A Sense of Doubt blog post #3767 - Use of Military for LA Protests an Abuse of Power by the President
At first, I feared offending people with the topper image.
And so, here we are...
You know, all the things said about Trump by critics are true.
But the Constitution is in the way of what Trump wants to do in his cruel, hateful, racist, fascist authoritarian blitzkrieg of people in our country.
But detaining let alone deporting millions is not an easy project to accomplish, especially when many of these so-called "illegal aliens" are embedded in communities and in many cases have been for many years, sometimes as many as THIRTY years. In some cases, these individuals are LEGAL RESIDENTS.
But that's how they have to act to get to the numbers.
Awesome what Moran wrote!! Spot on.
— gmrstudios (@gmrstudios) June 11, 2025
Terry Moran Out at ABC News Following Social-Media Clash With Trump White House https://t.co/qPRHiDXmEm
AOC tells Fetterman and Democrats to stop telling people to stop rioting and complaining about Law and Order, and instead look at ICE and the administration who are the most Law breaking administration in American history. pic.twitter.com/sqOT7YaLZr
— Winter Politics (@WinterPolitics1) June 10, 2025
Many former and current service members have spoken out AGAINST Trump's actions.
And that military parade is Saturday and protests are scheduled all around the country, a protest movement called NO KINGS.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-deportation-numbers-explained-110914873.html
Trump's Deportation Numbers, Explained
A Jamaican man is detained by federal agents after his immigration court hearing at the Ted Weiss Federal Building in New York City on on June 9, 2025. Credit - Adam Gray—Getty Images
President Donald Trump campaigned on delivering the largest mass deportation effort in US history. What he has delivered so far is a dramatic surge in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of people who were living in the U.S.
The data shows that interior enforcement has more than doubled since Trump took office, filling up immigration detention facilities across the country. It’s those stepped-up efforts by ICE agents in workplaces, courthouses and homes to arrest people that prompted protests in Los Angeles last week. Trump’s decision to deploy the California National Guard there over the objections of state and local officials sparked an escalation in protests and violent clashes with law enforcement over the weekend, according to local officials.
Trump’s upswing in ICE arrests may be starting to yield a surge in deportations. The total number of deportations has stayed essentially level compared to the Biden era—until recently, when the numbers appear to have risen sharply.
Here’s what the data shows about how the Trump Administration has revamped immigration enforcement and deportations in a few short months.
ICE Arrests Have Soared Under Trump
In Trump’s first six months, the number of people being apprehended on the Southern Border has plummeted. Instead, an increasing share of those held in immigration detention are people who were arrested by ICE. The most recent ICE detention data shows the average number of people held has gone up 25% since Trump took office.
This represents a dramatic shift from how immigration enforcement has long been conducted in the U.S. Under the Biden administration, the majority of people who ended up in immigration detention were those who had recently crossed the border and were arrested by agents with Customs and Border Patrol (CPB). Holding border crossers in detention put them on a faster docket in removal proceedings, paving the way to send them out of the country at a faster clip.
One major reason for this shift away from CPB arrests is that fewer people are coming to the border illegally than they were during most of the Biden era.
Read more: Inside Donald Trump's Mass Deportation Operation
In a recent interview with TIME, Trump border czar Tom Homan said he would like to double the amount of bed space ICE has in detention from 50,000 to 100,000. Having more people held in detention centers could increase the pace of both ICE arrests and deportations.
Deportations Are Starting to Trend Higher
Trump told TIME last year he wanted to target 15 million people for removal. He said he was open to using the military to do it, in the face of restrictions in the Posse Comitatus Act that limits the use of the military on U.S. soil. In a campaign interview with ABC News in August, J.D. Vance said, “Let’s start with 1 million.”
At the end of April, the Administration said it had deported more than 139,000 migrants, which was behind pace to reach their aggressive targets. That is a reflection of just how time-consuming and challenging it is to find and remove people living in communities. On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security provided TIME with updated figures from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: more than 207,000 deported. That represents a significant increase in the Administration's deportations and may reflect the more sweeping and intrusive actions immigration officials have taken in recent weeks. For context, the federal government deported 271,484 people in the 2024 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30.
The total number of people being deported has basically been stable, if slightly up, even as an increasing portion are those arrested inside the US by ICE. In May, ICE increased the pace of removal fights, a sign that the number of deportations could increase at a faster rate in the coming months. The Trump administration has asked Congress for more funding to pay for deportations and an increased pace in immigration enforcement. The most recent version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” that Trump is pushing Congress to pass has $168 billion for immigration and border enforcement. That would be a five-fold increase in such funding over the current year, which Congress set at $33 billion.
