Year of ICE rage: Top 5 Democrat meltdowns as Trump revives hard-line deportation agenda

President Donald Trump kicked off his first day back in the Oval Office of his second term with a flurry of immigration directives aimed at reviving hard-line border enforcement. 

He reinstated Immigration and Customs Enforcement priorities as the administration looked to deport thousands of illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under former President Joe Biden. 

Amid the past year of deportation efforts and immigration crackdowns, Democrats, most notably on the West Coast, have had public meltdowns against the president and immigration officials. 

As Americans prepare to celebrate the New Year, Fox News Digital took a look back at the top five Democrat meltdowns in 2025 as they related to Trump's ICE raids and deportation efforts. 

DHS TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ARRESTING OVER 10K ILLEGAL ALIENS IN DEEP BLUE CITY DESPITE VIOLENT RIOTS

Padilla forcibly removed from DHS press conference 

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was handcuffed and removed from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference in June as he loudly spoke over Secretary Kristi Noem while approaching the podium where she was standing.

Noem was in Los Angeles in June to hold a press conference on the ongoing anti-ICE riots that rocked the city amid federal law enforcement's raid of the city in search of illegal immigrants for removal from the U.S. She was in the midst of explaining DHS was "staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city."

DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ARGUES HIS REMOVAL FROM DHS PRESS CONFERENCE WAS 'WAKE-UP CALL'

Padilla interrupted the DHS chief amid the presser and was handcuffed. DHS said at the time that Padilla did not identify himself as a senator and was not wearing his official Senate pin at the time of the removal. 

"I'm Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the secretary," he said, according to footage captured by Fox News. 

Noem said the pair later met in a private room, where they spoke for about 15 minutes, including regarding his concerns over the ICE raids, and exchanged phone numbers. Padilla later said that his removal from the press conference should be a wake-up call for Americans about how the Trump administration operates. 

"It was clear to me that if that’s how this administration would respond to a senator with a question, imagine not just how they could treat so many other people, but how they are treating so many other people when the cameras are not on. This should be a wake-up call," he told The New York Times in October of the viral incident. 

Newsom repeatedly unleashes on ICE raids 

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom revitalized his long-running political animosity toward Trump this summer when federal agents converged on Los Angeles to conduct immigration raids. 

Riots broke out in Los Angeles in early June as immigration officials carried out raids to remove individuals illegally residing in the left-wing city, which dubbed itself a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants just ahead of Trump's second inauguration in January. 

Newsom slammed the immigration raids as "chaotic and reckless," before heightening his rhetoric. 

"Continued chaotic federal sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel," Newsom's statement at the time read. "Donald Trump’s chaos is eroding trust, tearing families apart, and undermining the workers and industries that power America’s economy." 

BORDER OFFICIAL FIRES BACK AT GAVIN NEWSOM'S POLITICAL ‘TANTRUM' OVER IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN LOS ANGELES

The governor later called Trump a "son of a b----" for the immigration raids. 

"They’re sitting there on horses with American flags, running through soccer fields, scaring kids that are playing soccer in the middle of the day at a summer camp. For what? Just toughness," Newsom said during an appearance on "The Shawn Ryan Show" in July. "It’s a weakness masquerading as strength.

"That’s what I don’t like about this son of a b----," the Democratic governor added. "I don't. And forgive me, I know he's president of the United States." 

Conservative social media critics speculated at the time of the riots in June that they would negatively impact a potential 2028 presidential run if Newsom does launch a bid for the nation's highest office, arguing it was the latest example of failing to lead the state well after wildfires tore through the Los Angeles area in January 2025 that received widespread condemnation. 

Torres melts down that ICE ‘get the f--- out of LA’ 

Democratic California Rep. Norma Torres also had a viral moment amid the ICE raids in Los Angles in early June. Conservatives unleashed on Torres that month after she posted a video to social media telling federal agents arresting illegal immigrants in Los Angeles to "get the f--- out."

"ICE get the f--- out of LA so that order can be restored," Rep. Norma Torres posted on TikTok at the time. 

Torres told Fox Digital at the time that the Los Angeles Police Department could handle reeling in the riots, and the presence of the National Guard in the city to help quell the violent protests would "escalate tensions." 

