LA On The Front Lines Of Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
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It's Monday, June 9th. I'm Jane Kustin, and this is What A Day, the show that is glad New Jersey Senator Cory Booker would not accept money from Elon Musk, despite Elon Musk at no point ever indicating he would ever give Cory Booker money. I mean, I guess it's good to just get that said or something.

On today's show, Republicans go to bed for Trump's big, beautiful bill that is not beautiful. And the Department of Justice says Kilmar Obrego-Garcia was flown back to the U.S., even though it initially said over and over, we can't do that. But let's start with Los Angeles, where we record the show and the location of protests against immigration and customs enforcement and where the Trump administration has decided to escalate by sending in the National Guard.

Let's back up for a second and explain how we got here. Because contrary to President Donald Trump's Sunday Truth Social post, Los Angeles has not been, quote, invaded and occupied. On Friday, ICE agents and members of the FBI rolled through L.A.'s Garment District to serve a search warrant to a business suspected of employing undocumented workers. This is part of a broader effort spurred on by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to prioritize worksite immigration enforcement to goose deportation numbers.

That's because, despite rhetoric from the Trump campaign last year and the Trump administration this year, there just aren't enough quote-unquote hardened criminals to deport the millions and millions of people the administration promised. On Saturday, a protest broke out at a Home Depot in Paramount, a city about 45 minutes south of where I'm sitting here in West Hollywood. Here's Rachel Orunga, immigration reporter for the Los Angeles Times. And then on Saturday morning,

A local assemblyman had reported that there was a caravan or there was a lot of Custom and Border Patrol trucks staged or in front of a Home Depot. It really wasn't clear at that time what was happening, if there was a raid or not. But protesters started to show up and things just escalated from there as federal agents lined the outside gates of that business.

And protesters also met ICE in downtown Los Angeles. Most of the protests have been peaceful, but not all of them. Some people have thrown projectiles at ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials and at local police. This is hardly the first time ICE raids have been forced to reckon with locals. We've seen similar responses in Minneapolis, New York, and San Diego. But in response to the protests, and with a chance of making a big media splash against us evil Californians, the Trump administration sent in the National Guard.

The administration did so without the permission of California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, the first time a president has done so without gubernatorial permission since 1965. In fact, officials across California, including those representing the Los Angeles Police Department, have all said that bringing in the National Guard was unnecessary. Here's California Democratic Representative Jimmy Gomez.

I mean, Governor Gavin Newsom said the president made the move because he wants a spectacle and it's only going to escalate tensions. Is he right? Are you concerned that any standoff between uniformed officers and protesters will lead to more violence?

Yeah, I'm extremely concerned. I agree with the governor. This is something that President Trump, his advisor Stephen Miller had always had in mind, is this confrontation between California and their federal government. I've heard from people that used to work in the DOD that this was just a matter of time before this happened, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to federalize the National Guard without the authorization of the California governor.

On Sunday evening, Governor Newsom formally requested that the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles be rescinded. But Donald Trump told reporters that same day that he would even contemplate sending in the Marines to L.A. based on, well, here's what he said. We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden and his auto pen. What's the bar for sending Marines? The bar is what I think it is. Great.

So to talk more about what's happening in parts of Los Angeles right now, I called up Ruben Vives, a general assignment reporter with the LA Times. Ruben, welcome to What Today. Thank you for having me. We are talking to you Sunday afternoon. Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed to Los Angeles to monitor the immigration protests. Hundreds have already arrived. Can you remind our listeners, how did we get here? What started the protests?

Well, it's been culminating for a couple of days now, but I think the turning point was this Friday when there was an immigration operation or a worksite operation at the fashion district here in downtown LA where federal agents went into a business, detained workers.

took them and then of course that sparked a lot of anger from the community. People weren't happy with it and there was a lot of force that was used that has now come into question. And then of course we had demonstrations in the city of Paramount, which is a suburb of LA County. It's about 12 miles southeast of downtown LA, predominantly Latino.

And there was rumors that there was going to be an immigration raid. And so people got wind of it. They showed up, demonstrated, and then things got very ugly.

Yeah, I think immigration enforcement has been ramped up across the country since January. But in recent weeks, I think especially as immigration enforcement has been focused on workplaces and on these mass raids, we've seen videos of communities fighting back and surrounding businesses and pushing back against officers. What kinds of tactics are protesters using?

Well, here in L.A., and I'm pretty sure it's probably also the same can be said across the country, is that we have some pro-immigrant groups who have been sort of networking with each other. They communicate with one another. They have lawyers on standby. They sort of train people.