Part of the challenge is finding places to accept deportees. Trump has defied long-standing norms and, some argue, broken laws by sending migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador and the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, while putting others on planes bound for Panama and South Sudan. Homan tells TIME the Administration is in talks with three more countries to accept U.S. deportees.
With the number of deportations not increasing as fast as they would like, Trump officials are pressuring ICE and other government agencies to boost immigration arrests.
They are also encouraging migrants in the U.S. to return to their home countries on their own. Trump has offered $1,000 and a free commercial flight to people willing to “self deport.” But even with that incentive, immigrants aren’t leaving the country at the pace Trump promised.
Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, says the Administration’s self-deport campaign is unprecedented. “Once they realized that fast deportation is not an easy enterprise, they started selling the idea of self deportation at a scale of which probably has not been detected in our history,” he says.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/newsom-calls-trumps-marine-deployment-103442066.html
LA protests live: Cleanup underway as Newsom seeks to limit Marine, Guard deployment
LOS ANGELES − Crews cleaned up graffiti Tuesday after four nights of volatile protests that have prompted a legal and social media standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration.
The conflict centers around President Donald Trump's move to deploy Marines and the National Guard in California in response to protests that have sprung up against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps. Those sweeps are part of a directive from President Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at a Tuesday news conference said a rally is planned for Tuesday night but that it is not expected to be as large as the protests in recent days, which have been marred by violent clashes, vandalism and looting.
A judge on Tuesday set a hearing for Thursday on an emergency request from California that aimed to limit the use of the state’s National Guard and Marines. Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth of trying to use the assets to help ICE conduct raids. "The federal government is turning the military against American citizens," Newsom said in a post on X.
The motion said it does not seek to prevent troops from protecting federal buildings or other property, which they were tasked with upon deployment. It seeks to prevent them from enforcing immigration laws.
Newsom’s efforts to block federal incursion in California comes a day after Trump doubled the National Guard presence in Los Angeles to 4,000 and deployed 700 Marines, an escalation that is estimated to cost about $134 million, according to a Pentagon official. Trump remained all-in on his decisions, posting Tuesday Truth Social that "if we didn't send out the National Guard—Los Angeles would be burning right now!"
Since Friday, officers have had confrontations with protesters, leading to the use of pepper spray and flash bangs as officials announced more than 150 arrests amid flare ups of vandalism and violence. Bass on Tuesday said damage was limited to a small area downtown, but noted that the graffiti was "extensive" – requiring a large response as the city prepares to host the 2026 World Cup.
Judge balks at Newsom request to limit Trump use of National Guard
Judge Charles Breyer balked at Gov. Gavin Newsom's request to block the Trump administration's use of the National Guard and Marines on Tuesday.
Instead Breyer ordered a briefing Wednesday and a hearing Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the Trump administration called Newsom's motion for an emergency temporary restraining order "legally meritless," in pursuit of "an extraordinary, unprecedented, and dangerous court order," and claimed the court has no authority to weigh in.
-- Sarah Wire
State asks judge to stop troops in LA from helping ICE
The motion says the state on June 9 became aware that the National Guard units in California "would be providing support for counter-immigration operations and not only at federal buildings."
"Specifically, these activities—scheduled to begin today, June 10, 2025—will include 'holding a secure perimeter in communities around areas where immigration enforcement activities would take place, and securing routes over public streets where immigration enforcement officers would travel,'” the motion said.
The filing did not say how the state received word about the alleged change in operations.
The 4,000 California National Guard members called in by the president were originally tasked with protecting federal buildings and other property of the federal government. The Trump administration has not responded to the motion or Newsom's allegation's that the troops were going to used for immigration enforcement.
LA Mayor: ‘We’re an experiment’
Mayor Karen Bass, asked why Los Angeles would be targeted, said she believes her city is “an experiment.”
“If you can do this to the nation’s second largest city, maybe the administration is hoping this will be a signal to everybody everywhere to fear them—that you federal government that historically has protected you can come in and take over,” she told reporters in a news conference Tuesday.
Bass said she would be reaching out to President Trump. Asked what she would tell him, she said, “I want to tell him to stop the raids. I want to tell him that this is a city of immigrants. I want to tell him that if you want to devastate the economy of the City of Los Angeles, attack immigrants.”
