Bass: LA's Aliens Should Stay

To her credit, ABC's Martha Raddatz consistently pressed her "This Week" guest, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, on whether all illegal aliens in the city she leads should be allowed to stay. No matter how Raddatz framed her question, Bass tried to avoid giving a direct answer. When Raddatz asked whether Los Angeles's "one million" illegal immigrant workers should be deported, Bass replied, "I don't think so. I think they should stay."

Bass relied on familiar talking points that open borders defenders have used for years. She argued that Los Angeles is a "city of immigrants" and that without illegal immigrant labor, the city's fire-damaged areas would never be repaired. Throughout the interview, Raddatz probed while Bass deflected and invariably blamed President Donald Trump's "reign of terror."

Finally, Raddatz delivered what she expected would be her knockout punch. She noted that under the Biden administration, "hundreds of thousands" of foreign nationals illegally crossed the border. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection puts the accurate total at 10.8 million border encounters and roughly two million more "got-aways." Meanwhile, President Trump has reported record-low border crossings since he began his second term.

When Raddatz asked whether there's "anything good" Bass thinks the Trump administration has accomplished in the past six months at the border, she responded, "I don't think so. I think that the viewpoint has been punitive—let's make it as miserable as possible so that these people don't come."

Bass needs to brush up on Los Angeles history. The city that once stood as a beacon for Americans seeking good middle-class incomes and comfortable lifestyles functioned well without cheap illegal alien labor. The Los Angeles freeway system, a marvel of modern engineering, was designed by Americans and built by U.S. citizens. State highway engineer Marilyn Jorgenson Reece and fellow highway engineer Carol Schumaker were the leading forces behind the three-level Santa Monica-San Diego Freeway interchange, more commonly referred to as the I-10/I-405 interchange. Thousands of U.S. workers labored on the freeway's construction.

Walt Disney created Disneyland and Marvin Davis laid out more than 100 rough designs before the Anaheim theme park opened in 1955. U.S. workers built the park, operated the rides, worked the food courts, and wore the Mickey Mouse costumes. While Disney does not release statistics for individual parks' revenue, Wall Street analysts estimate that in 2024, daily revenue grew to approximately $20.93 million, with an estimated daily operating income of $5.70 million. Americans made Disneyland the huge success that it is today.

The mayor emphasized the importance of illegal immigrant workers but never mentions that Los Angeles construction—a high-wage occupation—was dominated by U.S. workers until lower-paid Hispanics took over. In the mid-20th century, construction shifted from a heavily unionized labor force that was two-thirds white to a largely non-union workforce that is 70% Latino and heavily immigrant. Union construction wages in the 1970s could reach $40/hour. Today’s illegal aliens earn only a fraction of that sum.

Sanctuary city mayors like Bass make strategic miscalculations when they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the obvious. The Trump administration's role in securing the border is not only "something good"—enforcement is a positive for Bass. The fewer illegal aliens in over-extended Los Angeles, the better for Bass.

Moreover, Bass is up for re-election in 2026 and will be campaigning on a wafer-thin resume that includes being in Ghana during the Palisades wildfires that killed 12 people and destroyed about 25,000 prime real estate acres, her failure to deploy the Los Angeles Police Department during violent anti-ICE riots or to cooperate with federal officers, and her startling statement on “Face the Nation” that the Los Angeles Fire Department being without a chief is not a problem. Bass should spend more time listening to her constituents instead of the open-border supporters she surrounds herself with. She would find that her pro-immigration base that elected her in 2022 has developed different views since the Biden open border agenda.

Probable GOP candidate Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in 2022, is set to try again. Caruso is a billionaire real estate developer who has worked in Los Angeles municipal agencies since age 26. Included were his role as Water and Power Commissioner, and his seats on the Board of Police Commissioners and the Los Angeles Coliseum. Angelenos have a clear choice. Stay with a proven failure like Bass or vote for a change with Caruso. One of the most successful Los Angeles’ mayors was moderate two-term Republican Richard Riordan, 1993-2001. From Los Angeles voters’ perspective, abandoning Bass for Caruso is low-risk but with high-reward.

Joe Guzzardi is an Institute for Sound Public Policy Institute analyst. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org