A senior Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official is rejecting claims by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that federal agents staged an immigration raid to coincide with his rally in Los Angeles.
CBP El Centro Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino dismissed Newsom’s remarks as a political “tantrum.”
“Does the governor or Mayor Bass, when they have these meltdowns, these tantrums like that, do they want those individuals walking the streets?” Bovino said Friday on America’s Newsroom.
“Where’s the outrage when there are Tren de Aragua members walking with impunity on the streets of Los Angeles, or child rapists, or a whole litany of other bad people and bad things, bad criminals walking the streets of Los Angeles?”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused federal authorities of staging immigration raids in Los Angeles during his press conference on Thursday.
Federal agents carried out operations across the city as Newsom outlined California’s plan to redraw congressional maps. During the event, the governor shifted focus to immigration enforcement under President Trump, claiming dozens of agents were positioned outside the venue.
“Do you think it’s coincidental?” Newsom asked the crowd.
“Donald Trump and his minions, Tom Homan, tough guy, decided, coincidentally or not, that this was a location to advance ICE arrests. Indiscriminate? Perhaps. We’ll find out later.”
Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem countered that the timing of the raids had nothing to do with the governor’s appearance.
“We absolutely targeted all of Los Angeles yesterday,” Bovino acknowledged, noting that 40 law enforcement teams were deployed across the city to pursue criminal migrants.
He added that one of the main arrests near the governor’s event was a suspected member of Tren de Aragua, a violent transnational gang from Venezuela.
Noem confirmed Thursday on America Reports that the raids were based on intelligence, not politics.
“Every single one of our ICE and Border Patrol operations is built on information. On investigative work,” she said. “It’s a case and an operation that has been planned because of who they think could be in that area and what they have for information that shows that there are illegal criminals there.”
Bovino emphasized that such enforcement actions are routine in Los Angeles.
“We have hundreds of law enforcement officers conducting that mission every day in Los Angeles. I know the governor said the time and the location,” he said.
“The time is every time. And the location is everywhere. That location’s going to be where we think we need to go, anywhere, anytime, to effectively conduct that mission.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom’s office responded in all caps: “WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY WEAK LITTLE DONALD TRUMP, THE CRIMINAL PRESIDENT!”
