Partisan Division Deepens Over Handling of L.A. Riots

As the National Guard seeks to quell riots against enforcement of federal immigration law in Los Angeles, Republicans and Democrats are finding themselves in fierce debate, with Democrats contending that President Donald Trump is addressing a “manufactured crisis,” but with Republicans calling for immediate order in the streets.

After protests began Friday against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Trump called out the California National Guard to quash the riots.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has since called the deployment an “illegal order” and on Monday, California state Attorney General Rob Bonta moved to sue the White House. Bonta called Trump’s move “unnecessary, counterproductive, and unlawful.”

Newsom reposted an X post from Hillary Clinton on Monday, saying, “Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions.”

Newsom had previously written on X on Sunday, “Trump’s goal isn’t to keep Californians safe. His goal is to cause chaos, because chaos is good for Trump.”

“I totally disagree,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told The Daily Signal in response to Newsom and Clinton’s statements. Jordan chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

Smoke fills the air as law enforcement officers in riot gear advance during protests in Los Angeles on Sunday. (David Pashaee/Middle East Images via AFP)

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., similarly considered the situation grave, criticizing the California state government for rejecting federal assistance to calm the anti-ICE agitation.

”It’s lawlessness that’s being endorsed by the government, and I don’t care who’s in the White House or who’s in office. Any time you send that message out, it puts a target on the head of a lot of people, and I think it’s a very dangerous precedent to be set,” Burchett told The Daily Signal.

As tensions and violent confrontations continue in Los Angeles, there is a risk that similar events could erupt in other cities where the local government does not cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement.

Jordan told The Daily Signal, “I hope it doesn’t happen anywhere else. I hope it stops in L.A.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

But other Republicans fear this may be just the beginning.

When asked whether similar deployments of National Guard could happen elsewhere, Burchett told The Daily Signal, “I think so.”

He added that he thought it was important to restore order quickly, in order to send a message that rioting would not be tolerated.

“I think you’d better take care of it early. If it’s endorsed, and the message is sent that it’s OK, and that we’re going to turn the other way, look the other way, then … they’re going to scale it up, and it’s going to get a lot worse,” said Burchett.

In this incendiary manifestation of disagreements between Democrat states and the White House, Democrats are holding their ground on the deportation issue, which played a major role in the last presidential election.

“This Administration’s actions are not about public safety—they’re about stoking fear,” former Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement. “Fear of a community demanding dignity and due process.”

In a statement to The Daily Signal, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., who is on the opposite side of the issue, backed Trump’s actions in deploying the National Guard.

“How many times does Los Angeles need to descend into fiery chaos before folks come to terms with the fact that their progressive politicians are lunatics?” he said. “Secure the border. Deport illegals. Make communities safe again.”

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