Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

Federal agents descended on a park in the middle of Los Angeles midday Monday, showing up on horseback, in armored tanks, and carrying rifles. While it’s still not at all clear if the agents made any arrests, a regional Customs and Border Protection chief told a local FOX News reporter, “Better get used to us now, because this is gonna be normal very soon.” He may not be wrong. President Donald Trump’s new spending and tax law explodes the budget for immigration and border enforcement, setting aside around $170 billion extra dollars for Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Around $75 billion of that money is earmarked specifically for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla joins us to talk about ICE’s aggressive tactics, how immigrants in California are feeling right now, and what Democrats — and all of us — can do to respond.

And in headlines: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent Wednesday waltzing around Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers, Trump sent out threatening tariffs letters to more countries, and the CEO of the platform formerly known as Twitter coincidentally quit just a day after Elon Musk’s AI chatbot went full antisemite.

TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Thursday, July 10th, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, a show that salutes U.S. President Donald Trump on his firm command of the English language, which also happens to be the official language of the nation of Liberia, whose president met with Trump Wednesday. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Well thank you, and such good English, such beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where? Were you educated where? 

Jane Coaston: Rare is the president to whom I can say, oh honey, and yet here we are. [music break] On today’s show, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waltzes around Capitol Hill chatting with lawmakers, and the CEO of the platform formerly known as Twitter coincidentally quits just a day after Elon’s AI bot went full anti-semite. But let’s start with immigration. Earlier this week, federal agents descended on a park in the middle of Los Angeles in the middle of the day. They showed up on horseback in armored tanks carrying rifles, and of course most of them have their faces covered. Why? As of Wednesday, that still wasn’t at all clear. Here’s a dispatch from the local ABC News station, which was on the scene. 

[clip of unnamed ABC News reporter] And at times they just kind of stood there in formation lines. At other times they moved in unison throughout the park. Now from our vantage point we never saw those officers make any arrest, but we did see Mayor Karen Bass show up as she pressed the agents to get out of there. 

Jane Coaston: Okay so no arrests that we know of, no detentions, but shortly after the exercise or whatever it was, Gregory Bovino, a Customs and Border Protection Chief in Southern California, told the local Fox News station the country should get ready for more. 

[clipi of Gregory Bovino] Better get used to us now because uh this is going to be normal very soon. 

Jane Coaston: And that’s not out of the question. President Donald Trump’s big Republican spending debacle disaster adventure law explodes the budget for immigration and border enforcement. It includes around $170 billion to realize Trump’s mass deportation agenda, with $75 billion for immigration and customs enforcement specifically spread out over the next few years. ICE’s current annual budget is $8 billion. The bill will make ICE the most highly funded domestic law enforcement agency within the federal government. So what are they going to do with all that money? According to CBS News, around $45 billion will go to expanding detention facilities so that they can hold more than 100,000 people at any given time. And $30 billion is expected to go to funding the deportation process itself, hiring immigration officers and prosecutors and modernizing ICE’s fleet of deportation planes. And there’s still more money available, money for border patrol and Trump’s wall, money to reimburse states for their own immigration enforcement efforts, and a few extra billion for the Secretary of Homeland Security for reimbursement of quote, “costs incurred in undertaking activities in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to safeguard the borders of the United States.” Sure. All of this is intended to fuel mass deportations, not of the evil criminals of the Trump administration’s fevered imagination, but of people without criminal records, the fastest growing population of people in immigration detention right now, a fact which popular podcast host Joe Rogan found surprising and horrifying in an immigration discussion last week. 

[clip of Joe Rogan] There’s two things that are insane. One is the targeting of migrant workers, not cartel members, not gang members, not drug dealers, just construction workers. Showing up in construction sites, raiding them. Gardeners. Yeah. Like really? 

Jane Coaston: Yeah really. Rogan has reportedly discussed the matter with Trump himself. One person who has actually been speaking out and standing up against ICE has been California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla. I spoke to him about ICE, how immigrants in California are feeling right now, and what Democrats can do to respond. Senator Padilla, welcome to What a Day. 

