‘It's like a game of Whac-A-Mole': How Trump's ICE raids knocked Los Angeles to its knees

Politico

4 days ago

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, contested reports that most people detained did not have a criminal record. She said the government's operations have arrested 'drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members, convicted rapists, convicted murderers — people you would not want to be your neighbors. And yet, Karen Bass, instead of thanking law enforcement, continues to demonize them and attack them.'
The fear permeating Latino life has added resonance for Bass; her late ex-husband was Mexican American and many family members, including her late daughter, her step-children and grandchildren, have Latino heritage.
'So yes, it impacts me personally, because I know that all Latinos are suspect now, anybody that looks Latino,' Bass said, pointing to border czar Tom Homan's comments that 'physical appearance' was sufficient for federal authorities to detain someone. He later said appearance could not be the sole reason for suspicion. But the federal judge who blocked the roving immigration raids in Los Angeles said officials were relying on improper factors, such as race, occupation and speaking with an accent, during their operations.
McLaughlin said it was a 'convenient and disgusting smear to say that law enforcement targets based on skin color. It is about it is about legal status, that everything and criminality. That's what we're focused on.'
Beyond the family bonds, Bass said, leaning into immigrant rights is 'fundamentally who I am' — a culmination of years of community activism, of anti-apartheid advocacy, of collaborations between Black and Latino communities in the 1980s and 1990s.
'It's not because it's politically in. It's not because of some calculation of what happened in the first part of the year,' she said. 'This is an issue that has been fundamental to me for my entire adult life.'
Loathe as Bass is to make comparisons to her handling of the fires, the contrast is notable, even to her closest allies. The mayor was hamstrung from the start of the blazes, when she was out of the country, and she failed to regain control of the narrative upon her return. This time, Bass has ramped up her media presence; during her brief stop at El Chapulín, she squeezed in two Zoom interviews with Spanish-language media, and she has been a regular staple on national cable.
'She is really trying to paint a different picture of what is going on here — not letting Breitbart and Fox tell the story,' said Courtni Pugh, a senior adviser for Bass' political operation. 'We really tried very hard to put a human face on the toll.'
Onlookers watch as federal agents with US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) ride on an armored vehicle driving slowly down Wilshire Boulevard near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California, on July 7, 2025. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
When militarized federal agents, including officials on horseback, descended onto MacArthur Park in the heart of downtown in an intimidating though largely theatrical display, Bass rerouted from a ceremony marking the six-month anniversary of the fires to the scene, demanding to speak to whoever was in charge.