The Trump administration has launched a legal strategy aimed at bypassing sanctuary city policies, which typically block cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Under “Operation Guardian Angel,” the administration is charging deported individuals who illegally reenter the U.S. with felony illegal reentry—a federal offense that local law enforcement must act upon. Since sanctuary cities cannot ignore federal felony warrants, this approach has allowed ICE to detain hundreds of undocumented immigrants, despite local resistance. Conservative commentator Marc Thiessen described the plan as a smart legal workaround and noted that it has provoked strong backlash from the left, who view it as an assault on immigrant protections and local authority.

In a related development, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is investigating whether immigrant advocacy groups, such as CHIRLA, are funding civil unrest in California. He argues that such support might amount to aiding criminal conduct rather than exercising free speech. Amid escalating protests, President Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles, claiming the federal response helped prevent widespread destruction. His actions drew sharp criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who insisted that local officials were fully capable of maintaining order without outside intervention. The situation underscores ongoing tensions between the Trump administration’s hardline immigration stance and local jurisdictions’ efforts to assert autonomy and uphold sanctuary policies.