− Phaedra Trethan
Over 100 arrests, 2 officers injured: LAPD
The number of arrests in connection with the demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles shot up Monday evening, according to the city’s police department.
Police reported on Tuesday that officers made at least 113 arrests. 96 were for failure to follow orders to leave the area. 14 people were arrested for looting. One person each was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and vandalism.
The crowds of people left around 3 a.m., officials said.
LAPD acknowledged the hectic night in a statement: “Unfortunately, as demonstrators were being disbursed, agitators and miscreants within the crowd looted businesses and vandalized property,” police said. “We are asking that all residents and businesses continue to report any crimes… Please document with photographs or video before clean up.”
The number of arrests was more than double what LAPD reported for Saturday and Sunday when 50 people were arrested. Most were also for failure to follow dispersal orders although among the charges was attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, according to police.
LA mayor considers curfew to curb nightly violence
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told reporters she is considering a curfew to restore calm to the city.
We’re looking at things like a curfew,” she said June 10, and she planned to meet with Police Chief Jim McDonnell later in the day to discuss it.
She said a curfew wouldn’t need to be citywide, but likely focused on the downtown area.
− Bart Jansen
How did the LA protests begin? Immigration raids spark outrage
The protests in Los Angeles County began as a reaction to a handful of immigration raids, including one outside a Home Depot and another at a clothing manufacturer in the city's garment district.
The raids and subsequent outrage came as the Trump administration stepped up its detention and deportation of immigrants including at workplaces, traffic stops and routine legal check-ins.
Protests against these moves have increased, too. While most have remained peaceful, the Department of Homeland Security reported a more than 400% surge in assaults on agents.
After small protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles on June 6, Trump took several swift actions, calling in the 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines, drawing ire – and at least one lawsuit – from California officials who accuse the president of stoking tension and escalating unrest.
Trump has stood by his actions, saying the deployments were necessary to contain what he described as "violent, instigated riots." About 150 people have been arrested at the protests, which have included flareups of unruly clashes, vandalism and looting, but have remained limited to a few blocks in the city's downtown area.
As authorities brace for another day of protests and Los Angelenos ready themselves for the increased military presence, read more about how the protests began.
Trump says he’d invoke Insurrection Act ‘if there’s an insurrection’
Trump said he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act, which would give him more leeway to use the military for domestic purposes as he deploys troops to Los Angeles in response to violent protests.
"If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it,” Trump said Tuesday during an event in the White House. “We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible."
Trump deployed the California National Guard to Los Angeles over the objections of Newsom, sparking the lawsuit from the state. Marines also were sent to help the guard after protests erupted over federal immigration enforcement efforts.
The troops currently are limited to protecting federal property and law enforcement officers. The Insurrection Act would give Trump authority to use them more broadly. Trump said some areas of Los Angeles, during the protests, where "you could have called it an insurrection. It was terrible."
− Zac Anderson
House Speaker says Newsom should be 'tarred and feathered'
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, asked Tuesday whether Newsom should be arrested, said the governor should be “tarred and feathered.”
“That's not my lane. I'm not gonna give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested. But he ought to be tarred and feathered,” Johnson, R-LA., said in a weekly press conference.
Johnson said Newsom is keeping the administration from implementing federal law.
Newsom quickly responded on social media. “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the (Republicans) want to bring our country back to the 18th Century.”
− Sarah D. Wire
Where are LA protests happening?
Most of the unrest is taking place across a few square miles in a mostly commercial area downtown. The city is sprawled across hundreds of square miles and the county covers thousands of square miles. The vast majority of the metropolitan area has been quiet, with people able to continue their daily routines.
Trump has insisted that he had no choice but to increase the level of force in response to growing unrest over his immigration crackdown.
700 Marines heading to LA for riot assistance; Newsom calls move 'deranged fantasy' of Trump
Hegseth says National Guard is 'huge component' going forward
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a House committee Tuesday the United States was entering a new phase in which the National Guard would "become a critical component of how we secure that homeland."
"The National Guard is a huge component of how we see the future," he told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
Bryn MacDonnell, a special assistant to the secretary of defense, said the Pentagon is spending $134 million of deploying 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines. Funding is coming from operations and maintenance accounts, he said.
