June 14th
Things in the US have taken a serious turn during the past week. On June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramped up its raids in Los Angeles, taking people off the streets without, in many cases, even knowing their names, ignoring the right of all people to be served a warrant if they are seized by the authorities, paying no heed to their right to legal representation.
Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport immigrants was a promise to crackdown on, and deport, immigrants with criminal records. But after his inauguration, that policy quickly shifted to something much more aggressive. In response, over the past three months, the strategy of pushback that involved helping immigrants know their rights and assert them has disintegrated, because it is clear that ICE is not a respecter of rights.
One third of the population of LA was born in another country. In some sections of the city, the immigrant population is over 60%. If immigrant deportation was to become a national flashpoint, Los Angeles was a likely candidate as the place where this would happen.
A week ago, ICE raids in LA elicited enlarged citizen protests that were mostly nonviolent, though a few violent incidents occurred. President Trump used this to take the highly unusual step of calling in the California National Guard. The National Guard operates under the jurisdiction of the state government, and by law the president steps in to use it only when the country is invaded, there's a rebellion or threat of rebellion against the government, or when the president’s extra clout is needed to enforce the laws of the United States. In a move that has even less legal basis, Trump also brought in 700 Marines to guard Federal buildings in LA’s downtown area.
An additional matter for concern is that Trump’s order to bring in the National Guard can be implemented anywhere in the country – it is not limited to Los Angeles. And it does not require civil unrest for its implementation. Immigration Secretary Tom Homan acknowledged on Thursday that the administration plans to use the National Guard more broadly to respond to protests.
By early June, 51,000 undocumented immigrants were in detention following Trump’s inauguration. About 44% of these have not committed any crime. Their situation speaks to the complexity of the immigration issue in the US. The country relies on a large number of undocumented immigrants who pay taxes, abide by laws, and provide essential service in the hospitality industry, nursing homes, hospitals, construction, and agriculture. The US has, over many decades, lived with the reality that we rely on our undocumented, and they can have meaningful and useful lives in the US if they do not come up against the law.
The LA situation of this past week by no means required the extreme response President Trump imposed. Local law enforcement authorities were capable of handling it. Trump’s actions created an impression things were worse than they were and in turn raised the level of protest.
On Tuesday, June 10, the Mayor of Los Angeles imposed an 8 pm to 6 am curfew in an area of one square mile where most of the incidents of looting had occurred. People living in the area, and homeless people, are not subject to the curfew – only those coming into the area to protest. The last several nights have been quieter.
GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM
In the context of these events, California Governor Gavin Newsom took his place on the front line of public opposition to Donald Trump. He sued the Trump administration for illegally using the National Guard. A San Francisco court quickly found in Newsom’s favor, but the administration immediately appealed. Now the appeals court has stayed the ruling, pending a hearing on June 17.
Last Tuesday, Newsom made a televised speech, calling out Donald Trump’s decision to send the military into LA as a response to protests, asserting that these actions have taken the nation a step further in the direction of authoritarianism, saying that this is a “perilous moment” for democracy and for the long-held norms of participatory governance.
“California may be first, but it clearly won’t end here,” Mr. Newsom said. “Other states are next. Democracy is next…. Democracy is under assault right before our eyes — the moment we’ve feared has arrived.”
Ramping up concerns about the administration’s nonconcern for normal rights of free speech, on Thursday, California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla, asked a question at a news conference on immigration in Los Angeles held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," Padilla said. Immediately several men dressed in plainclothes seized him, handcuffed him, and dragged him out of the room. He was on his knees in the hallway when someone working for Noem arrived and ordered that he be released.
TRUMP’S PARADE AND CITIZEN PROTESTS
And so, the nation awaits the coming events of June 14 with additional attention and concern. President Trump has organized a military parade in the nation’s capital, ostensibly marking 250 years since the formation of the US Army at the opening of the American Revolution in 1775, but staged on the day of Trump’s 79th birthday. The event thus implies an authoritarian victory parade.
The citizenry will be staging the largest demonstration in opposition to the regime that we have seen since January 20. A coalition of national movements – Indivisible, the American Civil Liberties Union, Black Voters Matter, Center for Common Ground, Community Change, and over 200 other democracy-focused organizations – is leading 1,800 protest rallies in the US and seventeen other countries. Churches and other community groups that are not official sponsors are also mobilizing people to attend.
Numerous trainings have been held online during the past week to ensure that these rallies will be peaceful and that participants understand how to handle themselves if they are confronted by the authorities.
Events in Los Angeles have raised the level of commitment of these groups. In many cases, they include people who have already been active in helping immigrants to know their rights, to prepare their families in case someone gets deported, to get legal representation if they are detained, to track what happens to them when they get enmeshed in the deportation system.
All know that the plight of particular, high profile individuals helps to heighten commitment of citizen protest. The population is well aware of the cases of Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Öztürk, Jeanette Vizguerra, Mohsen Mahdawi, and many others. A glaring reality is that these personalities come from the university and economic elite, and that ordinary folks in a similar or worse plight remain part of anonymous statistics.
But one case in this latter category has received notable attention, namely the 250 deported in March to an El Salvador mega-prison, who the government claims are members of the gang Tren de Aragua. Their family members dispute these gang ties: some of the detainees were arrested because of innocent tattoos. They were deported under a 1798 act that allows deportation of citizens of an “enemy” nation. The most well-known of these is the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old from El Salvador who is a Maryland resident and who was deported from the US in March. Several courts, including the US Supreme Court, ruled that Mr. Abrego Garcia was deported in error and that the government should "facilitate" his return to the US and his family. On 6 June he was returned to the US, but remains in custody. He now faces federal criminal charges in relation to an earlier dismissed indictment alleging he illegally transported undocumented migrants while still in the US.
Of course the ruthless deportation of immigrants is only one of a large number of actions of the Trump administration that arouse public concern and are the target of tomorrow’s No Kings! rallies. The elimination of US overseas aid, radical diminishing of funds for scientific endeavors, the removal of all watchdog entities within the federal government, the attack on universities and free media, abandonment of obligations with regard to the Atlantic alliance, and tariffs imposed on some of our closest traditional allies, suggest a radical departure from policies that have in the past identified our country as a humanitarian bastion.