Dozens of Californians in the swing region of northern Los Angeles County told the Washington Post that even though they wanted the president to enforce immigration laws, it has gone “too far.”
Following days of protests in Los Angeles over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids, dozens of Californians in the swing region of northern Los Angeles County are saying they wanted President Donald Trump to enforce immigration law, but that now it has gone too far.
The Washington Post recently spoke with four dozen people in the Antelope Valley, a closely divided region in the state about an hour north of Los Angeles, about their views on the administration’s handling of immigration. Some of them said they felt deceived over ICE seemingly targeting all migrants, not just criminals, as Trump promised on the campaign trail.
“It’s going overboard. It’s too much,” said Jesus Martinez, a 36-year-old aerospace worker, who initially supported the president’s decision to send the military to shut down immigration protests in his home state. A former Democrat, Martinez said he supported Trump in 2020 and sat out the 2024 election.
“They said only criminals, and now they’re saying, ‘well, they did come in illegally so they are criminals,'” he added. “Hispanics or Latinos that voted for Trump, they didn’t think he was going to go after kids.”
Others further explained that while they supported increased deportations for migrants with criminal records, they opposed the scope of mass deportation and ICE raids, and to a lesser extent, sending troops to crack down on protesters.
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