In an instance of exceptional depravity, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a pregnant U.S. citizen just days before her due date, NBC News reported Tuesday.

Cary López Alvarado was detained by masked ICE agents Sunday, who claimed that she was obstructing an arrest of her partner and his co-worker, two undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, during a raid in Hawthorne, a city in Los Angeles County.

López Alvarado and her cousin Alberto Sandoval, who is also a citizen, were opening a gate to allow their truck into the parking lot of a private building when ICE agents arrived.

“They had us all surrounded,” she told NBC News in an interview from a hospital bed, her voice breaking. After being released by ICE shortly after her arrest, López Alvarado experienced sharp pains in her stomach, and was admitted to the hospital.

“I had lost my balance,” she tearfully told NBC. “He was kind of shoving me away from the door, and uh, that’s when I kind of just like leaned forward because I was kind of trying to protect the stomach.”

In a video of the incident obtained by the outlet, neighbors could be heard shouting “Let her go,” and She’s pregnant!”

In one video, López Alvarado can be heard explaining to the agents that they could not enter private property. The agents told her that the parking wasn’t private property, and that she was impeding their arrest, she said. “I wasn’t resisting or anything,” she said. “I can’t fight back; I’m pregnant.”

When López Alvarado tried to tell the officers that she was due June 17, she said they responded, “‘OK, your baby is going to be born here, but you’re from Mexico, right?’ And I told them no.”

López Alvarado told Telemundo 52 in Spanish that she was born in Los Angeles.

As part of its inhumane crackdown on immigration, the Trump administration has readily arrested U.S. citizens, deported families, and endangered sick children, leaving hollow promises to target individuals with criminal records in the rearview.

In a statement to NBC News, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that López Alvarado had been detained because she allegedly “obstructed federal law enforcement by blocking access to a car that had two Guatemalan illegal aliens in it.”

The statement claimed that the ICE agents had been assaulted during the incident and that “rioters” had thrown wrenches and batteries at the agents.

Sandoval still faces assault charges, though his mother, María Alvarado, told Telemundo 52 that he was innocent, and there was proof. “My son didn’t attack. He was attacked. There are videos. There’s evidence,” she said in Spanish.

A recent series of ICE arrests in Los Angeles have sparked massive protests there, and the Trump administration has been quick to fan the flames of unrest by calling in the National Guard and U.S. Marines, in possible violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. California has already moved to sue Trump for overreaching his authority, and California Governor Gavin Newsom warned Wednesday that the president had placed democracy “under assault.”

The Trump administration is losing its ability to hide its pro-Russia affinities.

In a searing exchange with Senator Mitch McConnell Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed the mental gymnastics at play as administration officials take a soft approach on Russia amid its ongoing war on Ukraine.

“Number one, who’s the aggressor and who’s the victim in the conflict?” asked McConnell.

“Russia is the aggressor,” Hegseth said, quietly.

“Which side do you want to win?” McConnell said.

But the defense secretary couldn’t provide a simple answer for that.

“As we’ve said time and time again, this president is committed to peace in that conflict. Ultimately, peace serves our national interests, and we think the interest of both parties, even if that outcome will not be preferable to many in this room and many in our country,” Hegseth said.

“Which side is President Xi pulling for?” continued McConnell.

That question tripped up the former Fox News anchor even more. After providing a complicated answer in which he pointed fingers at the Biden administration’s policies, Hegseth eventually conceded that China and its leadership would prefer Russia to win in the Ukrainian conflict.

“One thing I’m sure we agree on is that we don’t want a headline at the end of this conflict that says ‘Russia Wins and America Loses,’” McConnell said. “And given the fact that all of our adversaries are communicating with each other, that’s extremely important if we’re going to continue to play the role in the world that the vast majority of members of Congress think we should still play. Particularly now that our adversaries are more significant than they have been since the Berlin Wall came down.”

McConnell: “Who’s the aggressor and who’s the victim in the conflict?”

Hegseth: “Russia is the aggressor."

McConnell: “Which side do you want to win?"

Hegseth: "This president is committed to peace." pic.twitter.com/q7XCoshpvC

The White House has played a weaker and weaker hand in its game against Russia since Trump’s inauguration. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to end the war within days of returning to power—but that hasn’t been the case.

Instead, Trump’s heavy hand on Ukraine and his repeated concessions toward Russia’s enduring violence have been interpreted by Kremlin propagandists as a massive win for Russian President Vladimir Putin, resulting in televised laughter on Russian programs at the downfall of American power. In the months since he took office, Trump has claimed that Russia has come ready and willing to reach a peace deal, even though many of its demands—such as staking a Russian flag in Crimea—reverse long-standing U.S. policy.

Following a deadly airstrike on Kyiv last month, European leaders urged Western countries to enact sanctions on Moscow as a way to reel Putin back to the negotiating table. But Trump responded by wringing his hands, claiming that applying pressure on Russia would “hurt” a deal.

Just about everyone in the U.S.—including Trump’s own party—wants the White House to act. By late May, Senate Republicans resorted to begging Trump to take a stand against Russia while they mulled over the possibility of going over his head to enact the internationally recommended sanctions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced last week that the upper chamber would begin work on a sanctions........

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