Fox News host Jesse Watters questioned whether ICE was “being too nice” in its ongoing raids on immigrants in California, even asking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if using more force while bashing in some heads was the best course of action.
DeSantis, who has been outspoken about supporting President Donald Trump and his campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants from the country, joined the Fox News host on Thursday night’s episode of “Jesse Watters Primetime” and shared his thoughts on a standoff that took place earlier in the day in Ventura County, California. Watters showed footage of the attack at a local farm and the cold reaction received from the community.
“It seems like there’s a lot more intensity now with each of these attacks,” Watters said before asking DeSantis, “How do you see this going forward?”
“If the roles were reversed, the left would be saying this is an insurrection,” the Florida governor said. “You have federal law enforcement that has clear authority to enforce clear federal law, and if you are employed illegally in this country, that is a violation of federal law.”
He went on to say that in Florida, citizens would never get away with such behavior, calling the process lawful.
“I think what’s happened in California is they’ve really developed a sense of entitlement to just disregard federal laws they don’t like, particularly when it comes to immigration, and that’s been going on for many years,” DeSantis continued. “So I think it’s escalated. I think they’re clearly in the wrong. But that’s probably not going to stop in California anytime soon, because I think it’s embedded in the psyche there—that somehow they can disregard laws they don’t want to follow.”
With that, Watters asked if he thought the ice was being aggressive enough. The agency has already received backlash from protesters and local California officials, such as Governor Gavin Newsom and Lafayette Mayor Karen Bass, who have done their best to suppress the surprise attacks.
“Governor, is the ice being too good? They’re doing, I think, escalation tactics—which is probably the right move—but the more you square off with these crazy people, the more it gives them confidence,” the Fox News host asked. “If you don’t make arrests and bash some heads and show that you can get hurt when you go in and block law enforcement, they’re just going to get angrier and angrier. Do you think they might escalate some of their tactics?”
DeSantis explained that in Florida the ice would be met with more support from local police and sheriffs, saying his state would work cooperatively with the federal agency.
“I think there are a lot of individual officers who want to be helpful, but the political leadership isn’t allowing that to happen,” DeSantis said. “So I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the ice that needs to handle all of this, because some of this absolutely needs to be done with state and local assets.”
Watters conceded the point and agreed with the governor, saying, “It’s more dangerous when local Californians don’t offer backup because the ice makers are outnumbered and it gets a little hairy.”
You can watch the full “Jesse Watters Primetime” segment in the video above.
