Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass made a sudden break with California Democratic leadership Sunday when she heaped praise on President Donald Trump’s wildfire response — but still managed to call the deportation of illegal immigrants in the city a “reign of terror” during her ABC News interview.
Bass told ABC host Martha Raddatz she wanted to “heap praise on the administration for the first six months in Los Angeles with the fires,” directly contradicting Governor Gavin Newsom’s sustained criticism of federal disaster relief efforts.
Earlier this month, Newsom attacked Trump special envoy Ric Grenell, the White House point man coordinating wildfire recovery efforts. Newsom criticized Grenell for questioning California’s fire and water management policies and accused the Trump administration of allowing fires to spread on federal lands throughout the state.
Federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have removed hazardous waste and debris more rapidly than in any previous wildfire, according to Trump administration officials. The accelerated cleanup has drawn praise from local officials despite political tensions.
However, Bass adopted a sharply different tone when discussing Trump’s illegal immigration policies during the same ABC interview. She repeatedly avoided direct answers about whether Los Angeles’ estimated one million illegal immigrants should be allowed to remain in the sanctuary city.
“Let me just say that, because we are a city of immigrants, we have entire sectors of our economy that are dependent on immigrant labor. We have to get the fire areas rebuilt,” Bass said. “We’re not going to get our city rebuilt without immigrant labor. And it’s not just the deportations, it’s the fear that sets in when raids occur, when people are snatched off the street. And I know you are aware that even people who are here legally, even people who are U.S. citizens, have been detained.”
Bass claimed, without evidence, that legal immigrants with proper documentation were detained while attending required immigration appointments.
“Immigrants who had their papers and were showing up for their annual immigration appointment were detained when they showed up doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing,” she claimed.
The mayor attempted to shift blame for failed immigration reform to Trump when Raddatz noted Bass had not achieved reform during her 12 years in Congress.
“And why didn’t we get it? I mean, after I left, there was an immigration reform bill that had bipartisan support. This was during the campaign. The president decided he didn’t want to have it happen because he didn’t want immigration reform to happen, where he didn’t take credit for it.”
Border Patrol agents said illegal immigrants are “cutting in line in front of those people who want to do it legally in the right way,” Bass defended illegal border crossers: “Let me just tell you that the people that make that trek, many of whom walk from Central America and even South America up to our border, risk their lives. I don’t believe that all of these people are sitting at home dreaming of coming to Los Angeles. They’re coming here out of desperation.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded approximately 10.8 million border encounters plus roughly two million known “got-a-ways” during the Biden administration. Trump has reported record-low border crossings since beginning his second term.
The Pentagon announced last week it was withdrawing 2,000 National Guard troops from Los Angeles, saying there was no more “lawlessness” after the early June anti-ICE riots have been contained.