In 1992, Los Angeles was torn apart by explosive race riots following the acquittal of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in the beating of Rodney King. The riots caused an estimated $1 billion in damages, left over 2,000 people injured, and resulted in over 12,000 arrests — all over the course of five days.

Over 30 years later, L.A. is once again being consumed by rioting and looting — now on day 13. The riots began on June 6 in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the area and have quickly spread to other major (and even some minor) cities across the U.S. Here’s the latest news on the riots, immigration policy, and the mood of America.

The City of Angels… and Illegal Immigrants

With rioters in L.A. hurling rocks, cinder blocks, and Molotov cocktails at federal agents, it was only a matter of time before President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard and U.S. Marines to maintain order in the city. Now, the soldiers are getting air support. According to local news outlet KTLA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has deployed Predator drones and Black Hawk helicopters over L.A. CBP spokesman John Mennell confirmed the use of drones and Black Hawks but emphasized that the aircraft are unarmed and are only “providing officer safety surveillance when requested by officers.” He added that CBP “is not engaged in the surveillance of First Amendment activities.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass (D) has been openly critical of the president’s use of federal forces in the city. Over the weekend, she touted L.A.’s “sanctuary” policies unlawfully offering shelter to illegal immigrants, comparing immigration law enforcement to the restrictive COVID-19 lockdowns she and other Democrats imposed on California in 2020. “It’s the uncertainty that continues that has an absolute economic impact. But it is pretty profound to walk up and down the streets and to see the empty streets, it reminded me of COVID,” Bass said while touring small businesses with reporters from the Los Angeles Times. She further noted that many illegal immigrants are simply not showing up for work, fearing workplace immigration raids. Bass told the local newspaper, “Entire sectors of the city’s economy cannot function without immigrant labor.”

Polls Show Widespread Support for Trump’s Immigration Policies

Despite the criticisms of Bass and other Democrats, polling data reveals that Americans generally support the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce immigration law, including the president’s mobilization of federal forces in L.A. According to the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris survey, immigration is the issue the public is most satisfied with Trump’s management of, currently standing at 49% approval, down slightly from 51% in early May. Immigration is also the second-most-important issue to Americans at 32% — up five points from May, and just behind inflation at 34% — and the deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes after entering the country is the second-most-popular of Trump’s policies at 80% support, just behind lowering prescription drug prices, which stands at 84% support. Nearly two-thirds (63%) support Trump’s “actions to close the southern border and nearly three-quarters (74%) support Trump’s “efforts to deport criminals who are here illegally.”

Regarding the riots in L.A. and other cities, a slim majority (51%) say that it’s inappropriate to “call for challenging and resisting federal agents carrying out deportation raids” and over two thirds (68%) called on elected officials to “condemn … resistance to federal agents carrying out deportation raids” when it “turns violent.” Similarly, a majority of Americans surveyed support Trump’s “decision to bring in the national guard to help suppress anti-ICE riots” (56%) and say that Trump should “be able to deploy the national guard to protect federal agents and property when local city and state law enforcement won’t act” (55%).

Showdown in Chicago?

One of the prongs of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement has been targeting “sanctuary” cities. Just this week, the president ordered ICE and other federal agents to increase arrest and deportation operations in Democrat-led cities, especially those with “sanctuary” policies, which often bar local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE or investigating immigration status. One of those “sanctuary” cities being targeted is Chicago.

ICE recently issued a subpoena to the Windy City, seeking information on city officials’ efforts to shelter illegal immigrants and obfuscate federal law enforcement. Specifically, ICE demanded the information of applicants to a Chicago program that grants city IDs to illegal immigrants, allowing them to then apply for driver’s licenses. In response, Chicago city clerk Anna Valencia scrubbed the application pages from the city’s website. Valencia asserted that Chicago will “fight giving over any data to the federal government,” further commenting, “This is Trump doing a witch hunt and intentionally trying to instill fear in people so that they can overtake our democracy.”

Chicago alderman and City Council member Raymond Lopez (D) confirmed in an interview Monday that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) are actively shielding illegal immigrants from federal law enforcement. “When Governor Pritzker was before Congress, he said that we don’t protect criminals, that we work with our federal partners, and we do all of these great things, which, quite simply, does not happen in the real application of the law,” Lopez said. He added, “And the same goes for Brandon Johnson, when, as Mayor, he appeared before Congress and said we don’t harbor criminals. I don’t know where these versions of them have been over the last few years, particularly as the border crisis has become our backyard crisis.”

Lopez noted that over 60,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in Chicago over the past several years, including at least 2,000 who were identified as dangerous criminals. He asked, “Why would we not want to work with our federal partners to get rid of them? I don’t understand that. And that’s where we find ourselves today.”