidate, run a really good race. You have to get out the vote and you have to protect the ballot. So we're going to be working with the New Jersey GOP and the candidates to make sure that we have the grassroots programs in place and we have a statewide election integrity program that's going to be really focused on making it easy to vote and hard to cheat.

There are other off-year elections, right? This year, Virginia's governor race has apparently no primary. They were canceled because Abigail Spanberger is the only Democrat and Winsome Earl Sears is the only Republican. She's the current lieutenant governor there.

What are you guys planning to do there, um, for the rest of the year, if anything, to, to help out when some Sears, cause the, the pulling at least initially has a Spanberger a little bit ahead. Yeah, basically the, the, the same type of approach that we're going to be taking in New Jersey, which is really truly to work with the candidate and win some Sears. She's doing a great job and she's going to run a great race, work with the state party, work with the volunteers, make sure that we're getting out the vote and, uh, that we have the election integrity program, uh,

lined up and running in every one of the counties across the state. Virginia is a little bit of a different animal, right? It's purple-ish, but it was blue and then it went red. So is that...

is that a tricky state? Well, it's a very tricky state. I think it's a battleground state. You know, what Glenn Youngkin did in 2021 was show us a roadmap of what it takes for you to win in a state like Virginia. Um, and, and he was such a trailblazer, uh, by focusing on the issues that the voters cared about. And, and obviously, uh, in 2021, uh, school closures coming out of, uh, COVID, uh,

was a very hot topic and making sure that the schools were going to be teaching the kids and allow the parents to say in the education. Governor Youngkin was able to kind of capture that, but he also, you know, focused on the fact that we had had 12 years of democratic control in Richmond and that taxes were getting to be too high.

and that the services that the state was providing the taxpayers were not what they needed to be. That is something that Winsome Sears is going to have to continue. She's going to be focused on, you know, what are the issues that the Virginia voters care about, putting solutions on the table and relentlessly campaigning for them.

We are also, sir, very soon going to have a mayoral primary in New York. I think Mayor Adams is running as an independent now. And it seems to be on the Democratic ticket between former Governor Cuomo and a Democratic socialist named Zoran Mamdani. We know Cuomo has his issues, right, his handling of COVID and the sexual harassment accusations. So what

What would it mean if Mamdani became the next mayor of New York? Well, I think it's very troubling right now. What you're seeing is every single candidate in the Democratic primary for mayor is a jailbreak to the left. They are doing everything they can to defend illegal immigrants. They're fighting harder for illegal immigrants than they are their own constituents. We're seeing example after example.

where they're running out on, uh, housing issues, where they're running to the left on tax issues, where they're running to the left on every single issue. That's not what the people of New York want. What they want are solutions. What they want is a safe community. They want their kids to be educated. They want to be able to get a good job. They need the economy to be good. Uh,

And these are all things that the Democrats right now in their jailbreak to the left are just ignoring and posturing to really, truly be the most radical, progressive person that's going to come out of that primary. OK, let's go into the future and pretend it's mid-July. The big, beautiful bill is signed.

What are Republicans focused on moving forward ahead of next year's midterms? And how does it differ knowing historically that when a party's in power, things usually go the reverse direction in that first in that first midterm? Yeah, the midterm election cycles are going to be all about the agenda. Right. President Trump ran on a common sense pro-America agenda, which really is rebuild the economy, restore the southern border, make sure that America is strong and we're going to protect our kids and our communities.

And so our agenda is definitely wrapped up with the Big Beautiful Bill. We've got a lot of provisions in there that are going to help advance our economy, that are going to help build the wall and provide funding for ICE, going to make sure that we unleash American energy, which is absolutely critical. You know, so there's a lot in the Big Beautiful Bill. We need to get that done. But then we also need to keep focusing on the fact that this agenda is bigger than just one bill.

We need to see the rescissions package that the president sent to Congress get passed so that we can cut down on spending. We need to make sure that we get grocery prices, gasoline prices, housing prices continue to track lower. We've seen very good positive indications in all of those indicators.

So far, you know, President Trump, under his economic stewardship since he took office, has created 700,000 jobs here in America. We need to do more and we need to do better. Real wages are going up. Inflation is going down. Those are very important. But for us in the midterm, this is all about promises made and promises kept. It sounds more policy than messaging.

Well, you got to message the delivery, right? I mean, you need to make sure that people understand that President Trump is keeping those promises. You need to help make sure that people understand it is not a coincidence. You know, elections have consequences. What we're seeing in California right now with the riots, what we're seeing across the country in Democratic cities is that Democratic leadership is failed leadership. Republicans are listening to the voters. They're understanding the issues they care about and putting solutions on the table.

We are far out from midterms, obviously, but given what you see in the Democratic Party right now, they're infighting who their party stars are right now. What do you think at this stage of the game? I know it's still early, but what do you think it pretends for the GOP's fight next year?

Look, the Democrats right now, every single person who wants to be a leader in that party, whether it's Jasmine Crockett or it's AOC or it's Bernie Sanders, what they want is to double down on the same failed policies that they lost on in 2024. You know, at its core, 2024 was a repudiation of the Democrats' open border, inflationary spending, weak America agenda. And it was really ushering in President Trump and a common sense agenda.