'LUNATIC' DEMOCRAT RIPPED FOR 'DEMONIC' VIDEO MESSAGE DEMANDING ICE AGENTS 'GET THE F--- OUT' AMID CA CHAOS

"We’re witnessing ICE ignore federal law, people going missing, families being separated, and even American citizens being mistakenly detained," Torres said at the time. "I do not support violent conduct, but I believe the Los Angeles Police Department can restore calm, and prosecute any violent offenders as needed. Bringing in the National Guard will only escalate tensions by introducing a weaponized military presence into the city."

Conservatives on social media railed against Torres' TikTok as evidence she is allegedly a "complete lunatic," "deranged" and a "Communist in Congress," Fox Digital previously reported. 

Grijalva claims she was pepper sprayed by authorities 

Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva protested an ICE raid in December at a restaurant in Tucson, Arizona, with DHS and ICE pushing back that the lawmaker joined a "rioting crowd" and attempted to interfere with agents during a mass arrest operation.

Grijalva, the daughter of late Democratic House lawmaker Raúl Grijalva, claimed on X earlier in December that she was "pushed aside and pepper sprayed" by federal authorities while seeking information about the raid near the Taco Giro restaurant.

"ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson — a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years," Grijalva wrote. "When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed aside and pepper sprayed."

ICE ACCUSES DEM LAWMAKER OF JOINING 'RIOTING CROWD' IN ARIZONA, INTERFERING IN MASS ARREST

ICE and other federal law enforcement arrested 46 illegal immigrants during the operation, which stemmed from a "multiyear investigation into a transnational criminal organization involved in labor exploitation, tax violations, and immigration violations," according to the agency. The operation took a turn, according to ICE, when "over 100 agitators" arrived on the scene and "quickly turned violent, assaulting officers and slashing tires."

DHS and ICE both pushed back on Grijalva's claims. 

"If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded on X. "But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. She was in the vicinity of someone who was pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement."

"During the operation, U.S. Representative Adelita Grijalva joined the rioting crowd and attempted to impede law enforcement officers, then took to social media to slander law enforcement by falsely claiming she was pepper sprayed," ICE said in response to Grijalva's claims. 

New Jersey's Delaney Hall meltdowns 

An ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, known as Delaney Hall, became the focal point of a handful of protests and deportation efforts on the East Coast, including when a House lawmaker and the mayor of Newark faced legal action over their protests. 

Newark Democrat Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested May 9, 2025, outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center for trespassing. 

Baraka's arrest occurred during a protest attended by three members of Congress, who said at the time that they were there to perform their congressionally mandated oversight duties. The lawmakers were outside the facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. 

The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security at the time. 

ICE BREAKOUT IN NEW JERSEY SYMPTOM OF DEMOCRATIC ‘CHAOS’ ACROSS THE COUNTRY, LOCAL GOP LEADER SAYS

Baraka denied any wrongdoing following his arrest, and the case was ultimately dropped. The mayor later filed a counter-suit in against then-interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and Homeland Security Investigations official Ricky Patel in a suit that is ongoing. 

"We haven't interfered with federal law enforcement," Baraka said early on in the debate when moderators turned their questioning to the incident at the ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. "We didn't go down there to protest. We actually went down there to have a press conference. And the Congress has oversight. And they began to exercise their oversight. It was escalated by Homeland Security. They made an arrest because they got a call to do so. And that's what happened."

One of three lawmakers who attended the protest when Baraka was arrested was New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, who was later indicted for allegedly obstructing Homeland Security agents during the protest. She was accused of blocking officers as they tried to arrest Baraka, allegedly putting her arms around the mayor, before she "slammed her forearm" into one officer while grabbing another, according to the DOJ at the time. 

McIver faces a three-count federal indictment for allegedly assaulting, resisting and impeding federal officers. McIver has denied wrongdoing in the case. 

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"They caused the confrontation, Homeland came and caused this chaos that we see was a very tense situation but it could have easily not happened," she said in May, according to local media. 

Fox News Digital's Alexandra Koch, Andrew Mark Miller, Michael Sinkewicz and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.