Donald Trump fanned the flames of suspicion against undocumented migrants Tuesday by placing blame for the Los Angeles fires on "illegal immigrants" and an "inept" government that misuses homeowner tax dollars.
The president-elect, who has been widely critical of California's Democratic administrations, including Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), began his argument on social media Tuesday afternoon, "The actual irony...a home owner consents to pay property taxes that will go to the fire department. The funds are diverted to illegal immigrants because LA is a Sanctuary City."
Trump provided no evidence that taxpayers' money had been diverted away from fire fighting towards supporting immigrants.
He then blamed undocumented migrants for causing fires in Los Angeles.
"An illegal immigrant comes and sets your house on fire and the fire department doesn't have the resources to put it out," he wrote. "The homeowner paid for their own destruction. On top of that, the government is so inept that the insurance companies won't insure houses here anymore, so the homeowner is left with nothing."
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According to The New York Times, "Investigators are still working to identify what caused the spate of fires that ignited around Los Angeles last week, but residents are concerned that electrical infrastructure may have sparked at least one of them."
The AP reported that besides lightning, which has been ruled out in the Palisades area and the terrain around the Eaton Fire, the next two most common causes of fires in the U.S. are those "intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines."
"So far there has been no official indication of arson in either blaze, and utility lines have not yet been identified as a cause either," the report said.
Even as arson was suggested, no arsonists have been identified.
The LA fires have been exacerbated by high Santa Ana winds that have so far killed at least 24 people. Some 40,000 acres and more than 12,300 structures in the Greater Los Angeles area have been destroyed.
Authorities have arrested more than 20 people so far, charged with offenses such as looting, violating curfew, drone incidents, and burglary. One man was charged with arson and attempted arson "for trying to light a large tree on fire in a park in the city of Azusa. That charge was not related to the wildfires."