By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal | June 13, 2025
After anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rioters shut down two Veterans Affairs offices in Los Angeles, the VA secretary criticized the state’s Democrat leaders for prioritizing illegal immigrants over veterans.
“Don’t tell me that you’re really overly concerned about veterans if you’re allowing the riots to get to a point where we can’t take care of our veterans,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins told The Daily Signal in an interview.
Because of the riots, more than 600 veteran appointments were canceled, and the Veterans Affairs Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center was closed the entire week. The Los Angeles VA Regional Benefit Office is also closed.
“I would just ask the governor and the mayor to actually be considerate of the Americans who have earned their veteran benefits, who need to get their ambulatory health care, which is a center that’s been shut down since Day One,” said Collins, a former Georgia congressman.
Amid the riots, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass have blamed President Donald Trump for the violence, saying his deployment of National Guard and Marines exacerbated tensions.
“They should have looked at this much more in depth and not with a political stance of illegals who come into our country, who fly other flags and claim to be a part of something that frankly, there’s a privilege to be here in this country as a citizen and to other things,” Collins said.
Collins penned a letter to Newsom and Bass requesting them to respond with specific steps they are taking to restore law and order in the area where the ambulatory care center was shutdown.
The president has made progress toward restoring peace in Los Angeles, Collins told The Daily Signal.
“He’s stepped in even before the California governor, even the mayor, while they were still trying to figure out what politically they wanted to do,” Collins said. “He stepped in, sent the guard, has Marines on call.”
Collins said he is working to get the VA offices reopened as soon as possible.
“I think you’re gonna start seeing much more efficiency in getting these protesters off and hopefully, for the ones who don’t wanna be here, maybe they’ll go somewhere else, like back to wherever they came from,” he said.
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is the White House Correspondent for "The Daily Signal.
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