Susan Shelley: What’s wrong with enforcing the law?
President Donald Trump is enforcing immigration law, and for the first time in many decades immigration enforcement does not resemble a basketball game.
In basketball, there are unwritten rules about what fouls the referees will or won’t call, and when, and on which players. It’s easy to tell when an unwritten rule has been broken. There’s a coast-to-coast roar of shock and outrage that emanates from bars, living rooms and sports books, followed by an announcer wryly observing that nobody buys a ticket to see the refs, or to watch a superstar sit on the bench with three fouls in a playoff game.
Law enforcement isn’t supposed to be applied selectively or unequally, but that’s how immigration law has been enforced for decades. Immigrants coming into the U.S. through the legal process had to comply with every word of the law, a long and expensive process. But migrants coming in illegally or overstaying their visas for years seemed always to get a pass from the ref.
That is over now. After campaigning on a promise to enforce immigration law and winning the 2024 election, President Donald Trump is enforcing immigration law.
The roar from Los Angeles can be heard on the moon.
“Dear Angeleno,” reads an email sent out by Mayor Karen Bass on Thursday night. “Today I was joined by more than one hundred leaders from our labor, business, faith, and immigrant communities to call for an end to the recent raids across our city.”
In her remarks at that event, the mayor claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had shown up at schools, emergency rooms and homeless shelters.
“This is blatantly FALSE,” the Homeland Security department responded in an online post. “This rhetoric from the Mayor of L.A. and California politicians demonizes the brave men and women of law enforcement.”
Bass has previously said she gets her information about “raids” from immigrant rights community groups using the Rapid Response Network. It’s a collection of hotline numbers that people across the region can call to report sightings of federal officers, especially ICE officers. Then the word goes out to the community, via cell phone alerts, revealing their exact location.
It sounds like a tool for organized obstruction of justice. If federal law enforcement officers are serving an arrest warrant or a search warrant, and activists are swarming around their vehicles and blocking their path, people are going to get arrested on federal charges.
That’s what happened to powerful union leader David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union California. Huerta was arrested on June 6 while demonstrating against a federal law enforcement operation at a workplace in downtown Los Angeles. According to the criminal complaint, Huerta banged on a metal gate and shouted expletives in an attempt to intimidate federal agents. He also is alleged to have blocked a vehicle and pushed an officer.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli charged Huerta with conspiracy to impede an officer, a felony that could result in a prison sentence of up to six years.
Contrast that to the way the city of Los Angeles “protects” LAPD officers.
On Thursday night, LAPD Central Division posted this online: “Officers are reporting people in the crowd are throwing bricks, concrete and commercial grade fireworks. Less lethal munitions have been authorized. Less lethal munitions may cause pain and discomfort.”
Less lethal munitions are painful? Bricks, concrete and commercial grade fireworks are no day at the spa. How long are the police having to wait for authorization to use less lethal munitions? Does L.A.’s leadership allow protesters one free throw at the heads of officers before the police are allowed to disperse the crowd? Who set the rules of engagement? The police chief? The mayor?
President Trump isn’t allowing free throws. He brought in 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to protect the federal officers who are enforcing the law. Gov. Gavin Newsom sued over the National Guard deployment, saying the president did not consult with the governor’s office first. A federal district court agreed with Newsom on Thursday, but Trump immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit, so the National Guard stays for now.
One reason Los Angeles, and all of California, is so dangerous for federal law enforcement officers is the enactment of city and state “sanctuary” laws that prevent the handover of criminal illegal aliens inside a jail or prison. If these individuals are subject to deportation when they complete their sentences, ICE has two choices: watch as they go free in the community, or go into the community and pick them up.
So it’s the Democratic politicians in California and their “sanctuary” laws who are responsible for the current fear and chaos in immigrant communities.
The way to fix this is not to have a two-tier system of unwritten rules that limit enforcement of the laws. We should take our laws seriously or we should take them off the books.
A rational immigration policy would start with secure borders and then have reasonable paths for legal immigration. President Trump has secured the border and is enforcing the law, which is his job, as stated in the presidential oath of office.
It’s up to Congress to write the laws. If California politicians don’t like U.S. immigration law, they should propose credible reforms. What they should never do, however, is stand at a microphone demanding an end to law enforcement.
Write Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley