People First, Politics Last
Ending Spectacle Raids, Funding Real Solutions, and Taxing Corporate Loopholes
[Broadcast]
My fellow Americans,
Today, we witness a troubling scene in Los Angeles: federal agents in armored vests, National Guard troops in camouflage, and behind them, families who dreamed these early days of summer would offer nothing more dramatic than backyard barbecues or a visit to grandma’s house. Instead, they’re grappling with an unthinkable prospect: one morning errand could rob them of a parent or sibling. This is not the America we teach our children to love—an America defined by opportunity, not by fear.
Para mis vecinas y vecinos de Boyle Heights, Pacoima y Huntington Park: los veo, los escucho, y no están solos. (Translation: “To my neighbors in Boyle Heights, Pacoima, and Huntington Park: I see you, I hear you, and you are not alone.”)
Summer should be sprinklers and library reading lists—not sirens and paperwork. Yet here we are. I come before you not as a partisan fighter but as the founder of a new, people-first movement that you will see on your 2028 ballot. You’ve asked, “What exactly is happening in Los Angeles?” “Why right now?” and “What would you do differently?” Tonight, I’ll shine a light on the injustice—especially the politicians who choose chaos over real solutions like fair taxation of the wealthiest or universal health care. Let me share how, together, we can stand against fear and for genuine prosperity.
I. What Is Really Happening on the Ground?
1. A Manufactured Crisis for Maximum Optics
On June 7, the White House labeled peaceful anti-ICE demonstrations an “insurrection,” then dispatched 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles—despite no request from the mayor or governor. The very next day, federal agents spread across the city, raiding worksites, parking lots, and community centers.
They chose early June—a time of predictable routines—so they could corner families at childcare drop-offs or early-summer gatherings. This wasn’t an accident. Four months ago, the Department of Homeland Security revoked its “sensitive-locations” policy, which once prevented arrests at schools, hospitals, and churches. What we’re seeing is a calculated test of how far federal power can push before a national outcry halts it.
2. The Numbers Reveal the Real Target
Official reports brag about catching “criminal aliens,” yet most of those swept up are not violent offenders. They’re line cooks, elder caregivers, farmworkers—the quiet backbone of entire industries. They’re chosen for one reason: they’re easy to find, not because they pose a threat.
In short, this is a political performance. By staging raids in a sanctuary city in a deep-blue state, the administration hopes to create a dramatic standoff for the camera—National Guard on one side, protestors on the other—and position the President as a “law-and-order” hero.
II. Why This Strategy, and Why Now?
1. Wedge Politics Over Problem-Solving
A recent Gallup poll shows over half of Republican voters consider immigration the nation’s top problem—surpassing even healthcare and inflation. Televised crackdowns fuel that narrative, distracting from real policy gaps like corporate tax loopholes, cost overruns on prescription drugs, or serious conversation about universal healthcare.
2. Legal Stress-Testing
By overriding California’s wishes, the administration forces legal battles to weaken sanctuary policies nationwide. If families are torn apart or local economies wrecked, that’s seen as a byproduct of establishing new legal precedents.
3. Quota Culture Inside ICE
Leaked memos reveal a spike in arrest quotas, driving agents to seize any easy targets. This is more about meeting numbers than keeping us safer. The real danger is that in chasing non-violent parents, we leave cartel traffickers and fentanyl smugglers room to operate.
None of these goals—political optics, legal brinkmanship, or quotas—gets us to safer communities, fairer economics, or a secure border.
III. What Gets Lost in the Smoke and Commotion?
1. Economic Reality
You’ll hear someone shout, “Take care of our own first!” Let’s address that. Undocumented workers contribute roughly $100 billion each year in federal, state, and local taxes. In California alone, they pay around $8.5 billion, funding schools, roads, even first-responder salaries.
During the pandemic, Latino grocery clerks, nurses, and drivers kept L.A. alive—today they’re repaid with sirens. This is not just an immigrant issue; it’s a community issue. Every Social Security dollar they pay now supports benefits for current retirees—Americans who built this country. Last year alone, those contributions covered the entire VA’s mental-health budget.
Citizen dividends: “Last year, undocumented workers’ payroll taxes created a $12 billion surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund—money that keeps checks flowing to seniors in Omaha, Bakersfield, and Scranton.”
Here’s a home-front dividend for Los Angeles: “That surplus alone could patch every pothole on the 110, double the 9-1-1 dispatcher staff in East L.A., and still have change to fund free community-college textbooks city-wide. That’s what ‘taking care of our own’ looks like in spreadsheets, not slogans.”
The National Agricultural Workers Survey notes that 60% of U.S. crop workers were born in Mexico, and about 42% of them lack legal status. Remove these key contributors and your grocery bill—lettuce, berries, citrus—would skyrocket within weeks. That hurts every family’s bottom line.
