Washington Examiner, June 2025
The blue state governors were grilled by Republican lawmakers on their immigration policies as the country grapples with Trump’s decision last weekend to become the first president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 to federalize 4,000 California National Guard members to respond to the Los Angeles protests. Those demonstrations devolved into violence on Sunday as protesters tried to stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from conducting raids and arresting alleged criminal illegal immigrants at their workplaces. The president later deployed 700 active-duty U.S. Marines to the city to assist ICE agents, National Guard members, and local police officers.
Their appearance comes as Democrats attempt to strike a balance between supporting law-abiding illegal immigrants, free speech, and border security as Trump and his aides underscore the simpler message that he is strong on illegal immigration and law and order. Those are issues on which he polls well with the general public. “Partisans want to see Democrats stand up to Trump even if they don’t go as far as David Hogg‘s war on unseat ‘asleep-at-the-wheel’ Democratic officeholders,” University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Politics and Governance Director Lawrence Jacobs told the Washington Examiner.