A community volunteers on patrolling neighborhoods, looking out for ice. They alert the community. They alert them about their constitutional rights. And then, of course, when you have social media, you have sort of a connection with, you know, thousands of supporters.

So can you tell me a little bit more about what happened on Friday? Do you think that really pushed people over the edge? Because I think that, you know, we've been hearing about raids taking place. But I think Friday was a moment for a lot of people where you have, you know, the head of SEIU getting arrested. You have a lot of people who are just saying, like, this is where we're going to take a stand. So was there like a moment that you think really just changed the dynamics here?

I think the arresting of a union leader is certainly one part of it. I think seeing families sort of outside watching their relatives getting handcuffed and taken away. I mean, you've seen videos of people crying and yelling out to their relatives, like, don't say anything, don't sign anything, you know, and they're crying. And it's a very heartbreaking thing to be seeing. And I think what

What really is sort of pushing all of this is the level of aggression from federal immigration agents. I think we saw that definitely in the city of Paramount. They're not used to handling crowds. They're not used to this sort of attention. They're usually very quiet about how they do their operations. But because they are sort of being pushed to meet certain criteria, certain numbers, a quota system,

you're having, they're having to come out on full force and just grab people. And so I think that is driving the image of that, the aggression of that, I think is what's really kind of starting to bother people. And also, you know,

I think, look, I think the beginning of, I mean, throughout Trump's campaign and even when he was elected, he made it very clear that he was going to go after criminals, you know, the worst of the kind. Right. And now he's simply going after just about every immigrant, whether you've gone through the process legally or not.

You're on his list. And now we've got Trump bringing in the National Guard. What do you see them actually doing on the ground? LAPD doesn't want to get involved. The state government has said, like, we don't need the National Guard. So what do you see as their purpose in all of this? Not to divert from what you're asking here, but I think that that's also an important point.

thing to look at is that police are adamant about telling the public we are not involved in these operations. But whether they like it or not, they're getting sucked in because they're having to respond

to crowd control and just having their presence next to us is just enough for people to have that vision of you're working, you're cooperating with immigration. And so I think there's that conflict. As for the National Guard, that is a very good question. I think now we're starting a little more clear picture. Last night, we weren't too sure what the role was going to be, but it sounds like they're here to protect some of the federal properties, such as the

detention center in downtown LA and perhaps other federal facilities where there might be demonstrations being held against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

And I know that this is the first time since 1965 that a president has sent in the National Guard without the approval of the governor of the state where they're being sent. How often does the federal government actually use National Guard troops to quell protests? It's not very often. I mean, the bar is extremely high. And to set that bar, to kind of explain where that bar is, we're talking about going back to 1992. We're talking about the L.A. riots in

Rodney King, and we saw the civil unrest that was occurring during that time. It was widespread. There was very little control, both from LAPD and the LA Sheriff's side. But we're talking about a few hundred demonstrators and a very few of them who were actually being very violent for the most part. These demonstrations have been peaceful. They've been nonviolent. But I think they sort of turn a page when

you're starting to see law enforcement get very aggressive with people. And then that triggers them to respond with anger and with aggression as well. So, but, you know, for the most part, it was, I know that on video cameras, on news stations, it may look chaotic, but it wasn't spread out throughout the city. It's not like, you know, the half of Paramount is burning down. It's nothing like that at all. So for them to bring in the National Guard is...

It's very, I mean, that's a very aggressive move. Across the country, we've seen people arrested and detained by immigration officers. And recently, the Trump administration has said that they want to deport 3,000 undocumented immigrants every day. Have L.A. immigration officers been using different tactics in order to meet those quotas?

No, I think the only change we're starting to see is that they're coming out now. I think these last two weeks, I think we're seeing them more visible than before. I don't remember ICE ever chasing down people down a parking lot of a Home Depot. I don't remember seeing multiple operations happening in one single day. And we're talking throughout different parts of the city and the county as well.

But in terms of their tactics, the only difference that I see is that they are targeting more businesses. They are going after businesses where there are workers who are probably not authorized, don't have the proper documentation to be working there. There is that sort of difference. But for the most part, the taxes have remained the same. They're just, I think, a little more visible, especially now when people are paying attention.

In your work, does that differ from Trump's first term? Because I think that there was a sense in during his first term that he wasn't going after businesses exactly. He's even talked about how, oh, you know, like this, this has to be very different and they need these permits because they need these workers. I mean, we could even talk about the number of people on visas working on Trump's own properties. But what is what has shifted since Trump's first term in office?