− Mayes-Osterman, Cybele
Newsom, Trump aide spar on social media
Newsom criticized Trump on X Tuesday after Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, blasted the governor on the same social media site hours earlier. Miller wrote that "when the rioters swarmed, you handed over your streets, willingly. You still refuse to arrest and prosecute the arsonists, seditionists and insurrectionists."
Newsom made reference to Trump's decision to pardon or commute the sentences of hundreds of people in connection with the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
"The only people defending insurrectionists are you and @realDonaldTrump," Newsom wrote. "Or, are we pretending like you didn’t pardon 1500 of them?"
Civil rights groups rip Trump's show of force
Several national civil rights groups described the Trump administration's National Guard deployment as an overreach of power that was “deeply disturbing" and “reckless."
"It is not lost on us that no such show of force was deployed in advance of the January 6 insurrection at our nation’s capital despite the clear threat to democracy. The contrast is alarming," leaders wrote in a statement released Monday night. “Peaceful protesters in Los Angeles are met with military presence, while violent actors in Washington, D.C. were allowed to breach the heart of our government with little resistance. This inconsistency amplifies questions about how power is used and against whom."
The right to protest the Trump administration’s "unjust policies targeting Black and Brown communities must be protected," they wrote.
The groups include the NAACP, the National Urban League, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the National Action Network, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference, the National Council of Negro Women and the Legal Defense Fund.
Separately, Judith LeBlanc, executive director of Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund, called the administration’s decision to call in the National Guard and the Marines “an act of violence meant to silence organizers who are taking a righteous stand against the illegal and brutal ICE raids happening everyday.”
− Deborah Barfield Berry
Multiple journalists injured by nonlethal rounds
Multiple members of the media have reported being caught in the crossfire or targeted by authorities using tear gas or rubber bullets.
The incidents included Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi, who was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet on camera in a video that shows an officer appearing to aim at her. A New York Post photographer, Toby Canham, also said he was shot in the forehead with a nonlethal round. British freelance photographer Nick Stern told the BBC he underwent emergency surgery after he was hit in the leg by a plastic bullet.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has sounded the alarm over the incidents, warning against the intimidation of journalists.
“Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,” Katherine Jacobsen, program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, said in a statement. “It is incumbent upon authorities to respect the media’s role of documenting issues of public interest.”
National Press Club President Mike Balsamo warned that law enforcement "cannot pick and choose when the First Amendment applies. Journalists in Los Angeles were not caught in the crossfire — they were targeted. "
-Jeanine Santucci
Multiple journalists injured by police nonlethal rounds while covering LA protests
CNN correspondent briefly detained, warned by LAPD
Police briefly detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll while on air Monday night during the network's coverage of the protests. CNN was covering the protests live when in-studio anchors briefly lost contact with Carroll, who could be seen being led away from the protests by LAPD officers with his hands behind his back. Carroll returned to the mic, informing the anchors: "I am being detained."
An officer then can be heard telling Carroll: "We're letting you go. You can't come back. If you come back, you will be arrested."
CNN issued a statement saying "we are pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials. CNN will continue to report out the news unfolding in Los Angeles." Read more here.
− Taijuan Moorman
National Guard lawsuit a 'test case'
On Monday, California sued the Trump administration, alleging that the president's deployment of Guard troops was unnecessary and unlawful. Newsom later indicated that he will take similar action to prevent the Marines from being deployed, describing the order as a "blatant abuse of power."
"It makes me feel like our city is actually a test case," Bass said at a news conference. "A test case for what happens when the federal government moves in and takes the authority away from the state or away from local government."
'I hate it': LA residents who surveyed vandalism fear more violence in future protests
Day laborers 'looking for work to survive'
Some day laborers and other community members in Los Angeles County are warily watching federal troops, bracing for more raids and trying to look to the future while looking out for each other. Some are still searching for detained family members. Some say they've seen worse.
Jose Luis Valencia, 54, is an undocumented immigrant who was born in the Tepito neighborhood of Mexico City. This week he was looking for work outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles County.
"We're a little nervous, but we're here looking for work to survive," Valencia told USA TODAY. "We need money to put food on the table and support our family." Read more here.
− Pamela Avila and Trevor Hughes
Newsom: 'Checks and balances are crumbling'
The California governor, in a post to social media blasting Trump’s decision to send the military members to California, said Marines are “not political pawns." Newsom said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was “illegally” deploying the Marines and argued it was a stunt so Trump could have a “talking point” at a planned parade in Washington on Saturday to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army, also the day of Trump’s 79th birthday.
