Moderate Republican Rep. David Valadao (Calif.) is pushing back at the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in his state.
“I remain concerned about ongoing ICE operations throughout CA and will continue my conversations with the administration—urging them to prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years,” Valadao said in a post on the social platform X.
The comment came after he condemned the violence that broke out in protests over immigration enforcement actions in pockets of Los Angeles.
“I support the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, but the violence and vandalism happening in Los Angeles is unacceptable and I stand with our law enforcement officers working to protect people and regain control over the situation,” Valadao said.
Valadao represents a competitive district that is largely agricultural. He is one of two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump took note of that and once singled out Valadao when he spoke to House Republicans during the 2024 election cycle last summer, saying at the time: “I never loved him.”
Valadao’s comments mark a notable break from Republican leaders, who are largely defending the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions and Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard to respond to the protests over the objections of local Democratic leaders.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pointed to the protests and immigration arrests as a reason to pass the one “big, beautiful bill” of Trump’s tax cut and funding priorities, which includes large boosts in funding for immigration enforcement actions and deportations.
“We’re going to include $45 billion to expand ICE detention capacity, and 14.4 billion for air and ground transport to carry out at least 1 billion deportations every single year,” Johnson said in a press conference. “We’ll have to do that for quite some time. They let so many people in. We’re starting with the dangerous illegal aliens, and that’s exactly who the rioters and the politicians in California are trying to protect.”
Much of the objection from protesters and Democrats, though, has centered on the fact that the Trump administration is arresting and deporting those who have not been convicted of violent crimes and without criminal records.