Yeah, his first time, right, I think we all remember. There were some images of people getting detained, and that certainly stood out. But it wasn't to this level. It wasn't like they were not running for their lives. And certainly, even the numbers, I think, show that they were a lot lower than they are now. The difference with this time around is no one's opposing him. He's got full control of everything.

you know, of the Republican Party. He's being supported both by the House and the Senate to a certain degree, I guess. But when it comes to immigration, I don't see anyone sort of other than Democrats really opposing some of the policies that he's put in place. And on top of that, he's

really kind of using aggression right after anyone who stands in his way, particularly now with whether it's sanctuary cities, he's targeting, we didn't hear about sanctuary cities in the first term, or at least his administration didn't threaten to go after politicians who get in the way or who try to intervene on these operations. And so we're hearing a lot of that from

from his administration. Ruben, thank you so much for taking the time to join me. Thank you. Appreciate it. That was my conversation with Ruben Vives, a general assignment reporter with the LA Times. We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads.

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or worsen.

Here's what else we're following today. Headlines. He has no intention whatsoever of spending higher levels of money. In fact, we're in the process of cutting. Well, this is adding a lot to the national debt. No, it's not. No, it's not. I mean, it is. No, it's not.

Republicans continued to defend President Trump's economic policy Sunday. House Speaker Mike Johnson went to bat for the president's big, beautiful bill in an interview with ABC's This Week. Johnson insisted that Trump's massive tax bill is beautiful—it's not—and that it wouldn't raise the national debt. It probably will. He said the massive spending package is actually going to save us a lot of money. Somehow.

What we're doing in this bill is cutting $1.6 trillion of spending, of this government spending, that creates the deficits. We're going to reduce the deficit. Debt's going to be higher at the end of this, even if this passes. Not with our pro-growth policies. We can argue that in another day. Trickle-down economics? Tradition is still alive in America.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt also sang the bill's praises on Fox News in her subtle, calm style. This bill provides $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings. And when you combine that with the tariff revenue that President Trump's America First trade agenda is bringing in, nearly $3 trillion over the next 10 years, that's a projection, according to the Congressional Budget Office. And when you combine that with the Council of Economic Advisers' projected growth of 3%, we're going to cut the

cut the deficit by $8 trillion over the next 10 years. Saying things very loudly doesn't make them true, Caroline. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, also pushed this idea on CBS's Face the Nation. He was asked how he's so sure we're going to make nearly $3 trillion off tariffs when the U.S. is still supposedly negotiating trade deals with dozens of countries. But we don't know what the tariffs are going to be.

We're negotiating them on a country-by-country basis. We've got a whole bunch of trade deals. We've got a trade deal with the UK that's already... You can see what the trade deal with the UK is now. Right, so it's a fluctuating number. Boy Math. Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday the return of the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year. Kilmar Obrego-Garcia was flown back to the U.S. after the administration insisted for months it was unable to do just that.

Bondi said Abrego Garcia is facing federal charges. On May 21st, a grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment charging Abrego Garcia with alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling in violation of Title VIII USC 1324.

We want to thank President Bukele for agreeing to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country. Oh word? Almost like that could have happened months ago.

And on Saturday, President Trump commented on Abrego Garcia's return during a phone call with NBC's Christian Welker. Sure he did.

Lawyers for the administration admitted in court documents that Abrego Garcia's deportation in March was due to administrative error. But Trump officials said their hands were tied when it came to returning him to the U.S. and repeatedly painted him as a violent gang member. His family and lawyers deny that claim. Abrego Garcia's lawyers are also pushing back on the administration's charges. One told reporters Friday, quote, "...they'll stop at nothing at all, even some of the most preposterous charges imaginable, just to avoid admitting that they made a mistake."

Public health officials are investigating a salmonella outbreak across several states that is linked to eggs.

On Friday, August Egg Company in California recalled about 1.7 million dozen eggs because of potential salmonella contamination. The eggs are brown cage-free and brown certified organic. The Food and Drug Administration says the eggs were distributed to stores between early February and May. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the recall covers Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming.

It says so far at least 79 people have gotten sick from the outbreak linked to the eggs, with 21 people hospitalized. August Egg Company said in a statement it has, quote, voluntarily been diverting eggs to an egg-breaking plant for over 30 days, which pasteurizes the eggs and kills any potential foodborne pathogens. In the meantime, health officials are advising people to steer clear of any recalled eggs. A list of around 10 affected brands can be found on the CDC and FDA websites. And that's the news.

That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, check in on your local Republican House Speaker because they are probably having a rough time, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how, even with everything going on, House Speaker Mike Johnson is still waiting for Elon Musk to call him back after a week of ghosting, like me. But today is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and Mike...

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