Yes, I am still an odd one to be writing about the state of America's urban areas. If you've been reading my work for more than the last six minutes, you know I grew up in a rural setting in Iowa and am a happy rural dweller myself now. I have little time for cities, despite having lived in them for four decades. I find them unpleasant; crowded, noisy, and, to be honest, they smell bad. I like the clean country air of the Susitna Valley, and if that means I have to put up with the sub-Arctic winters, that's fine.
With that being true, why am I still worried about America's cities? Because our cities are the beating hearts of our nation. Much of the country's economic activity happens there. Urban areas contain a lot of the country's industry and academia. What's more, our cities used to be the pride of the nation, but that's not so much the case anymore. Rampant open-air drug use, huge homeless encampments, and rampant crime, including rioting against federal immigration officers, are taking their toll.
Case in point: Several cities across the fruited plain right now are seeing heavy resistance against federal immigration authorities, not just by spittle-flecked, gesticulating, wild-eyed "activists," but by the municipal and even the state governments involved. President Trump ran on, and was elected on, a platform that included vigorous enforcement of immigration law, including mass deportations, and these cities are doing everything they can to stop this.
In Portland, Oregon, state and local officials are in cahoots. This city is Antifa Central, and while that group, which actually are the nasty little fascist useful idiots themselves, are screeching in the streets outside the Immigration & Customs Enforcement building there, the city and state governments are actively colluding. The Governor of Oregon has found a compliant judge to prevent the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, as RedState's own Susie Moore has informed us:
Oregon District Court Judge Karin Immergut has now issued a second temporary restraining order (TRO) as to the Trump administration's National Guard troop deployment in Oregon — this one covering any/all National Guard troops, not just Oregon's.
Portland police officers, we might note, have stood back, under orders no doubt, and done nothing as Antifa keeps an entire neighborhood awake nights with their hysterics.
Read More: The Downfall of America's Cities: Who Can Save Our Blighted Urban Areas?
In Chicago, ICE agents were recently under attack by masked rioters. An ICE vehicle was rammed by an armed assailant. Several vehicles, driven by rioters, blocked the ICE vehicles in. The ICE agents called for local law enforcement, but the Chicago police were ordered to ignore their calls. Jim Thompson brought us those details:
Bill Melugin and other sources are reporting that on October 4th, a CPD “Chief of Patrol” instructed his police officers not to respond when ICE/Border Patrol asked for help when they were under attack following a shooting. This type of order virtually never comes from the local precinct cops; that order comes from local politicians, either the mayor or possibly the governor would have given such an order.
Chicago, we might note, is probably in first place for the least competent mayor in the history of the republic, and the state of that city now reflects his incompetence.
Los Angeles, though, is also in free-fall over the illegal immigration issue, with both Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin "A Little Dab'll Do Ya" Newsom actively defying federal authority in enforcing immigration law.
Read More: The Downfall of America's Cities: Why Are Our Streets Out of Control?
Governor Newsom agitated for and got a state law banning federal agents from being masked while on duty, in what seems like a throwback to John Calhoun and nullification. Of course, state law cannot dictate the operating orders of federal authorities, as Governor Newsom learned very quickly. And the reason behind the masks? Because rioters and "activists" are threatening the innocent families of ICE agents, including by following them and "doxing," or revealing their identities to all and sundry. RedState's Becca Lower brought us that report.
According to the Central District of California's U.S. Attorney's Office, on Tuesday, a federal grand jury handed down a two-count indictment of activists who allegedly doxxed an ICE agent after trailing him to his home.
Federal grand jury charges three women with following ICE agent home from work and livestreaming his home address on Instagram https://t.co/4pX4GRMp4P
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) September 26, 2025
Multiply these three examples by hundreds, and this is the state of immigration enforcement in our major metropolitan areas. We might note that the Chicago incident is particularly worrisome, as the perp who rammed an ICE vehicle was armed, and with a rifle at that. A rifle is not a defensive weapon. A rifle is an offensive weapon. We are facing the serious possibility of an open exchange of gunfire between federal officers and rioters, and then, in that extreme case, what will these defiant city and state authorities do? What side will they take? It's anyone's guess at this point, although I'm inclined to believe the worst.
These state and local governments, like all governments, have but one legitimate purpose - to protect the liberty and property of the people. They have failed. Now they seem determined to go down swinging.
Look, I'm a big proponent of government being as local as possible. I can call up my Borough council people or my Alaska state representative, and complain to them personally. Because of the nature of my work, I've been able to speak on a couple of occasions to our Congressman, Nick Begich III. But our Senators? Try to get an appointment with one of your Senators, and see how far you get. Government functions, from schools to roads to law enforcement, should be as close to the voters as possible.
But immigration law is different. It is the federal government's role to enforce immigration laws. It is the federal government's role to deport illegal immigrants. That authority is given to the federal government by the Constitution, and President Trump is determined to see those laws enforced. That is what his convincing 2024 election win was about, in large part.
Now, not just random rioters and protestors, but city and state governments are in active rebellion over these issues. They are refusing to support federal operations, and they are colluding with tame judges to block federal operations. Meanwhile, it seems that anti-ICE agitators are becoming increasingly emboldened, and why wouldn't they? These blue-state governors and blue-city mayors would appear to be taking their side.
Watch this issue over the next few months. Watch as we go into the midterms next year. This may be the fuse that sets our cities alight.
