The Voice News: LOS ANGELES — California Governor Gavin Newsom remains defiant in the face of arrest threats from former President Donald Trump’s administration, vowing not to back down amid escalating tensions between state officials and federal immigration authorities in Los Angeles.
Trump’s so-called “border czar,” Tom Homan, announced over the weekend that federal immigration enforcement operations would continue in L.A., despite widespread protests and strong opposition from local leaders. Homan warned that anyone obstructing ICE — including Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — could face arrest. While he admitted that neither had “crossed the line” yet, he emphasized that interfering with immigration enforcement is a federal felony.
“It’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job,” Homan said.
But Newsom was unshaken. In an interview with NBC News’ Jacob Soboroff on MSNBC, the governor openly mocked the threat.
“He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me,” Newsom said.
“That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.”
Mayor Bass also dismissed the threat as unnecessary and politically charged. She stressed that although she opposes the deployment of National Guard troops in the city, she has no intention of picking a fight with federal authorities.
“He had absolutely no reason to say that,” Bass said Sunday.
“I spoke to him last night. He knows I’m the mayor. The last thing I’m going to do is get into a brawl with the federal government.”
Despite the tough talk from Homan and Trump, Newsom revealed that during a recent 20-minute phone call with Trump, the arrest threats or federal troop deployment never came up.
“We had a very decent conversation,” Newsom said.
“He barely mentioned this issue at all.”
The conflict stems from Trump’s recent decision to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to manage growing protests against aggressive immigration raids. Both Newsom and Bass have condemned the move, saying it will only inflame tensions.
In a formal letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Newsom asked for the National Guard order to be reversed, arguing that local and state authorities are better suited to manage the situation.
“In dynamic and fluid situations such as this, state and local authorities are the most appropriate to evaluate the need for resources,” the letter read.
Threats to arrest elected officials have become a signature move of Trump’s second term. Earlier this year, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside an ICE detention facility in New Jersey. Though charges were later dropped, Democratic Representative LaMonica McIver still faces two federal counts of assaulting and impeding law enforcement during the same incident.