(California) The state where immigration raids are becoming a problem for Republicans

Source: Politico

The state where immigration raids are becoming a problem for Republicans

By Ben Fox and Melanie Mason
07/23/2025 06:02 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO — Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown sparked protests across Los Angeles and sent many people into hiding. Some California Republicans are starting to fear they’ll pay a price for the chaos.

Amid reports of masked agents sweeping into neighborhoods in tactical gear, public sentiment is shifting nationally against the president’s immigration policies. And some long-suffering Republicans here are scrambling to stake out a middle ground between supporting Trump, but not the raids that are rippling through their communities and threatening key industries.

“I don’t dismiss for one second that the fear in our communities is real. It is,” said state Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, a Republican who was the lead author of a recent letter urging the administration to focus on criminal immigrants. “I’ve had constituents on both sides articulate that it’s heartbreaking, heart-wrenching, what’s going on.”

Republican officials publicly expressing their concern, so far, have been limited. Just six of the 29 GOP members of the state Legislature signed the Valladares letter. Two of the nine Republicans in California’s House delegation — Rep. David Valladao and Rep. Young Kim — have signed on to legislation that would combine border security with a path to citizenship for some undocumented migrants.

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Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/23/california-republicans-ice-raids-backlash-00471909