By Katherine Tinsley
2:47pm PDT, Jul 11, 2025
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Jesse Watters asked Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis if ICE is being too gentle with their approach to raids and deportations in California as the government agency continues to receive pushback from local politicians and residents.
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"It seems to be like there's a lot more intensity now with each one of these raids," Jesse Watters said before posing a question to Ron DeSantis, "How do you see this going forward?" Donald Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles after residents protested ICE raids, and Homeland Security recently threatened to arrest Mayor Karen Bass after she interfered with detainments at L.A.'s MacArthur Park on Monday, July 7.
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Ron DeSantis attempted to paint a difference between responses to illegal immigration in California and Florida, where the controversial
Alligator Alcatraz detention center is located. "If the roles were reversed, the left would be saying it's an insurrection," DeSantis said. "You have federal law enforcement that have clear authority to enforce clear federal law, and if you are illegally employed in this country, that is a violation of federal law."
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Donald Trump promised to enforce mass deportations during his presidential campaign. Now, many Democratic states and legislatures are working to preserve their cities' sanctuary city culture. "I think what's happened in California is they've really developed a sense of entitlement to simply disregard federal laws they don't like, particularly with regard to immigration, and this has been happening for many years," Ron DeSantis alleged. "So I think the situation has escalated. I think clearly they are in the wrong. But this is likely not going to stop in California anytime soon because I think this has been embedded in the psyche there — that somehow they can disregard laws they don't want to follow.""
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Jesse Watters hinted at wanting ICE to be more forceful while conducting deportations and raids. "Governor, is ICE being too nice? They are doing, I guess, de-escalation tactics — which probably is the right move — but the more you tangle with these crazy people, the more it gives them confidence," the Fox News host said during his discussion with Ron DeSantis. "If you don't make arrests and knock some heads together and show them that you may get hurt when you come in and block law enforcement, they're just going to get more and more angry. Do you think they can step up some of their tactics?"
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Ron DeSantis hinted at state-level legislation and leaders preventing ICE from carrying out Donald Trump and Homeland Security's plan. "I think there are a lot of police officers individually who want to be helpful, but the political leadership is not allowing that to happen," DeSantis said. "So I would not necessarily say that it's ICE that has to take care of all of that, because some of that absolutely needs to be done with state and local assets."
