Newsletter - June 2025
How many of you remember the song They’re rioting in Africa sung by The Kingston Trio?
“They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain.
There’s hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain.
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch.
And I don’t like anybody very much!
But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud,
For mans been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud.
And we know for certain that some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off and we will all be blown away.
They’re rioting in Africa, there’s strife in Iran.
What nature doesn’t do to us, will be done by our fellow man.”
The situation in Los Angeles (riots over illegal immigration) is a reminder of the fact that many people have no idea what is really going on but let’s join the crowd. They just know that the situation gives them the option of making a lot of noise, destroying property, getting on the news waving the Mexican flag and blasting Donald Trump. Actual knowledge of facts is probably a foreign notion.
Let’s try some facts.
The primary federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws is U.S and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE is a division of the Department of Homeland Security and is tasked with enforcing immigration laws within the interior of the United States. Additionally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforces immigration laws at ports of entry and along the borders.
In Los Angeles during June 2025, the initial order for removal of migrants was for 4,635 individuals. 2,368 were arrested on June 4th and 2,267 were arrested on June 3 according to The Guardian. A DHS official stated that a large number of these individuals had already been removed from the United States.
Here are some important numbers. During the Biden administration, approximately 12 Million people entered the United States most often by just walking across the border. There are also approximately 1.5 Million Gotaways which means that we have no idea who these people are or where they are. 300,000 of these people were unaccounted for children. Many of these children are working to pay off the debt incurred to get into the country. 85,000 of these children could not be reached. The trafficking going on is overwhelming.
As ICE started to remove people who are in the country illegally and especially those who have broken laws, demonstrations in Los Angeles started to turn violent. The violence included torching cars, throwing rocks at cars, bringing brick and cement blocks to throw at the police and at private businesses, defacing government buildings and attacking law enforcement. In response to this lawlessness, President Trump activated the California National Guard.
Governor Newsom is very upset that President Trump nationalized the California Guard. Let’s not forget that President Kennedy nationalized the Alabama National Guard, President Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard and President Johnson nationalized the Alabama National Guard to protect civil rights activists marching from Selma to Montgomery. Presidents are well within their legal powers to nationalize the Guard.
One of the problems in California which has directly affected the situation in Los Angeles is that although voters overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 36 in 2024 the Governor has not funded the proposition. Prop 36 reclassified certain misdemeanor theft and drug crimes as felonies in certain cases. Depending on previous convictions offenders could be charged with a felony for theft of items worth less than $950. Prosecutors can also seek felony convictions for individuals possessing drugs such as cocaine, fentanyl and heroin.
Pew Research reports that there are 1.8 Million persons in California with no legal right to be here. In California, undocumented immigrants are eligible for a range of benefits including Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program), Covered California and in some cases, cash assistance, food assistance and access to programs like WIC Women, Infants, and Children program, and free or reduced school meals. Undocumented individuals are also protected against discrimination in employment and can access certain unemployment benefits.
When Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama terminated hundreds of thousands of federal workers during their tenure there were no mass protests. In fact, Barack Obama deported over three million persons during his term. Again, there was no protest.
Of course, the demonstrations against ICE and the President that started in Los Angeles have sprung up around the country. It is truly amazing how at what seems to be the drop of a hat, crowds of demonstrators appear. Could money have something to do with that? There were people on television who stated that they had been offered from $100 to $200 a day to take part in the demonstrations.
It turns out that The Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) is the group that gave impetus to the protests in Los Angeles. A very interesting fact about this group is that in the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023 it took in $45 Million. $34 Million came from the state of California in the form of government contracts.
It is probably very wise to study issues and events carefully before jumping on the publicity band wagon. So much of the news is created with little attention paid to the facts. This is especially true in today’s internet driven world.
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