Photo: Alamy
Several illegal immigrants detained by federal immigration authorities in Los Angeles during weekend riots have already been deported, according to a report Tuesday by The Washington Post.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the workplace investigations and raids, which began Saturday, led to multiple detentions in areas including the city’s Fashion District.
The Mexican government reported that two of its nationals arrested during the operation had final orders of removal and were deported within 48 hours. Two others voluntarily left the country, Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente said.
“If they had final orders of removal and especially if they weren’t responding, that means they had orders and never left,” Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, told The Post.
“The position of the administration is that you don’t even get a hearing, you already had a hearing and we’re just executing the old order,” it added.
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that 16 individuals detained had extensive criminal records but did not disclose the total number of those apprehended. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin described those detained as the “worst of the worst.”
President Donald Trump initially sent about 300 National Guard troops over the weekend to restore peace after protests turned violent.
Over the weekend, several dozen individuals were arrested, including one person for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.
Trump responded on Truth Social, writing, “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”
He also urged McDonnell to “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the federal troop presence in a letter to Trump, calling it a “serious breach of state sovereignty.” He met with local officials in Los Angeles on Sunday and criticized Trump’s decision as an intentional provocation.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson pushed back, saying, “It’s a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved.”