President Donald Trump has given federal immigration agents “total authorization” to defend themselves in the wake of violent clashes with protesters during a recent enforcement operation at a California cannabis farm.
The authorization came after the president said on Truth Social he watched in disbelief “as THUGS were violently throwing rocks and bricks at ICE Officers while they were moving down a roadway in their car.”
“Therefore, I am directing Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and Border Czar, Tom Homan, to instruct all ICE, Homeland Security, or any other Law Enforcement Officer who is on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so. I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public.”
He added: “I never want to see a car carrying a Law Enforcement Officer attacked again! AUTHORIZATION IMMEDIATELY GRANTED FOR ARREST AND INCARCERATION.”
Tensions have continued to escalate in California amid President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies, with protests and unrest erupting across Los Angeles last month following a series of ICE deportation raids.
Demonstrators hurled rocks at law enforcement and set vehicles ablaze as Trump ordered the deployment of more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city, defying California Governor Gavin Newsom’s objections and triggering a bitter legal battle over state versus federal authority.
Since then, federal immigration agents have intensified operations throughout Southern California, acting on Trump’s directive for ICE to use “all in their power” to execute what he has described as the largest mass deportation campaign in American history, Newsweek noted.
Meanwhile, officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are accusing Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) of inciting a violent mob of left-wing protesters that attacked a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, sending the agent to the emergency room, Breitbart News reported.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, on July 10, ICE agents conducted a raid on a marijuana grow site in California, a sanctuary state, resulting in the arrest of over 360 illegal aliens and the rescue of 14 migrant children.
During the operation, a crowd of roughly 500 protesters attempted to disrupt the enforcement action. DHS officials claim that an ICE Public Affairs Specialist handed a business card to Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), who was present at the scene. They assert that Carbajal made the agent a target by displaying the card to the crowd.
Members of the mob attacked the ICE agent shortly after, causing lacerations to his left hand from a thrown rock during the confrontation. They took the agent to the emergency room, where the injury required stitches.
“The actions by Representative Carbajal are downright un-American. He dares to claim that his actions were simply congressional oversight, but doxing ICE personnel and inciting a mob of rioters to attack law enforcement is not oversight — it’s abominable,” DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“His actions sent an ICE employee to the emergency room. It’s no wonder that ICE agents are facing a 700% increase in assaults when radical members of Congress like Salud Carbajal and [New Jersey Democratic Rep.] LaMonica McIver are openly encouraging and leading their supporters in assaulting law enforcement,” she added.
Last month, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) was indicted by a federal grand jury after surveillance footage captured her storming an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. She faces charges of forcibly obstructing and interfering with ICE agents as they attempted to apprehend an illegal alien outside the facility.
In the latest wave of immigration enforcement, ICE agents, supported by National Guard troops, raided two Glass House Farms locations this week: one in Camarillo, Ventura County, and another in Carpinteria, a coastal town in Santa Barbara County roughly 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles.