Los Angeles, June 11 (RHC)-- Protests against immigration raids are growing across the United States despite threats by the Trump administration to deploy troops to cities beyond Los Angeles.
Earlier, California Governor Gavin Newsom gave a primetime address to decry the Trump administration’s decision to send 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines into the city.
Gov. Newsom said: “If some of us could be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe. Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there. … California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”
The New York Times reports National Guard troops are accompanying federal immigration officers on raids across Los Angeles. The Marines are also providing security to ICE agents, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to authorize the Marines to make arrests, as well.
In other news, the U.S. president address troops at Fort Bragg and compared the protests in Los Angeles to a "foreign invasion," as fears grow he may soon invoke the Insurrection Act.
Trump said: “What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and our national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country.”
Officials in California have accused Trump of trying to inflame the situation in Los Angeles. On Tuesday, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass enacted a curfew in part of downtown Los Angeles from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Mass arrests were reported. Despite the crackdown, protests have continued in Los Angeles for a sixth straight day.
Karen Marquez: “This is basic human rights. They’re arresting people that are working. They’re arresting people at school, at graduation. That’s sad, and it’s heartbreaking. We don’t feel safe. We’re standing up for the children that can’t stand up for themselves or their parents.”
In more news from California, on Tuesday, a U.S. district judge declined California Governor Newsom’s emergency request to block Trump from sending in troops.
The Pentagon is estimating it will cost $134 million to keep the National Guard and Marines in L.A. for the next 60 days.
[ SOURCE: DEMOCRACY NOW ]
