While Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass rail against immigration enforcement and cheer on rioters in Los Angeles, ICE agents are quietly doing the job they refuse to: protecting Americans.
On June 8, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested what DHS officials called the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens hiding in plain sight within the sanctuary stronghold of Los Angeles.
These weren’t ordinary immigration violations. These were violent criminals, predators, and repeat offenders that California Democrats would rather shield than deport.
Among them was Eswin Uriel Castro, a previously deported illegal alien who has been convicted of molesting a child and carrying a deadly weapon. He now faces new charges for robbery and domestic violence.
Then there’s Rafael Gamez-Sanchez, an illegal alien convicted of vehicular manslaughter, and Anastacio Enrique Solis-Salinas, who has a long rap sheet including domestic violence, child cruelty charges, and a hit-and-run conviction. None of these men should have been in the country—let alone roaming the streets of Los Angeles.
ICE agents also captured Miguel Angel Palafox-Montes, a Mexican national who has self-deported twice before and returned illegally. He’s been convicted of grand theft, narcotics violations, and identity theft, and now faces charges of battery and burglary.
Another arrest included Russian national Dzhakhar Aslambekov, caught defrauding U.S. taxpayers by illegally using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to collect welfare he was never entitled to.
These arrests highlight just how dangerous the situation in Los Angeles has become. Violent foreign nationals are thriving under sanctuary city policies while local leaders actively oppose the very agents removing them.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin didn’t hold back. “These heinous criminals, including child abusers and pedophiles, are some of the illegal aliens arrested yesterday in Los Angeles,” she said.
“Why do Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass care more about violent criminal illegal aliens than they do about protecting their own citizens?” McLaughlin asked. “These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers who every single day wake up and make our communities safer.”
The answer is simple: Newsom and Bass care more about optics and political theater than public safety. As violent protests rage across the city, fueled by open-border extremism, ICE is left to clean up the mess—without help from the officials sworn to serve the public.
And while far-left pundits scream about “overreach” and “militarization,” real officers are risking their lives to arrest predators who should’ve never been here in the first place.
California’s sanctuary policies are not only reckless—they are dangerous. They give cover to criminals while undermining law enforcement and putting American families at risk.
These latest arrests should be a wake-up call. But with Newsom and Bass more focused on attacking Trump and ICE than defending their own citizens, don’t expect change from the top.
Fortunately, the men and women of ICE aren’t waiting around for permission. They’re taking action—and they’re making the streets safer one arrest at a time.