Alex Padilla: Thank you so much for having me. Crazy times we’re living in. 

Jane Coaston: Indeed. President Trump’s spending bill just gave the Department of Homeland Security $170 billion for immigration enforcement efforts and border security. What will this massive influx of cash to deportation operations mean for the country? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, look, I’m glad you’re asking that question because there was a lot of attention on the budget reconciliation bill in terms of cuts, right? Cuts to Medicare, cuts to nutrition assistance programs, etc. Not enough attention on what this means for immigration enforcement and ICE activity. I mean, with this huge influx of money, they wanna make ICE the largest law enforcement agency in the country. A larger agency than the military of most other countries. All because they’re hell bent on detaining and deporting as many immigrants as possible. We’ve seen how cruel it’s been, you know how legal immigrants have been caught up, even United States citizens have been caught up uh in this uh overreach by the administration but they want more and uh till something changes it’s not only gonna be more but it’s gonna be worse. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah, I mean, to your point, after agents ascended on a park in a largely immigrant neighborhood in L.A. earlier this week, they were on horseback and armored tanks carrying rifles. Gregory Bovino, a Customs and Border Protection chief in Southern California, told a local Fox News reporter, quote, “better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon.” I just want to pause on that, because what he’s suggesting there is that armed federal troops storming around America’s cities. On horseback and with tanks, at minimum inciting fear, at worst rounding people up, is going to become an average day in America. I know this administration runs on bluster and fear-mongering, but also, what is stopping the White House from making that a reality at this point? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, well, first of all, let’s not use the word normal because this is not normal. The fear and the terror that they’re striking into communities like Los Angeles is not normal and it’s certainly not right. You know, you mentioned MacArthur Park. Let’s talk about MacArthur park because I know MacArthur park. It’s an iconic park in Los Angeles. Before the tanks arrived, before the agents on horseback arrived, before the military weapons arrived. It was host to a summer day camp for kids. That’s what was going on there at the park. You know but despite the show, the spectacle that Donald Trump loves at the cost of who knows how much in taxpayer dollars, not one arrest, not one detention, but clearly escalating the fears in the community. So that’s what they’re signaling they wanna do across the country. And with the increase in funding because of the budget plans of Republicans in Congress. That’s what they want to bring to every corner of America. So we need the general public to continue to speak up, to continue to stand up, refuse to accept this as normal, and not just call your congressman, not just, you know, support an advocacy organization, but my god, if you’re eligible but haven’t registered to vote yet, register to vote. Spread the word amongst your friends, your family members, your co-workers, because the mid-term elections will be here before we know it. And that’s going to be the biggest way we can rein all this in. 

Jane Coaston: But Senator, is that it? Like, you know, vote in the midterms? That’s more than a year away, and I live in L.A. 

Alex Padilla: No, that’s not it. But when it comes to a check and a guardrail to reign in this administration, that’s a huge next step. In the meantime, we have to keep speaking up and demonstrating, right? Look, don’t be fooled. The White House certainly heard and felt the millions of people who were out there on no king’s day just a few weeks ago. And so my appeal to the people, not just in Los Angeles, but throughout the country is that cannot be a one and done. We have to keep marching, keep rallying. Keep organizing. Let’s help our immigrant brothers and sisters know their rights, because you have due process rights in the United States of America, despite your immigration status. Of course, the Trump administration doesn’t want you to know that, and people like, you know, the Homeland Security officials are not going to be the ones to remind you of that. So this is what community coming together needs to continue to do. 

Jane Coaston: What can Democrats do in Congress and in cities where we’re seeing this happen to gum up the proverbial works? Because as you are acutely aware, lawmakers are also facing threats. You were tackled at a press conference for trying to ask a question. 

