Federal agents conducted a large immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, over the objections of Mayor Karen Bass, who showed up at the site.
“We are with hundreds of federal agents and military as a massive federal immigration enforcement operation is underway in the MacArthur Park area of the sanctuary city of Los Angeles, an area with heavy MS-13 influence,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin posted on social media platform X.
“Mayor Bass has demanded raids stop, Feds respond with one of the largest yet, including Border Patrol agents on horseback. Protesters already showing up,” he added.
BREAKING: We are with hundreds of federal agents and military as a massive federal immigration enforcement operation is underway in the MacArthur Park area of the sanctuary city of Los Angeles, an area with heavy MS-13 influence. Mayor Bass has demanded raids stop, Feds respond… pic.twitter.com/g4osPOL6mr
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 7, 2025
Melugin also posted a video of Bass interacting with a Border Patrol agent, who appeared to call someone and hand the phone to her.
BREAKING: LA Mayor Karen Bass just arrived on scene. She is speaking with Border Patrol. pic.twitter.com/3ibCu5uLKf
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 7, 2025
Local Fox affiliate KTTV-TV reported that Bass could be heard saying on the phone, “They have completed their mission here,” and “What’s the timeframe before they leave?”
When asked whether she’d like to make a statement, Bass said, “They need to leave and they need to leave right now, because this is unacceptable!”
HAPPENING NOW: Joint federal immigration operation is currently sweeping through downtown Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/WgA9j2RdIy
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 7, 2025
Monday’s raid came following anti-ICE protests/riots in Los Angeles last month over ICE enforcement actions.
On June 12, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California — a Democrat — was forcibly removed from a news conference in L.A. being conducted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
BREAKING: California Democratic Senator @AlexPadilla4CA just crashed DHS Secretary Noem’s press conference in LA and was forcibly removed. pic.twitter.com/Q2sUWiImAM
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 12, 2025
The secretary pledged that the ICE operations would continue and increase in the days ahead, saying, “We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and mayor have placed on this country and what they’ve tried to insert in this city.”
At that point, Padilla interrupted Noem’s remarks, moving toward her and speaking loudly over her. Few, if any, in the room had any idea who he was until after he was removed from the room by security officers.
Noem noted, “I had a conversation with the senator after this. We sat down for 10 to 15 minutes and talked about the fact that nobody knew who he was. He didn’t say who he was until he … already had been lunging forward, and people were trying to detain him for quite a period of time.”
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