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ATTENTION RUBEN NAVARRETTE EDITORS: THE 8TH GRAF REFERENCES LANGUAGE THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE. THANK YOU. -- CREATORS

Trump's Immigration Crackdown Creates Mayhem and Madness. Here's What We Can Do.

SAN DIEGO -- It feels as if California has a new state motto that boils down to just four words: "What can we do?"

As a Mexican American journalist based in Southern California, I hear that question at least 10 times a week. I hear it from neighbors and family members who are distraught over a man-made (actually, Trump-made) disaster that has created chaos, fear and instability in the most productive state in the union. I hear it from fellow Mexican Americans who are suddenly feeling more "Mexican" than "American." I hear it from friends and allies who didn't realize how much they valued the Constitution until it vanished. I even hear it from those who support removing the undocumented but according to rules, procedures, laws and protocols -- none of which interests the Trump administration.

"What can we do?"

Californians are living with the wreckage from the Trump administration's deportation juggernaut. Occupied LA -- which is now in its second month -- involves hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, other federal agencies, National Guard troops and U.S. Marines. Even with all that manpower, the administration has still managed to avoid arresting or even fining the employers of undocumented immigrants.

The mayhem also includes an untold number of imposters and opportunists. These masked individuals appear to be a mixture of freelancers, contractors, bounty hunters and criminals who are taking advantage of the situation to kidnap people for nefarious purposes.

In Huntington Park, a community south of Los Angeles, police recently arrested Fernando Diaz, who is suspected of posing as an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to NBC News, at the time of his arrest, Diaz had in his vehicle a loaded gun, official-looking documents with Department of Homeland Security masthead and multiple copies of passports not in his name.

It's a nationwide phenomenon.

In January, in South Carolina, police arrested Sean-Michael Johnson and charged him with kidnapping and impersonating a law enforcement officer, after he allegedly posed as an ICE agent and detained a group of Latino men along a country road. The incident was recorded on a phone that belonged to one of the men. In the video, Johnson taunts his captives by saying things like: "You all got caught! You're going back to Mexico!" When the driver calls a friend on his cellphone, and speaks Spanish, Johnson goes full nativist and shouts: "Now don't be speaking that pig latin in my f**king country!" He then knocked the phone of the man's hand.

That same month, in North Carolina, police arrested Carl Thomas Bennett and charged him with multiple sex crimes and allegedly impersonating an ICE agent in order to commit sexual assault. According to media accounts, Bennett threatened to have the woman deported if she did not comply and take part in sexual acts with him. Immigration advocates in the state say that, while immigrants might normally be surprised and alarmed if a legitimate ICE agent acted inappropriately, it's different now that immigrants are seeing -- on Spanish-language newscasts -- ICE agents and those who impersonate them also acting in unusual and erratic ways.

"What can we do?"

Here are three things that people could do or are already doing.

1. Stop talking and start taking action. Gov. Gavin Newsom -- who is not in his office at the moment because he's busy visiting early Democratic primary states in advance of a likely 2028 presidential run -- has strongly denounced Trump's deportation dragnet. The same goes for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. But from the looks of it, neither has used the power of their office to melt the ICE.

2. Lawmakers can draft legislation. In California, a pair of Democratic state lawmakers have proposed Senate Bill 627, also known as the "No Secret Police Act," which prevents law enforcement officers at any level from covering their faces. In Congress, Senate Democrats have introduced a similar bill titled the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act of 2025.

3. Everyday Americans can stay informed and stay engaged. We can keep the pressure on by questioning what is going on and trying our best to hold Trump officials accountable. Make no mistake. There will be a reckoning for this madness. Perhaps there will be several, including at the ballot box during next year's midterm elections. This is Trump's fiesta. But other Republicans will pay the price.

Above all, those who care about justice and decency and civil rights should be keeping score. Don't get mad. Don't get even. Just get to the polls. Then get even.

That's what you can do.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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