Alex Padilla: Right. And so that’s been my appeal to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but especially on the other side of the isle. Look, this can happen in any city in your state on any issue. This happens to be Los Angeles. It happens to be about immigrants rights, but Donald Trump will clearly try anything to quell dissent on any issue anywhere in the country. It’s a dangerous precedent. The mission of the Marines in his eyes was to liberate Los Angeles from the governor and the mayor. That’s a very dangerous notion to think that the president of the United States and any presidential administration could and should dictate which governors, which mayors should represent the people that voted them into office. So it’s very fundamental. We’re living in precarious times and people need to wake up. My colleagues need to wake up. 

Jane Coaston: On Tuesday, you introduced a bill with New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker to require federal agents to clearly identify themselves when engaging with the public. It would also prohibit them covering their faces. I’ve talked about this on the show. ICE agents covering their faces and not identifying themselves is not only a danger to everyone around them, it is also a danger to them because for understandable reasons, people will not react well to being thrown into a van by people wearing masks and in plain clothes. But can you explain a little bit more in depth what’s in the bill? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, no, look, I appreciate that and the bill really is that straightforward. If you’re an ICE agent or another federal agent involved with this immigration enforcement activity, then you should have to identify yourself. You know, you can’t be masked up. Some exceptions, right, if it’s a covert operation going after a truly dangerous criminal or for a medical purpose or something like that. But short of something like, you can’t cover up your face. You should have to identify what agency uh you’re working with and if not your name at least a badge number or something for accountability purposes. This is already required of other federal law enforcement officials. This is already a requirement for so many state and local police agencies, but not ICE at least you know that’s been a gap in the law that we’re trying to fill now. 

Jane Coaston: I want to go back to something you said earlier. You said, my colleagues need to wake up. Can you expand on that? What do you mean? Like who isn’t awake to what’s going on right now? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, well, clearly the other side of the aisle isn’t. What happened to me, and you’ve heard me, I think over the course of the last three weeks, continue to repeat. If this is how this administration responds to a United States Senator with a question, then imagine what is happening in corners across the country as these immigration raids are happening without cameras being on. My colleagues need to take that seriously because the only way to reign this in is for a co-equal branch of government to stand up and do its job. 

Jane Coaston: I mean, are you talking about fellow Democrats, too? Do you think that there are some of your colleagues in Congress of the same party who don’t understand what’s really going on here? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, I think a lot of my Democratic colleagues have certainly have expressed their words of support, but depending on the state, this may be not happening in your state, at least not yet, because we know the immigrant community in the country is in every state in America and working in essential jobs in every sector of the economy. So if these raids aren’t happening in your state, it’s only a matter of time. We all need to care. We all to feel the urgency. 

Jane Coaston: It’s been about a month now of raids in LA, and many people, Latinos and immigrants and a whole bunch of people, are afraid to leave their homes. Religious officials are giving dispensation so that people don’t have to go to mass because they are so afraid of being arrested on their way to mass. It seems like a hopeless situation over here, but have people shared any glimmers of hope with you? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, look, the fear is real, right? California is home. Los Angeles is my home. It’s where I was born and raised in an immigrant community. My parents came from Mexico in the 60s in pursuit of the American dream. So this is all very, very personal for me. You know, you’re touching on what I think is one of the cruel ironies of what’s happening here. We know that the vast majority of people that are being detained, that are being caught up, that have been deported, many without due process. Do not have criminal convictions or a dangerous criminal history. So who are they? Increasingly, it’s clear that it is maybe people who are undocumented, but have been in the United States for years, if not decades, working as my father did, as a cook in a kitchen or in landscaping or in agricultural fields or in construction or on and on and on. Out to the COVID-19 pandemic, these were all workers that were deemed essential workers by the Trump administration, part one, to cruel, cruel irony here. We have to keep organizing. We have keep resisting, protesting peacefully, preparing for the next election, and so much more. My message is really, look, keep the faith, because it’s tough times right now. We will get through this, but we have to keep organizing 

Jane Coaston: Senator Padilla, thank you so much for joining me. 

Alex Padilla: Thank you so much. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla.

Listen to the full episode here.