California's reckless, pro-illegal immigration policies have put countless citizens at risk, so the Trump administration is attempting an end run around them. The feds can rarely count on Gov. Gavin Newsom to waive his state's obstruction of the enforcement of immigration laws -- though he does so occasionally when the political optics get bad enough to imperil his future ambitions -- so other, creative approaches are being employed. Fox correspondent Bill Melugin is one of the only members of the media who consistently challenge the state's ruling class, and he landed a significant scoop this week. He revealed a new manner in which ICE is bypassing the 'sanctuary' madness:
EXCLUSIVE: We witnessed an incredibly rare sight in the sanctuary city of Los Angeles, as Twin Towers jail transferred an illegal alien inmate to ICE custody, not because sanctuary policies have changed, but because the jail is being *forced* to cooperate w/ ICE as part of a new… pic.twitter.com/j7DhevmVwr
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 19, 2025
The jail is being *forced* to cooperate w/ ICE as part of a new federal operation designed to "neutralize" California's sanctuary state law.The new Trump-appointed US Attorney in Los Angeles launched "Operation Guardian Angel" last week, and it's already forcing sanctuary jails to make transfers to ICE. How does it work? Essayli has organized a federal task force made up of ICE, FBI, HSI, DEA, and ATF, working out of an office in downtown LA. Every single day, they are now scanning criminal databases w/ fingerprints and identifying illegal aliens in jails throughout Southern California who have been previously deported from the United States. If they've come back to the US after a deportation, they've committed a federal felony under 8 USC 1326 known as "illegal re-entry". As soon as the task force ID's an alien booked into a local jail who has a previous deportation, they seek a federal criminal warrant on them for felony re-entry, signed off on by a federal judge.
That sounds innovative and sensible, even though it's still galling that federal law enforcement has to jump through state-imposed hoops just to carry out their lawful duties. But couldn't the locals just ignore the new directives, as they do as a matter of course on detainer requests? Apparently not, under this particular arrangement:
Unlike an administrative ICE warrant or ICE detainer request, these criminal judicial warrants for 8 USC 1326 *CANNOT* be ignored by sanctuary jurisdictions, and California's sanctuary state law cannot shield aliens from these criminal warrants. Instead of releasing the alien inmates and ignoring ICE detainers, jails must hand the aliens over to the Feds, regardless of sanctuary policy."With this operation, we're going to be neutralizing California sanctuary state policies," Essayli told me. "We're going to flood the system with warrants for criminal illegal immigrants who are in county jails, they can ignore a detainer, but they cannot ignore a criminal arrest warrant. They have no choice, they will comply, and if they don't, if they interfere with our ability to arrest a federal felon, they can expect to face consequences for that.
Melugin summarizes the video above, noting that it could prove to be an effective model in combatting 'sanctuary' jurisdictions across the country:
Fox News was granted exclusive access to the task force as they scanned databases and found a previously deported Mexican alien in jail in downtown LA who had just been arrested for robbery in the city of El Monte. They filed a warrant, and we joined them at LA County's Twin Towers jail as the sanctuary jurisdiction handed the alien inmate over to the task force - potentially one of the first on camera transfers to ICE since California's sanctuary state law took effect in 2017. The task force says once they're at full steam, they project they will be arresting 40-50 aliens from local jails every week, and that if it's successful in LA, US Attorneys can use it as a model to neutralize sanctuary jurisdictions in other parts of the country.
Now that this practice is out in the open, it will be interesting to see how state and local leftists respond. I'd imagine that many law enforcement officers will enthusiastically cooperate, since they are not bound by 'sanctuary' restrictions under this new arrangement. But many politicians in these places seem to wake up each day determined to aid and abet illegal immigrants, including dangerous felon illegal immigrants. That's what their "resistance" mentality, and their political base, demand. I wouldn't be surprised if Democrats in Sacramento -- who recently voted to shield certain sex abusers of minors from felony charges -- move to implement legislation to try to thwart these new efforts, too. If they do, a very interesting factor to watch is how a mid-makeover Gov. Newsom might respond. Meanwhile, per DHS, voluntary self-deportations are underway:
Today, DHS conducted the first Project Homecoming charter flight from Houston, TX, to Honduras and Colombia, bringing 64 participants who opted to self-deport back to their home countries.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 19, 2025
All participants were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports… pic.twitter.com/r0uAFejUVh
Finally, here are a few 'FAFO' updates on this front, including consequences arising from this fracas, and this disgraceful episode:
After a thorough review of the video footage of Delaney Hall and a full investigation from HSI, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey has made the determination to charge Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officers.…
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) May 20, 2025
BREAKING: Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan in immigration case, allowing charges against her to continue. https://t.co/PD8s8tRPSJ
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 13, 2025
No one is above the law. I'll leave you with this:
"This is what the crumbling of rule of law looks like." Setting aside the grotesque Nazi comparisons, I will not tolerate such lecturing from a man whose failed leadership allowed large swaths of his state's largest city to burn to the ground, including a police precinct. https://t.co/yTheMncjEu
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 20, 2025
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