Billionaire Tom Steyer admits embarrassing 'mistake' after saying ICE should be 'abolished' in California governor's race



Billionaire Tom Steyer was sitting pretty after one of his main competitors in the California gubernatorial race dropped out — and then Steyer was caught in an embarrassing "mistake."

Steyer has told Californians that Immigration and Customs Enforcement "should be abolished," but it turns out that a hedge fund he founded invests in detention centers.

'It was also a big wake-up call that I was in the wrong place, that I was in a business that was taking me to places I absolutely didn’t want to go.'

"We never had anything to do with running the company," said Steyer about the revelation. "But it was a mistake to think that that was a place where it was decent to make money."

Farallon Capital Management was founded by the billionaire in 1986 and went on to invest up to $89.1 million in CoreCivic, a company that runs the largest detention center in California.

Two of the five centers run by CoreCivic house federal immigration detainees in Kern County and San Diego.

Steyer sold off his stake in CoreCivic in 2012.

At a town hall event in March, he said that the incident taught him to get out of the hedge fund business.

"It was also a big wake-up call that I was in the wrong place, that I was in a business that was taking me to places I absolutely didn’t want to go," he said. "And there’s a reason I walked away from that business and walked away from a ton of money."

Steyer has surged into the lead in the California governor's race as the top Democrat, with 21% support in one poll after Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) abandoned his gubernatorial campaign and then resigned from Congress over sexual harassment and assault claims.

Republican candidate Steve Hilton comes in second place with 18% of the vote. The top two vote-earners in the June 2 primary, regardless of party, will advance to the general election in November.

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Steyer's opponents are trying to damage his campaign by emphasizing the hypocritical business investments.

"Those investments were 20 years ago, and I left my firm over a decade ago and pledged most of my earnings to charity," the billionaire has fired back.

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Swalwell says 'fascist' ICE agency needs to be 'dismantled' — and even CNN anchor seems surprised



Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California says employees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be "unhirable" in his state in order to oppose deportation efforts.

Swalwell made the comments while being interviewed on CNN, but his comments were posted to social media, where they were widely circulated.

'If you're going to work for fascists, forget about working in this state. ... So we're not weak, we have to go on offense.'

"I don't think anybody likes or wants what ICE is doing right now. We were told the most violent individuals would be deported," said Swalwell.

"Again, a child, U.S. citizen, battling stage-four cancer, deported," he added. "Once you shoot a mom in the face three times who has stuffies in her glove compartment and Cheerios, not a weapon, not a knife, you shot her in the face three times, and you claim that you were justified? Forget it! No one asked for this, and ICE as it exists today needs to be completely dismantled."

Swalwell was referring to the lethal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, but he conveniently failed to include that she had made her vehicle into a weapon when she swerved into an ICE agent.

The other incident he cited was that of a child with kidney cancer who was sent to Honduras when his two parents, both described as "mothers," were deported. A lawsuit claims the government did not give his parents the option to let the boy stay in the U.S., but the Department of Homeland Security denies the allegation.

Swalwell went on to say that he would ruin ICE agents' employment opportunities if he were elected governor.

"As governor, I would use the powers of the office. If you're going to wear a mask as an ICE agent in our state, I will take away your driver's license. If you work for ICE, you will be unhirable in the state," Swalwell added.

"If you're going to work for fascists, forget about working in this state," he added. "So we are not weak. We have to go on offense. Otherwise the most vulnerable in our communities are on defense, and I urge every governor to start protecting their people in their state that way."

RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez gets crushed online for her comments about ICE — by outraged liberals

CNN anchor Kasie Hunt pushed back on Swalwell's claim about "fascist" ICE agents. "Do you think every ICE agent on the streets is a fascist?" she asked, eyebrows briefly furrowed.

In response, Swalwell doubled down, claiming that working for ICE is a "choice." "No one's forcing you to do that," he added.

Swalwell's announcement to seek the governor's office in California has been mocked and ridiculed by Republicans. A November 2025 poll showed that only 24% of Californians had a favorable view of the candidate, 23% had an unfavorable view of him, and a majority of 53% were unsure or had not even heard of him.

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The House of Representatives narrowly approved a spending bill Thursday funding the Department of Homeland Security — and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — over the vast majority of Democrats’ fierce objections. Lawmakers voted 220-207 to approve the standalone bill with just seven Democrats supporting the measure. House Democrats have largely opposed continuing to fund […]

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Ocasio-Cortez claims ICE is targeting 6-year-olds in her district during crazed speech on immigration



Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York argued against the political rhetoric on immigration from the Trump administration in an alarmist speech in Congress.

The congresswoman accused the administration of betraying the campaign promise to focus on deporting illegal aliens with criminal records in the speech Tuesday. She also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeted 6-year-olds in her district.

'That myth, that ideology, is that our immigrant neighbors are our enemies and more dangerous than us.'

"President Trump ran on a promise to the American people that ICE would go after the worst of the worst. ... What we have seen is that ICE is not overwhelmingly going after criminals," Ocasio-Cortez said.

"In fact, over 70% of people currently detained in detention facilities do not have a criminal record," she added. "So, who are they going after? They are going after 6-year-olds in my district. They are going after students and permanent residents for their political views. They are going after Americans born and raised in the United States. And time and time again Trump has floated taking away citizenship from U.S. citizens based on their ethnicity."

Ocasio-Cortez might have been referring to an incident where a 6-year-old was reportedly picked up by ICE in Queens along with her mother and deported to Ecuador.

AOC went on to attack the immigration "myth" she accused the administration of advocating.

"That myth, that ideology, is that our immigrant neighbors are our enemies and more dangerous than us," she continued. "And they sustain that myth because if everybody believes it, they can get away with robbing all of us."

She then accused Republicans of taking funding from food assistance, health care, and other social services in order to funnel it to ICE, which she called a "secret police program."

While immigration activists have demanded that all enforcement efforts end, some Democrats have settled on the messaging that President Donald Trump's deportation policies are too extreme.

RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez gets hammered over embarrassing mistake she made at CNN town hall

Ocasio-Cortez is believed by some to be positioning herself to run for even higher office, and some are calling for her to run for president in 2028.

If she decided to run for the U.S. Senate, she could challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is up for re-election in 2028.

Her ambitions have been criticized by many on the far left who accuse her of abandoning her extremist base in order to widen her appeal to moderates and centrists of the party.

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