Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, have demanded a congressional investigation and hearings on alleged abuses by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during immigration enforcement operations across the country.
The officials point to a dishonest ProPublica report that claims more than 170 US citizens “have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.” But the White House argues that these individuals were arrested for interfering with immigration enforcement operations and attacking law enforcement.
“The Trump Administration is fulfilling the President’s promise to deport criminal illegal aliens and any individuals who attempt to illegally interfere with operations or assault law enforcement officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” White House Spokesperson Abigail Johnson said in a statement to CBS.
During a press conference on Monday with city workers and pro-illegal alien activists, Bass and Garcia ranted about racism during their smear of federal agents and called for the “injustice” to be cracked down upon.
Bass villainized US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by accusing them of “egregious” and “unconstitutional” actions, including “racial profiling.” She further claimed that despite being here illegally, “we don’t make the distinction” between illegal aliens and citizens of the United States.
WATCH:
Bass: It’s kind of sad we’re standing here because this has been several months now that this egregious attacks from the federal government continue. So, we’re standing here because since June, the beginning of June, what started in LA has now spread around the country. And we knew that it would. We said at that time that LA was being used as the laboratory, and that the egregious, unconstitutional behavior from our federal government was going to start here and spread around the country. We know that this has impacted undocumented immigrants, who in Los Angeles, are Angelinos, because we don’t make the distinction they are neighbors and workers, contributing to our city, and they continue to be swept up in these actions, denied their rights, and subjected to fear and uncertainty without legal protection.
But we’re now concerned that there’s not so much attention that is being paid to this in Los Angeles, but we will continue to say that this is not acceptable. We will continue to resist normalizing and accepting this, even though there has been what I consider an egregious decision from the Supreme Court that has essentially said that racial profiling is okay. But we know in the history of our country, the Supreme Court has stood for justice, and the Supreme Court has stood for injustice at certain periods of time, and when the Supreme Court has backed injustice, such as segregation and Jim Crow, it took mass social movements to have a new Supreme Court that would stand with the American people. So, in addition to undocumented individuals being detained, we also know that legal residents, people who are attending court hearings, were detained, and we now know that there is evidence of over 170 US citizens who have been detained. And it’s important that we say today that what is happening to undocumented immigrants is also happening to US citizens, which means that this can happen to anyone, to all of us at any period of time.
Garcia ridiculously claimed that President Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are “terrorizing immigrants, working people, the people of Los Angeles, and of our state, every single day,” and that they “violate the law and they violate the constitution.”
He further announced the creation of a House and Senate investigation into “DHS Kristi Noem and all the misconduct, brutality and also these new arrests are happening of US citizens.” Garcia then claimed that US citizens are being targeted by the Trump Administration “because they look like me, because they are of Latino origin, or because they are suspected to not be a US citizen, or because they’re suspected of crimes that they have not committed.”
“Democrats might be in the minority right now, but we still have the power to investigate, but when we win the majority and have the power to subpoena, and have the power to get any document, have the ability to bring anyone forward to our committee, we are not just only going to hold Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller accountable for what they’ve done,” he added.
WATCH:
Garcia later announced in a press release on Monday that he has joined forces with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to launch an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security.
In a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Garcia and Blumenthal accuse CBP and ICE of “often using disproportionate force” and “excessive, shocking behavior” against US citizens. After making accusations of unlawful detention of leftist rioters who attacked federal agents, the two lawmakers demanded information to be provided by November 3, including:
- The total number of U.S. citizens that have been detained by CBP, ICE, or any DHS component agency from January 20, 2025, to the present;
- A list of all U.S. citizens detained by CBP, ICE, or any DHS component agency from January 20, 2025, to the present for more than 24 hours, including the length of their detention, where they were detained, by which DHS component, and a detailed description of the rationale for the arrest and extended detention;
- A detailed description of training ICE and CBP agents receive concerning how to determine whether an individual is a U.S. citizen;
- A detailed description regarding training ICE and CBP agents receive concerning the recognition of counterfeit identity documents such as REAL IDs and Passports; and
- A detailed description regarding training ICE and CBP agents receive concerning the use of force.
Additionally, on a bi-weekly basis, starting on November 3, the leftwing officials demanded the following records:
- All records related to the detention of U.S. citizens by ICE or CBP agents from January 20, 2025, to the present;
- All complaints received by DHS related to the treatment of U.S. citizens by DHS personnel from January 20, 2025, to the present;
- All policies or procedures regarding the steps ICE and CBP agents are required to take to identify whether individuals they have detained are U.S. citizens;
- All policies and procedures regarding the recognition of counterfeit identity documents by ICE and CBP agents, including but not limited to records regarding any training ICE and CBP agents receive concerning such recognition; and
- All policies and procedures regarding the use of force by ICE and CBP agents, including but not limited to records regarding any training ICE and CBP agents receive concerning the use of force.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) are CC’d on the email.
This also comes as Los Angeles County Officials have declared a “state of emergency” in response to the Trump administration’s ICE raids targeting criminal illegal aliens across Southern California.
The proclamation, approved by the far-left County Board of Supervisors, claims that ICE raids “have caused residents to be fearful of leaving their homes, to go to work, take public transportation, access county services including medical services, access open public programs and resources and attend appointments with immigration lawyers and legal service providers.”
This is a developing story.
The post WATCH: Crazed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic Lawmakers Call for Congressional Investigation into Claims of Homeland Security Unlawfully Detaining Illegals and Violent Leftists, Demand Records from Kristi Noem appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.