President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he’s considering pulling Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) officers out of California.

Why? Because he feels the state is giving his administration “no help” in targeting the violent MS-13 gang, especially in Los Angeles.

“We’re getting no help from the state of California,” Trump said from the White House. “Frankly, if I wanted to pull our people from California you would have a crime nest like you’ve never seen in California. All I’d have to do is say ‘ICE and border patrol, let California learn.’”

Trump made those remarks during a meeting at the White House where he also spent a few minutes scolding California.

“You would see crime like nobody’s ever seen crime in this country,” he said of California without federal immigration agents. “And yet we get no help from the state of California.”

He also took a shot at leadership in the state.

“They are doing a lousy management job,” Trump said. “They have the highest taxes in the nation and they don’t know what’s happening out there. Frankly, it’s a disgrace, the sanctuary city situation, the protection of these horrible criminals in California and other places. If we ever pulled our ICE out and we ever said, ‘hey, let California learn and let them figure it out for themselves,’ in two months, they’d be begging for us to come back. They would be begging.”

Would the president really do such a thing?

“You know what, I’m thinking about it,” Trump said.

Trump and his administration have stepped up enforcement of immigration laws since he took office, so much so that Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both Democrats, sent a joint letter to the Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan asking for detailed information about how raids are prioritized and asking for communications regarding upcoming raids in the state.

“Diverting resources in an effort to punish California and score political points is an abhorrent abuse of power, not to mention a terrible misuse of scarce resources,” the letter said.

Homan responded in an interview with Fox New.

"We don't conduct raids,” he said. “We conduct targeted enforcement operations. We don't go into neighborhoods, knocking on a bunch of doors, looking for people that are different than us.”

Trump’s quotes spread quickly across social media where some were immediately supportive of the idea.

Other’s were concerned about or completely against the idea.

There were plenty who thought California may be relieved by such a decision.

What’s your reaction to Trump’s statements about California? Send a tweet to @sdutideas and we may add it to this page.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin