WASHINGTON, June 11. /TASS/. The ongoing mass riots and protests in the United States illustrate the failed migration policy, conducted by the Democratic Party in the past years, The Washington Post (WP) columnist David Ignatius wrote in his opinion piece.
"Democrats have gotten the border issue so wrong, for so long, that it amounts to political malpractice," he wrote. "Democrats’ mistake, over more than a decade, has been to behave as though border enforcement doesn’t matter."
In his opinion, Democrats were guided by short-term political interests of party leaders. At the same time, they faced pressure from immigrant rights activists. Even subsequent discontent within the party was "not enough to create coherent Democratic policies."
"When I see activists carrying Mexican flags as they challenge ICE raids in Los Angeles this week, I think of two possibilities: These "protesters" are deliberately working to create visuals that will help Trump, or they are well-meaning but unwise dissenters who are inadvertently accomplishing the same goal," he wrote.
Mass detentions of undocumented migrants began in Los Angeles on June 6. By the evening of June 7, at least 44 people were already held on suspicion of immigration violations. Citizens took to the streets in response to the raids. The CBS report indicates that protesters tried to obstruct police activities, blocked roadways and threw rocks and firecrackers at officers from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Los Angeles police detained at least 56 people over the past weekend.
Trump had ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to the unrest without consulting California Governor Gavin Newsom, who later sued the US president and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for sending in troops without his permission. According to the CNN TV channel, about 1,700 National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles. The US Department of Defense sent about 700 Marines to respond to the unrest.