ICE operations create tension with California Democratic leadership
Top LA Republican dives into political reaction of ICE raids: 'Same emotional notes'
Los Angeles GOP Chair Roxanne Hoge explains how Los Angeles is politically responding to recent ICE activity, including Republican and Independent voters.
The federal immigration operations in Los Angeles have created a sense of "political irony" in the Golden State, according to Los Angeles County Republican Party Chair Roxanne Hoge.
The region continues to make waves after anti-ICE riots in June, as well as authorities recently conducting a massive operation on a cannabis farm in Southern California that resulted in a riot, hundreds of illegal immigrant arrests and a child labor investigation into the company. The operation was the result of a criminal search warrant, and the company, Glass House Brands, has denied intentional wrongdoing.
"The political irony of the Trump administration coming in to clean up the mess that the California Democrats has made, is it will make Los Angeles livable, right?" Hoge said.
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A law enforcement officer fires a less-lethal projectile during a protest on Saturday, June 14, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Noah Berger)
"They're gonna end up looking better because the traffic will be easier, ERs will be easy to get to, and people will realize that there isn't a two-tiered justice system," Hoge continued. "If you want to open a restaurant in Los Angeles, you're looking at years before you can get the permits and build something. Just look at the poor people in the Palisades. If you're illegal, Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom have rolled out the welcome mat for you and your cart on the street. And people are noticing that."
In a deep blue area, Republicans generally have an uphill battle, and Hoge said that the message for the party to Independents and "disaffected Democrats" is to "continue to espouse public safety." In November, Los Angeles County voters ousted progressive District Attorney George Gascon and swapped him out with Nathan Hochman, an independent, by a wide margin.
"That really is the number one role of government, and it is the thing that the Democrats have completely failed at," Hoge said. "They own Los Angeles, all of it. The encampments, the inability to run a business, the inability of your kids to get a good education. That all lies on the feet of California Democrats, and we're just going to keep pointing out that we can do better."
The fires in Los Angeles brought heightened scrutiny to California leadership earlier this year, but the attention on them quickly shifted to immigration nationally. Mayor Bass and Gov. Newsom have been vocal opponents of the administration, with the mayor even directly meeting with ICE during a sweep earlier this month near MacArthur Park.
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Authorities used tear gas against protesters who converged on a Southern California marijuana farm amid an immigration raid on Thursday. (KABC LA)
"They need to leave, and they need to leave right now. They need to leave because this is unacceptable!" Bass said at the time, and later said at a press conference that ICE needs to "go home."
"I don’t know if there’s a deal to be made. Like I told you, the deal that needs to be made is for them to go home," the Democrat said at the press conference.
Newsom has also remained firm in his stance against the administration, including a lawsuit against National Guard troop deployment by President Donald Trump over the riots in June.
"For more than a month, [Trump] has been exploiting [the California National Guard] as his political pawns," Newsom posted to X on July 15, as some of the troops were taken off their orders. "Thousands of members are still federalized in Los Angeles for no reason and unable to carry out their critical duties across the state. End this theater and send everyone home."
Hoge said voters should consider the broader issues that stem from the border crisis and illegal immigration, created in her view.
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People hold Mexican flags and gesture next to a car in flames following multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Los Angeles County city of Paramount, California, on June 7, 2025. (REUTERS/Barbara Davidson)
"My message is the same to everyone, including disaffected Democrats, of which I was a classic liberal. I'm an immigrant. I came here legally and became a naturalized citizen," Hoge said, adding that Democrats are "taking advantage" of people coming to the country illegally and opening the door to "exploitation by employers," sex crimes, and "all sorts of horrible things."
"I would say just remember that the fruit of the poison tree is the original sanctuary laws," Hoge said.
However, the Republican noted that the political implications are "tough to tell," adding that the left "has the advantage of just playing the same emotional notes over and over."
"Sometimes people are swayed by that," she added.
Los Angeles is considered a sanctuary city as of November 2024, which acts as a roadblock for the city to be "utilized" or "to cooperate" with the federal government on "immigration enforcement," according to a news release. The policy is currently facing a federal lawsuit.
As for the state of California, the governor's office recently said to Fox News Digital on background that state law "does not impede criminal investigations or sharing of information about an individual’s criminal history. California does not interfere with the federal government’s authority to enforce federal immigration laws with federal resources."
The governor's office noted on background that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has "coordinated" on over 11,000 cases with ICE, including serious crimes.
Cameron Arcand is a politics writer at Fox News Digital in Washington D.C. Story tips can be sent to