Right now, the Democrats are doing everything they can to double down on the same failed policies. You know, you've got Kamala Harris out there saying, if only I'd been on the ticket longer, then we could have won. Tim Waltz saying, only if I had been more aggressive in terms of pursuing this campaign agenda, then we would have had a chance. The fact is the American people rejected that agenda. They knew it and they don't want it. They don't want it today. And so really, truly, as we look at

You know, this agenda right now, there's a huge, big, bright line between the Republicans and the Democrats. I feel, you know, pretty good that as long as the Republicans continue to deliver every single day, we're going to be in a position, have an opportunity to expand our majorities in the House and the Senate.

After the dust up between President Trump and Elon Musk, the president said if Elon funds Democratic candidates who vote against the big, beautiful bill, and we all know how Elon feels about the big, beautiful bill, then he'll have to deal with the consequences. We then saw Elon Musk retweet and positively comment on Vice President Vance's posts as well as President Trump's posts. Do you think that's a threat? Do you think Elon Musk funding Democrats?

uh democratic candidates is a real possibility look i'm disappointed that we have seen elon musk taking the shots at the president that he has uh what we need to stay focused on right now is getting this agenda passed this is a pro-america agenda that the president is pushing every single day his entire cabinet is pushing every single day uh we need to get the big beautiful bill done uh

Elon Musk made a lot of great contributions to the campaign and to the transition period and getting Doge set up. And we're grateful for those efforts. But right now, we have one president. We have one Republican Party. We have one agenda. And we're working every single day to implement that agenda. As you watch what's happening in California and the riots against immigration officials,

Just just your your brief thoughts about how the politics around this issue have changed from 2017, 2018 and Trump 1.0 versus now. Look, this is the direct result of the Democrats policies.

on illegal immigration. The fact is Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet and ushered in 15 to 20 million illegal aliens into the United States. They don't want to leave. And what we're seeing right now is Democrat leaders in California, whether it's Gavin Newsom or it's Mayor Bass,

are fighting harder for those illegal immigrants than they are for their own constituents, than the victims of the crimes that are being perpetrated by violent criminal illegal aliens. And basically what they're saying is, if you don't come in and arrest these people, if you don't deport them, then we will not riot. That is not an equation that is going to work. President Trump is very committed, and the American people voted for the deportation of violent criminal illegal aliens, shutting down that border,

and making sure that we're not going to have 15 to 20 million illegal aliens in the United States that should not be here. Republican Party Chairman Michael Watley, thank you so much for joining us. Absolutely. It's great to be with you. As America prepares for its 249th birthday on July 4th, Fox News Podcast celebrates great Americans, highlighting well-known and everyday folks who've made their mark on the country in their own special way. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcasts.com.

Subscribe to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. It's time for your Fox News commentary. Howard Youssef.

What's on your mind? On the surface, newly released data from the Census Bureau looks to be good news for big cities. In the wake of the COVID panic that drove residents to the suburbs and beyond, city populations generally have rebounded. Cities of all sizes grew on average from 2023 to 2024, the Bureau reported. But a closer look tells another story about some of the largest blue state cities governed by Democratic mayors. New

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia continue to have lower populations than they did in 2020. New York City has had the largest drop from 8.8 million to 8.47 million, or 3.7%. An even slightly closer look at these cities' quality of life and affordability, factors that are the function of the effectiveness of their local governments, offers explanations for this negative trend.

Housing costs in New York, according to the National Tracking Service Rent Cafe, are 21.8% higher than the national average, despite the fact that the city has more price regulated and public housing than any other. Where is housing cheaper? Well, look to Houston, which has gained 3.9% in population. Its housing costs are the mirror image of New York City's, 21% lower than the national average.

To explain Chicago's population loss, look at its crime rate. The Winded City last year led the nation in murders, 653, almost twice the number of Baltimore, the city with the second highest number. Yet for the privilege of being subjected to high crime, Chicagoans have paid more and more in property taxes.

The separate property tax levered by the Chicago's public school system increased another $1.4 billion from $2.4 to $3.8 billion. Yet according to the Illinois Policy Institute, in spring 2024, 30% of CPS students in third through eighth grade met provisional standards in reading and only 18% were proficient in math. Los Angeles, another population loser, stands out on another measure, street homelessness.

The city's 71,000 homeless constitute, according to the Brookings Institution, 670 persons for every 100,000 residents. The other population-losing cities all have their own versions of these same stories. Philadelphia ranks among the homelessness leaders. 18% of its homeless are among the unsheltered, the highest number among cities in the Northeast. The unsheltered homeless in San Jose stands at 77%. That's the nation's highest.

It's fair to argue that the combination of mild weather and air conditioning over the long term have lured Americans from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sun Belt. But the new census data shines a light on what's happening right now, as cities even in California, as well as the Rust Belt and the Northeast, fail to recover their pre-COVID population levels. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that ineffective governance has played a role. Crime and homelessness, high tax levels, and poor performing public schools are

not magnets to draw back former residents, nor to draw in new ones. The fact that all the population losing cities are run by Democratic mayors helped Donald Trump win the popular vote. Even in New York City, he ran better than he had in 2020. Cities can be the engines of economic innovation and prosperity, but not if local government fails to provide effective essential services.

Americans have given a negative census report card on just those services delivered to some of our largest cities. This is Howard Husek.

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