(LOS ANGELES) — As President Donald Trump marks six months into his second term, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz that the administration’s immigration crackdown has not only sparked protests, but fear among the city’s residents.
“Los Angeles is a city of immigrants — 3.8 million people, and about 50% of our population is Latino. And so when the raids started, fear spread,” Bass said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids started in Los Angeles early June, prompting demonstrations that at times turned violent. While Trump’s deportation push was initially said to be centered around undocumented immigrants with criminal records, an ABC News analysis of new data shows that in recent weeks, the Trump administration has arrested an increasing number of migrants with no criminal convictions.
Since then, farmers, business owners and immigrant advocacy groups have, like the mayor, said that many residents have been afraid to leave their homes for fear of deportation, affecting the workforce, food supply and the culture of the city. Bass said that the restaurant the interview took place in, located in the predominantly Latino Boyle Heights neighborhood of east Los Angeles, was typically bustling. But now, it — and the neighborhood overall — can feel like a ghost town.
“It’s not just the deportation. It’s the fear that sets in when raids occur, when people are snatched off the street,” Bass said. “Even people who are here legally, even people who are U.S. Citizens, have been detained. Immigrants who have their papers and were showing up for their annual immigration appointment were detained when they showed up doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing.”
She criticized ICE for agents for executing enforcement operations without their affiliation being prominently displayed.
“Masked men in unmarked cars, no license plate, no real uniforms, jumping out of cars with rifles, and snatching people off the street, leading a lot of people to think maybe kidnappings were taking place,” Bass said. “How do you have masked men who then say, ‘Well, we are federal officials,’ with no identification?”
Raddatz noted that administration says those agents do that because “there have been threats… [and] doxing.”
“We have a Los Angeles police department that has to deal with crime in this city every single day. And they’re not masked. They stay here,” Bass said. “The masked men parachute in, stay here for a while, and leave. And so you enter a profession like policing, like law enforcement? I’m sorry, I don’t think you have a right to have a mask and snatch people off the street.”
Bass also touched on the continued presence of federal troops in the city. In response to those protests in early June, Trump deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles after protesters clashed with police. Some protestors threw rocks, fireworks and other objects at police, according to reports, before the arrival of federal troops.
Trump signed a memorandum in June saying the National Guard was deployed to address lawlessness in Los Angeles. The California National Guard’s 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team posted on X that its objective was to protect federal protesters and personnel.
In her interview with ABC News, Bass denounced the violence as “terrible,” but said it did not “warrant military intervention.”
“It did not warrant the Marines coming into our city with basically no real mission, but just to show a force,” Bass said.
While the number of National Guard members in the city has been cut roughly in half, Bass said that their objective has not changed since they first arrived — and argued they’re presence is still not necessary.
“If you drive by our two federal buildings, you will see them standing out there. But there’s nothing going on in those federal buildings. So in my opinion, we are misusing taxpayers’ dollars, and we are misusing our troops,” she said.
While she disagreed strongly with the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, Bass said she appreciated the help the administration gave Los Angeles during the massive January wildfires.
“Well, I will heap praise on the administration for the first six months in Los Angeles with the fires. If you ask me, is there anything that they have done good in terms of immigration? I don’t know. I don’t think so,” she said. “I think that the viewpoint has been punitive, has been let’s make it as miserable as possible so that these people don’t come.”
Bass said that she is still willing to “work” with the White House, noting both the Olympics and World Cup coming to the city over the next few years.
“How does this end?” Raddatz asked. “How do you see the next six months, the next two years for immigrants in your city?”“Well, I am just hoping that this reign of terror ends. I’m hoping that the military leaves, because they were never needed here to begin with. I’m hoping that we can get back to normal. I’m hoping that the next time I come to this restaurant, that it will be filled, because people won’t be afraid to come here,” Bass said.
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