2. Family and Community Trauma
Summer should be sprinklers and library reading lists—not sirens and paperwork. Children who ought to spend June afternoons playing in the yard instead brace themselves for knocks on the door. Community centers scramble to arrange guardianship if a parent is taken.
“A child who distrusts the badge today grows into a witness who stays silent tomorrow; that’s a public-safety debt we can’t afford.”
In other words, these raids erode trust in law enforcement, generating a cycle of fear that eventually endangers us all.
3. Missed Partnership With a Natural Ally
Some will claim, “They depress wages!” Actually, it’s employers paying under the table who depress wages. Legal status is a wage-raise for every worker, because sweat should compete on skill, not on fear. When immigrants can assert their rights, it sets a consistent floor for everyone’s pay.
Mexico is America’s top trading partner, tightly linked by commerce, supply chains, and shared energy grids. Los Angeles alone is the second-largest “Mexican city” in the world; cooperation, not confrontation, is the only math that works. Sidelining this ally, ironically, makes our border less controlled, our economy less stable.
Tending Our Own House
Critics ask, “Why help outsiders when Detroit streets have potholes and Appalachia lacks broadband?” Here’s the answer: our plan funds those fixes, too. By redirecting the money wasted on dragnet raids, by taxing banks that launder cartel funds, and by enforcing the $8 billion in uncollected visa-overstay fines, we can repair hometown roads and modernize our border—without adding a penny to the deficit. That’s how we truly take care of our own while honoring our national values.
IV. Answering the Inevitable Question: “Are You for ‘Illegals’?”
I am for humanity, for security that’s effective and fair, and for policies that benefit everyone—native-born or newly arrived. Let me be explicit:
No, I will not abolish enforcement. Predators and traffickers must face justice.
Yes, I will stop treating produce pickers and home health aides like cartel bosses.
You’ll hear, “Legal immigrants had to wait—why reward line-jumpers?” No one jumps the line. First in line stays first in line. We will clear the 1.6-million-case backlog by hiring 2,000 additional judges, funded by the money currently spent on troop deployments. That means those who’ve waited lawfully don’t get bypassed. We can deliver basic fairness to everyone.
V. How Do We Fix It? Replacing Political Theater With Real Solutions
1. Secure the Border First: Modern Border Tech
“Secure the border first!” Absolutely. Security is Step One, not an afterthought. Autonomous drones, ground-based sensors, and scanning technology at legal entry points are proven to reduce illegal crossings significantly—often by 80% in test zones—while costing less than any stretch of border wall. Tech can’t be bribed or tunneled under.
Meanwhile, we must fill the real gaps where contraband flows—outdated cargo scanners, undermanned checkpoints, complex smuggling tunnels. Throwing up a wall is a flashy stunt but does little to catch traffickers who already exploit technology and corruption elsewhere. It is not ‘taking care of our own’ to spend your tax dollars on spectacle while fentanyl scanners sit unfunded at the port of entry.
2. A 10-Year Earned-Citizenship Track
Anyone here for at least a decade, with no serious felony history, paying taxes, and checking in regularly, can earn a path to citizenship after ten years. You miss a tax payment or commit a violent crime, you’re out of the program. This eliminates the shadow labor pool that undercuts wages. But let me repeat: first in line stays first in line. We’ll tackle the existing backlog first; no one gets to jump ahead.
3. North American Work-Study Exchange
Modeled on Europe’s Erasmus program, we pair American and Mexican students with each other’s labor markets where skills are needed. If the Imperial Valley needs seasonal pickers, qualified Mexican agronomy students can legally fill that gap. If Tijuana needs coders, our tech apprentices can go there. Smugglers lose business when people have legal, structured ways to cross borders.
Veterans & workers first: “Redirecting a single month of Guard costs would pay tuition for 10,000 veterans finishing trade school. That’s how we honor service—by spending smarter, not louder.”
4. Farm Workforce Modernization Act—Passed and Super-Funded
H.R. 3227 is a bipartisan template already in Congress that streamlines agricultural visas and protects wages. My administration would sign it on Day One, adding whistleblower protections against employers who threaten deportation to silence wage theft. We all deserve fair pay for an honest day’s labor.
Heckle: “My town can’t afford more people.” Our plan addresses this head-on: “When a dairy in Wisconsin hires a legal seasonal worker, my plan triggers a federal match that upgrades the county clinic and the school’s HVAC—everybody breathes easier.” Rural areas get the staff they need and the resources to support that growth—faster broadband, better healthcare facilities, teacher-loan forgiveness. That’s how Main Street thrives with a growing workforce.
VI. What Does Compassionate Strength Look Like in Practice?
1. Immediate De-Escalation
Within hours of taking office, a people-first administration reinstates sensitive-location protections. Agents will pivot to prioritize dangerous criminals over parents picking up summer groceries. We then form a unified command center—federal, state, local, and grassroots leaders—where every decision is timestamped, logged, and livestreamed. If we must use force, let it withstand the scrutiny of daylight.
