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RANTZ & RAVEZ - We have entered the year 2026 and this is my first column for the New Year. Happy belated New Year to all RantZ and RaveZ readers. Even those who Whine and complain that my column is not positive enough for their taste. As the months pass, you will read Rantz and RaveZ from time to time and wonder how I find interesting subjects to write about month after month and year after year. It is very simple. I read a number of publications and closely follow the news. In fact, some know me as a NEWS Junky. TV, Radio, the Good News and the News that upsets some of us and initiates arguments and hostility for some people who are usually calm and friendly with the people we call Family, Colleagues, Friends, Associates and Neighbors.
The most recent situation that has people upset and angry with President Trump and the American Government is the war on people living in America and fall under the category Illegal. People who have had a taste of America and don’t want to return to their native country wherever it is around the globe. For many years people from around the world have arrived in America and decided to stay and not conform to the Immigration rules as established by the American Government many years ago. 1790 the Naturalization Act. Additional Immigration acts and laws were established in 1882 and 1924. It was the America Government that did token Immigration enforcement and states developed their own Immigration policies that welcomed many immigrants from an assortment of countries.
Los Angeles Police Department along with many other police agencies enforced the Federal Immigration laws for many years. In 1979 Special Order 40 was published that restricted LAPD Officers from enforcing Immigration Laws throughout the City of Los Angeles. The policy was strictly enforced and ethnic populations increased throughout Los Angeles and surrounding cities in California. Other California state laws were established restricting Immigration enforcement by police agencies and providing Driver’s License regardless of Immigration status in America.
While Local California Police Agencies have concentrated on all types of crimes and protecting communities and all people, the Federal Law Enforcement Agencies have recently been dealing with Immigration Enforcement throughout America.
The Federal Government has diverted and deployed over 25,000 officers from their Federal responsibilities to enforce Immigration Laws on a massive scale throughout the lands of America.
The personnel come from US Marshalls, FBI, DEA, ATF, Border Patrol, Homeland Security and a host of other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies. There is no end in sight since President Trump has not pulled back on Immigration Enforcement throughout America.
As we have seen on news broadcasts, the Federal Immigration Enforcement Campaign has caused residents in many cities to rise up and confront the Federal enforcement personnel. There have been attacks on Federal Agents and civilians have been killed and injured.
Remember that the 25,000 Federal Agents assigned to the National Immigration Enforcement are not trained to deal with large crowd control situations like the local police do routinely. This situation needs to be addressed and modified to provide safety for all involved.
I have an effective and reasonable solution to the current tactics and procedures used by the Federal Agents.
When an individual is arrested for a crime. Any crime such as Burglary, Robbery, Domestic Violence or any other crime the engages the local police, let the police check the immigration status of the arrestee. If the individual is in violation of the Immigration Laws, notify Immigration and turn the individual over to the Federal Officers. This will permit the Federal personnel to return to their duties and provide for a safer environment for everyone involved.
We will see what occurs next. It is a terrible situation when innocent Americans and others are killed during the immigration protests taking place around America.
(Dennis P. Zine is the author of RantZ and RaveZ. Dennis is a native of Los Angeles and a retired member of Law Enforcement and the Los Angeles City Council. Dennis can be heard on KABC Radio, Channels 5, 11 and Spectrum TV.)
