TV personality Dr. Phil McGraw and his camera crew were on hand before and after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles that triggered violent mass protests in the city.
The 74-year-old, who covered the ICE raids in Chicago earlier this year, interviewed Trump’s border czar Tom Homan to “get a first-hand look at the targeted operations” in the California city, CNN reported.
McGraw, however, did not directly embed himself with ICE officers this time, instead opting to remain at a field office as he spoke with Homan on “the day before and day after the LA operation,” his office said.
“In order to not escalate any situation, Dr. Phil McGraw did not join and was not embedded” directly during the LA raids, his office explained.
McGraw’s footage and interview with Homan is set to air on “Dr. Phil Primetime” on Monday and Tuesday night.
A snippet of the interview with Homan posted online earlier in the day showed that the ICE chief was aware things could get hectic in California ahead of the raid.
“You can hate what ICE does and who ICE is. You can protest and throw out all the nasty words you want, but you can’t cross that line,” Homan warned if demonstrators get in the way of his officers.
“It’s getting out of control. It’s getting to be a significant threat to our officers,” he added.
Los Angeles descended into multiple days of chaos after ICE officials began an immigration raid on Friday to nab undocumented migrants, with a mob of protesters confronting ICE and the LAPD.
The protests devolved into violence on Saturday, with rioters pummeling federal agents with rocks after a raid at a Home Depot in Paramount, California.
Trump has since authorized the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members to contain the riots and restore order.
McGraw’s presence at yet another high-profile ICE raid in a major American city has reignited the criticisms of the “made-for-TV” nature of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The TV host was at the center of ICE’s raids in Chicago back in January, where agents were told to be “camera-ready” for McGraw and his television crew.
