EXCLUSIVE DR PHIL: I know what REALLY led to the ICE raids that triggered the LA riots... and it's not what the reckless media is telling you

Daily Mail​

20 hours ago

Over the past several days, all manner of allegations have been made about legal and targeted federal immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles — and my apparent involvement in them.
So many of these claims are untrue, provoking unnecessary distractions and more of the destructive rage that already pervades too much of our political dialogue.
So allow me to set the record straight.
Despite the so-called 'reporting,' I was not actually 'embedded' with Immigration and Customs enforcement officers making arrests during the raids in LA on Friday, June 6.
I was privy to the parameters of the operation and conducted an on-camera interview with Border Czar Tom Homan the evening before the Friday operation and on the Saturday morning afterward for broadcast on MeritTV.
I was also present for a multi-agency briefing early Friday morning at ICE's LA headquarters involving the FBI, ATF, US Marshal Service and the IRS. I garnered additional insights from Mr. Homan as we drove through the area Friday.
And contrary to what's been reported — or more accurately, not reported — in the mainstream media, federal activities on June 6 did not conduct a random round-up of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles.
Rather, their coordinated multi-agency operations were conducted pursuant to a duly authorized federal search warrant — not a rumor nor hunch.
To obtain a search warrant, the government is required to present evidence to a federal judge who will evaluate if there is probable cause to issue such a warrant and that was done regarding a particular company in LA.
The primary business targeted in Friday's operations was Ambiance Apparel, which, I'm told, is suspected of involvement in criminal activity.
And this is not the first time that this company has been in hot water. In 2020, the business and its owner, Sang Bum 'Ed' Noh were accused by federal prosecutors of undervaluing imports and skirting millions of dollars in tariffs. Ambiance Apparel pleaded guilty to eight offenses, such as conspiracy and money laundering, and Noh was sentenced to a year in prison.
Now, according to the White House border czar Tom Homan, the troubled manufacturer is being investigated again for alleged money laundering, tax evasion and customs fraud.
After federal officers raided that company facility, they audited the workforce and reportedly encountered some 40 individuals believed to be in the US illegally. Following US law, they took those individuals into custody.
I was at ICE's LA headquarters when these individuals were brought in, and I can report that these people were treated with dignity and respect, offered food and water and then interviewed.
In short, Friday operations were a strategic enforcement of the law — deliberate and legally sanctioned. But the response of some so-called activists, on the other hand, have been dangerous, destructive and utterly lawless.
Rioters attacked law enforcement officers throwing chunks of broken concrete and other projectiles at moving vehicles. Others blocked agents from doing their jobs. Still more rampaged through the city looting, destroying public property and even torching cars in the streets.
For what?
I've spoken extensively to Border czar Homan and President Donald Trump about their immigration enforcement goals, which are to close the southern border with Mexico, prioritize the deportations of the most dangerous illegal immigrants in the country, finally, to find an estimated 300,000 undocumented children who have gone missing over the last several years.
Some of these children have very likely found their way to families, but an untold number of these vulnerable minors have been pushed into prostitution and forced labor, and they need to be rescued.
Additionally, after these children are located, they'll require medical, psychological and sociological services to help them recover from the inevitable trauma that they've suffered.
Who among us would object to these priorities? Yet, Los Angeles erupted into chaos.
Where were these protesters when President Barack Obama was deporting 2.8 million illegal immigrants during his administration? Perhaps, today's 'activists' are motivated more by politics than principle.
The truth, though it may be hard to hear, can't be avoided: laws are not suggestions. They aren't 'optional,' and being a good person or worker does not grant immunity from them.
If these impassioned protesters really want change, they should show up in Washington, DC, to protest Congress or write to their representatives to demand legislative reform.
While the right to peaceful protest is the cornerstone of our democracy, the ICE agents who risked their safety to perform their jobs are neither politicians nor lawmakers. They did not put pen to paper to propose these policies – they are merely operating under a sworn duty to enforce the law, not rewrite it.
But throwing rocks at law enforcement officers? Blocking vehicles? That's not speech, it is criminal conduct, plain and simple — and it certainly should not deter ICE operations.
Make no mistake the violence perpetrated against ICE and other law enforcement officers is not a negotiation for justice. It is a demand for surrender. But that cannot happen.
If you want to change immigration policy — fine. Let's have that debate. Let's talk reform.
We need more truth, not more rage. And we need a media willing to inform, not inflame.