"The Courts and Congress must act. Checks and balances are crumbling," Newsom added.
-Jeanine Santucci
Federal forces present 'challenge' for police
Officials at the Los Angeles Police Department said Monday that despite violent demonstrations, local police can handle whatever protesters throw at them and that federal help is unnecessary and could become a hindrance.
“The possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles - absent clear coordination - presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city,” Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement. “The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively.”
LAPD said officers have fired over 600 non-lethal bullets and used tear gas on the "hostile crowd." Among those hit was an Australian journalist covering the protests.
At least five officers received minor injuries, according to police. Five police horses also “were targeted and sustained minor injuries," police said.
Days of protests sparked by ICE raids in LA
The protests began Friday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps near Los Angeles resulted in more than 40 arrests. The protests had largely been peaceful but flared up when heavily armed, masked agents raided Los Angeles businesses.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, defended the raids and said those arrested by ICE included a Vietnamese man convicted of second-degree murder, an Ecuadoran man convicted of possession of five kilograms of cocaine, and a Filipino man convicted of sexual offenses.
On Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said local immigrant rights groups had confirmed at least five ICE raids in the Los Angeles region. The mayor said officials were still working to compile more information on the raids but noted that in some cases, ICE targeted day laborers and detained people who appeared for scheduled immigration appointments.
"As you know, ICE does not tell anybody where they're going to go or when they're going to be there," Bass said at the Monday news conference.
Protests also sprang up in at least nine other cities across the U.S. on Monday, including New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, according to Reuters.
When does a protest become a riot?
Protests in Los Angeles were relatively peaceful when they began on Friday, but escalated into scenes of chaos, with electric vehicles lit aflame, large clouds of tear gas and clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators. Trump has backed his move to send in troops, calling the protests “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and “lawless riots.” But Newsom said it was Trump who “instigated violence.”
Experts say while there are legal definitions for a riot, the term has become increasingly politicized and encapsulates a wide variety of incidents. In most states including California, the key determinator lies in whether multiple people are involved and whether they are committing acts of violence, Brian Higgins, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said.
"One person is not a riot and neither is a group that is nonviolent," he said. "They can even be breaking the law, like refusing to disperse. It's when you add in the factor of violence that it becomes a riot."
There are some gray areas, he said. Experts also said while violence is a defining factor in a riot, such violence could be incited by law enforcement. Read more.
Waymo suspends some LA service after self-driving cars torched
Waymo has temporarily suspended its ride hailing service in downtown Los Angeles after several of the company's self-driving cars were set on fire in the weekend's protests.
A Waymo spokesperson told USA TODAY on Monday the company has removed its vehicles from downtown Los Angeles and is currently not serving the area "out of an abundance of caution."
The spokesperson said the company is still operating in Los Angeles and is working in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Footage shared on social media captured several Waymo driverless taxis engulfed in flames in the June 8 protests. Others were vandalized with messages against Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, videos show.
Waymo cars are self-driving taxis operated by computers instead of humans. The company uses electric Jaguar I-PACE cars.
-Melina Khan
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA protests live updates: Newsom files motion to limit Marines, Guards
Immigration clash
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| In Compton, Calif. Philip Cheung for The New York Times |
President Trump ordered at least 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles County. For two days, hundreds of demonstrators have faced off with immigration agents in riot gear. More protests are expected today, and a Trump official said that troops would arrive in L.A. within 24 hours. Here’s what we know:
Protests: Some of the most active demonstrations took place in Compton and in Paramount, a majority Hispanic area about 25 miles southeast of the Hollywood sign. Agents used flash-bang grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets on crowds of protesters. Some demonstrators threw fireworks and rocks at police officers. The L.A.P.D. detained a number of protesters but also said that demonstrations in the city of L.A. were peaceful.
Deployment: Trump’s order is the first time that a president has activated a state’s National Guard without a request from that state’s governor since 1965, an expert said. Then, Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators. Trump said he considered efforts to block ICE agents a “form of rebellion.”
Context: Protests broke out on Friday as federal agents rolled through L.A.’s garment district in search of undocumented migrant workers. The raids signaled a new phase of Trump’s immigration crackdown focused on workplaces, Lydia DePillis and Ernesto Londoño wrote.
