The ICE policy that set off chaos in LA

The chaos that unfolded in Los Angeles over the weekend was sparked by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at workplaces, a controversial policy that seems designed to appease the Trump administration’s desire to increase the number of deportations at all costs.

The policy to raid workplaces, reportedly pushed by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and other top Trump administration officials, comes as ICE has tried to increase its deportation numbers. “Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. ‘Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?’” one ICE official told the Washington Examiner last month. White House Border Czar Tom Homan has also told reporters: “You’re going to see more work site enforcement than you’ve ever seen in the history of this nation. We’re going to flood the zone.”

This weekend, there was backlash in Los Angeles. ICE targeted places with large numbers of immigrant workers, including the garment district and a Home Depot in the city of Paramount. At a news conference on Friday, Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said there were seven raids throughout LA and that more than 45 people had been detained. Local news outlet KTLA also reported that raids took place at two clothing stores, and that the Department of Justice told reporters Friday raids were focusing on workers with “fictitious employee documents.” (In a post on X Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said its operations in LA this past week led to 118 arrests, though it was not immediately clear how many of those came from workplace raids.)

The raids kicked off protests, which led to violent clashes between citizens and law enforcement. Among those arrested was union leader David Huerta, President of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, which represents more than 750,000 service workers statewide. US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a post on X that Huerta “was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday.” The union countered that Huerta was “peacefully observing” and said he was treated for injuries sustained during his arrest; SEIU is planning to hold a Monday morning rally on his behalf in downtown LA.

In a post on Truth Social Saturday night, Trump called California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass “incompetent” and alleged without evidence that the protesters were “often paid troublemakers.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in a statement Saturday night that Trump was deploying 2,000 members of the National Guard to LA—the first time since 1965 a president has done so without a request from the state’s governor, according to the Brennan Center. As of about midnight Sunday, though, the National Guard had not yet been deployed, according to Bass, despite claims from Republicans they had quelled protests.

Miller’s call for “everybody” to be arrested is a key distinction from Trump’s campaign trail pledge to focus on deporting “criminals.” But as my colleague Isabela Dias writes, they have expanded the definition of that work to encompass anybody who enters the country illegally:

How has the White House squared this? By labeling all undocumented immigrants as criminals, even though unlawful presence in the country is a civil, not criminal, violation. When asked for the number of ICE arrests conducted so far that have specifically targeted immigrants with criminal records, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “all of them,” adding, “because they illegally broke our nation’s laws, and, therefore, they are criminals.”

Workplace raids were also a feature of the first Trump administration: ICE officials turned up at poultry plants in Mississippi, 7-Elevens, a meatpacking plant in Tennessee, and other sites in Ohio. But experts say they are not even the most effective way to increase deportations, given their cost and the effort involved.

And as Isabela has written, these raids, coupled with subsequent deportations, could cripple the US workforce—particularly in industries such as construction, food services, health care, and domestic labor:

According to a 2016 report by the Center for American Progress, deporting 7 million workers would “reduce national employment by an amount similar to that experienced during the Great Recession.” GDP would immediately contract by 1.4 percent, and, eventually, by 2.6 percent. In 20 years, the US economy would shrink nearly 6 percent—or $1.6 trillion. Trump’s plan would lead to a dire shortage of low-wage workers, which would “bring on a recession while reigniting inflation,” predicts Robert J. Shapiro, a former undersecretary of commerce in the Clinton administration.

This may come as a shock to most Americans. A new CBS News/YouGov poll out Sunday shows that the majority of Americans—53 percent—believe the Trump administration is prioritizing the deportation of “dangerous criminals.” But the latest raids show that workers are among Trump’s targets, regardless of whether or not they have a criminal record.

As Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said at the news conference on Friday: “Looking like an immigrant does not make you a criminal.”