2. Transparent Cost Accounting
For every dollar spent on raids, we’ll publish what else that dollar could have funded—fentanyl-scanning tech, addiction counseling, teacher raises. If a policy can’t survive that kind of comparison, it doesn’t deserve your tax money.
3. Partnership With Mexico
We propose a North American Prosperity Pact for border infrastructure, shared labor data, and co-funded climate projects that help keep Mexican farmers from needing to migrate. Los Angeles is already the second-largest “Mexican city” in the world; cooperation, not confrontation, is the only math that works. When neighbors are stable, border pressures decrease.
VII. Why the Current Crackdown Is Not the American Way
It Gambles With Families for TV Ratings
Leaders who bank on news footage of weeping children have forfeited moral ground.It Pretends to Save Money but Actually Bleeds It
Keeping the National Guard in Los Angeles runs $4 million a week—$16 million a month that could fund hundreds of advanced sensors or scholarships for thousands of veterans.
“Redirecting a single month of Guard costs would pay tuition for 10,000 veterans finishing trade school. That’s how we honor service—by spending smarter, not louder.”
It Undermines Local Law Enforcement
When entire neighborhoods fear all uniforms, they stop reporting crimes. Abusers and traffickers flourish. We need trust, not terror, for effective policing.It Hurts Our Economy and Aging Population
America’s median age is 39 and climbing. We need younger workers to bolster Medicare, sustain factories, and drive Main Street businesses. Deporting hundreds of thousands in one fell swoop devastates small businesses and spikes food prices nationwide.It Contradicts the Values We Proclaim
We talk of liberty and justice. Yet picking on non-violent families for political spectacle erodes both. The Statue of Liberty holds a torch, not a rifle. We must choose hope over fear.
VIII. A Rallying Call: From Panic to Progress
Despite the grim tableau in Los Angeles, despair need not define our story. America has a track record of converting crisis into milestone reforms:
We built free public schools when child labor was widespread.
We created Social Security during the Great Depression.
We passed the G.I. Bill to welcome veterans home with opportunity.
Now, in 2025, let us envision a new headline:
“Los Angeles Leads North American Accord—Families Secure, Farms Staffed, Border Quiet.”
Picture National Guard engineers, not riot squads, modernizing overwhelmed ports of entry, speeding up legitimate trade, and catching illegal drugs. Imagine ICE raids reimagined as forensics units targeting genuine threats—money launderers, trafficking kingpins—not the folks in the kitchen or the produce aisle.
Shared-town uplift: “When a dairy in Wisconsin hires a legal seasonal worker, my plan triggers a federal match that upgrades the county clinic and the school’s HVAC—everybody breathes easier.”
And envision a mother—maybe one like your neighbor—able to rest at night, free from fear of a knock at the door, because she’s on a legitimate path to becoming an American, contributing without hiding.
We must meet loud objections with facts:
“Take care of our own first!”
We are. Immigrants already pay billions to subsidize services for Americans, including veterans and seniors. We’ll reroute wasted raid funds into roads, broadband, and health clinics in heartland communities.“Legal immigrants waited—why reward line-jumpers?”
We’re not rewarding anyone. We will hire more judges to clear the backlog, ensuring “first in line stays first in line.” Fairness is fundamental.“They depress wages.”
Under-the-table hiring depresses wages. Legal status lifts all pay because no one can be threatened into accepting less.“My town can’t afford more people.”
Each documented worker brings federal infrastructure credits to your schools, clinics, and roads. With the right plan, population growth revitalizes Main Street.“Secure the border first!”
Agreed. We’ll invest in advanced scanning and sensor technology. It’s cheaper and more effective than any wall. Security comes first—but so does humanity.
That’s how we turn panic into shared progress, answering fear with both moral clarity and pragmatic numbers.
IX. Closing: People First, Politics Last
I leave you with this promise: People first, politics last. We can have a secure border that also honors the dignity of every family who calls this nation home. We can spend your tax dollars wisely—on universal healthcare, education, or highways—not on spectacles that traumatize children and do nothing to stop real crime. We can measure success not by arrest quotas but by safer neighborhoods, affordable groceries, and a thriving economy.
If this vision resonates more than any fear-driven message, I invite you to stand with us. Talk to your neighbors—especially those who believe deportation is “free.” Show them the math. Share the stories. Vote in 2028 for an administration that sees immigration not as a crisis but as a solvable challenge—and a vital opportunity to strengthen our shared future.
We pick each other up—now Washington must pick a smarter playbook. See the piñata strings across the alley? That joy is the city’s power grid—you do not unplug a power grid; you invest in it. Let’s focus on actual threats—traffickers, money launderers—rather than the families who quietly sustain our country. Let us channel resources toward uplifting communities, not tearing them apart. May compassion guide our strength, and may our strength protect every family who lives in this land—or dreams of doing so.
Thank you, and may we walk together toward a brighter tomorrow. Let us prove that America remains the land of promise and decency, not of endless fear.