Response: California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, described Trump’s order as “purposefully inflammatory,” saying that federal officials “want a spectacle.” Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, said the presence of the troops would “not be helpful.”
https://www.the-sentinel-intelligence.net/donald-trump-cant-wait-to-declare-martial-law-in-the-u-s/
https://reason.com/2025/06/09/trump-wants-to-revive-the-militarization-of-police/
Michael Mendenhall wants the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that allows home invasions based on nothing but hearsay.
By Jacob Sullum
Those accused of wrongdoing have the right to challenge the evidence against them before the government takes away their liberty.
By Billy Binion
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| In front of the Federal Building in downtown L.A. Mark Abramson for The New York Times |
Troops in Los Angeles
By the staff of The Morning |
The Marines are heading to Los Angeles. The Trump administration deployed a battalion of 700 to the city, along with 2,000 additional National Guard troops, in response to days of protests in the city. The demonstrations were more limited last night, and state officials criticized Trump’s orders.
“This is a provocation, not just an escalation,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an interview with The Times. “This is intended to sow more fear, more anger, and to further divide.”
The Pentagon did not make clear why it would need more National Guard troops in the city. The state has also sued to block the use of the National Guard. And Democrats expressed alarm about the arrival of Marines. As our colleagues explain in this article, American military troops are supposed to be used inside the U.S. only in the rarest and most extreme situations.
Strangely, even as his administration deployed the armed forces, Trump said the situation in Los Angeles had already calmed down. “It’s still simmering a little bit,” he told reporters at the White House yesterday afternoon. “But not very much.”
The police and small groups of protesters clashed in the Little Tokyo neighborhood yesterday, where the L.A.P.D. made arrests, and used tear gas to disperse crowds. But there generally seemed to be fewer clashes between protesters and police officers. So far, the National Guard appears to have largely stayed out of those confrontations.
ICE’s escalation
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| ICE agents outside a federal building downtown on Sunday. Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times |
Why are the protests against Trump’s immigration raids happening now? Hamed Aleaziz, who covers immigration, explains:
The eruption in Los Angeles began when immigration agents showed up to arrest people at their jobs. They hadn’t told the city they were coming, and protesters tried to stop them.
This probably won’t be the last such conflict. The Trump administration is escalating its immigration crackdown, and worksite raids are the next major step. Future arrests are likely to be disruptive.
Finding more migrants: For most of this year, officials from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement have snagged the easiest-to-find migrants: People with criminal records, court petitions, asylum requests. Agents often knew where these people would be.
The result: The government was deporting about 700 per day, not much more than the Biden administration.
Last month, Stephen Miller, Trump’s immigration czar, delivered a message: ICE needed to hit a “minimum” of 3,000 arrests a day — about 10 times the figure under Biden.
Creative answers: To get there, the agency is seeking new tactics. The government has dismissed criminal cases against migrants and then arrested them as they left court. It is showing up at workplaces. And it has asked the National Guard and the Marines to help with enforcement.
Can Trump do that?
The White House says it deployed federal troops to Los Angeles because the local police need help to counter “insurrectionists.” But the Posse Comitatus Act says the armed forces aren’t law enforcement. We asked Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School and a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, what’s allowed.
Is this all legal?
The founders wanted to prevent the president from using federal troops against “we the people” because of the way the Red Coats used warrants to do whatever they wanted in people’s homes. But National Guard troops are local citizens; they live in their communities. So they’re allowed to help with police work — until they’re federalized. Which is what Trump did last weekend. Then they became indistinguishable from active-duty military. All they can do is defend federal workers like ICE agents, and federal buildings like an ICE detention center.
So the California National Guard and the Marines can’t contain the protests?
Not unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act! That law lets troops police our streets to suppress insurrections and help execute federal law in the face of rebellion.
Trump said yesterday that the protesters were “insurrectionists.” What counts as a rebellion?
It’s very vague — the law doesn’t say. It could be people trying to stop ICE agents from doing their job. I don’t think courts are going to want to argue about what constitutes a rebellion. The founders gave the president discretion here, so if Trump does invoke the Insurrection Act he’s on firm legal footing.
More on the protests
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More on the responses
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Editorial Director, Opinion |
More than 60 years had passed since a president ordered the National Guard into action without first receiving a request from state officials. And when President Trump did so to quell immigration protests in Los Angeles this past weekend, it was under false pretenses — namely that California couldn’t handle the protests.
Our editorial board finds that combination to be deeply worrisome, and we’ve devoted our latest editorial to the subject.
I also recommend other Opinion coverage of the situation in Los Angeles, including:
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- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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