Trump and ICE in LA: Is This the Tipping Point?
Is This The Tipping Point?
We are now at a point where we have a president who sat back and did nothing as people stormed our Capitol, viciously beat police. And then, when those people who viciously beat police and led to some of their deaths, therefore, cop killers, were convicted by juries, he then pardoned them all. So, for him to be talking to anybody right now about responsive law enforcement to protect people is hypocritical at best. - Cory Booker
As things unfold, I would like to continue my discussion about the situation in Los Angeles. I apologize for dropping into your email box twice in one week, but from where I sit in California, this is a moment of crisis.
The Facts - The Situation in LA to Date
For those not watching, LA is not on fire; it is not a war zone. There is no rebellion, no migrant invasion, and no riots. The LA Police Department and the California Highway Patrol are peacefully interacting with anti-ICE protesters of all colors, sizes, and ethnicities.
Protestors who showed up when ICE began rounding up innocent people at two Home Depots (a place where people eager to work gather, and whose labor is in great demand), a doughnut shop, a clothing wholesaler, and an elementary school graduation. ICE agents are showing up at places immigrants feel safe, such as courtrooms, where immigrants are legally checking in with judges as demanded by our system. They are arriving at ICE check-ins at the Los Angeles federal building, and are quickly locked up in a makeshift detention center, where as many as 200 people are being held in basement rooms.
Actions by ICE are overreach, and protests by American citizens are democracy as it was meant to be.
For the most part, these protests have been peaceful. In a city of 502 square miles and 4 million people, these protests are confined to a minimal area, spanning three to four blocks.
Yes, anarchists are showing up as they do whenever large crowds gather, and on Sunday, they burned five cars, and yes, graffiti damage is rampant, but that is the extent of it.
However, misleading photographs, videos, and texts have spread widely on social media, presenting a different perspective and rehashing old conspiracy theories. These included a still from the movie “Blue Thunder” and a photograph of a pallet of bricks from the website of a building materials wholesaler in Malaysia.
When viewing such content, please verify the sources and validity.
Aside from a few illegal actions, there has been nothing different in LA than the protests that have occurred throughout the country's history.
Aside from the usual displays of anger against authority, protesters are not upset with the LAPD or the California Highway Patrol.
The anger is directed at Trump's moves to federalize the National Guard.
The Insurrection Act, a 19th-century wartime law, is the primary legal mechanism a president can use to activate the military (in this case, the National Guard) during times of rebellion or unrest. But Trump hasn’t done that.
Instead, Trump used a similar federal law that allows the president to federalize National Guard troops under certain circumstances. Trump used Title 10, which places him rather than the governor at the head of the chain of command, to call part of California’s National Guard into federal service.
(1) the United States, or any of the Commonwealths or possessions, is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation;
(2) there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or
(3) the President is unable, with the regular forces, to execute the laws of the United States;
The President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws.
Trump issued a memorandum to perpetrate his actions. It states he is going to use the National Guard: “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
The only other time we have seen the National Guard patrolling California city streets outside of disaster recovery was during the 1992 Rodney King riots. Then, and this is a very important point, state and local officials had requested them.
In fact, this is the first time since 1965 that a president has activated a state’s National Guard force for a domestic situation without a state governor’s request. Then, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators.
This action by Trump directly contravenes the wishes of the Governor of the State of California. On Saturday, June 7th, Governor Newsom stated: The federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers. That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.
LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need.
The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery. [LA fires]
This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.
On Sunday afternoon, the 8th of June, Governor Newsom sent Trump a letter that read, "I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops...and return them to my command…This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
On Monday morning, California’s Attorney General and Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit against Trump and Secretary Hegseth.
Utilizing Title 10 means that the troops deployed will not be allowed to engage in ordinary law enforcement activities without violating the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the US military against the public to enforce laws of the states or the US. Their sole job is to support ICE personnel. Thus far, these troops have refrained from clashing with demonstrators. For good reason, people who serve in the military didn’t sign up to police their fellow citizens; they signed up to protect against foreign threats.
Steve Vladeck of the Substack One First has pointed out three critical issues regarding Trump’s memorandum that could lead to further conflicts.
“First, there is the obvious concern that, even as they are doing nothing more than “protecting” ICE officers discharging federal functions, these federalized troops will end up using force—in response to real or imagined violence or threats of violence against those officers. In other words, there’s the very real possibility that having federal troops on the ground will only raise the risk of escalating violence, not decrease it.
Second, and related, there is the possibility that that’s a feature, and not a bug—that this is meant as a precursor, with federalizing a modest number of National Guard troops today invoked, some time later, as a justification for more aggressive responses to anti-ICE protests, including, perhaps invocation of the Insurrection Act. In other words, it’s possible that this step is meant to both be and look modest so that, if and when it “fails,” the government can invoke its failure as a basis for a more aggressive domestic deployment of troops. What happens in and around Los Angeles in the next few days will have a lot to say about this.
Third, and perhaps most significantly, “domestic use of the military can nevertheless be corrosive—to the morale of the troops involved, all of a sudden, in policing their own; to the relationship between local/state governments and the federal government; and to the broader relationship between the military and civil society.” Even uses of the military for relatively modest purposes can have those corrosive effects, especially where, as here, it seems so transparently in service of the President’s policy agenda, and not necessarily the need to restore law and order on the streets of America’s second-largest city.”
Escalation
On Monday, a battalion of approximately 700 active-duty Marines based out of Twentynine Palms, in Southern California, received deployment orders to Los Angeles. Secretary Hegseth has said he anticipates military personnel to stay in Los Angeles for 60 days to “ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere”. Again, violence-inducing BS language.
The deployment marks a sharp escalation in the military's role. It also shows Trump's willingness to overstep boundaries by potentially pitting the military against civilians on American soil.
Also on Monday, Trump ordered an additional 2,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to Los Angeles. The Pentagon has said that these deployments will cost the American public $134 million.
Where We Could Go
Is this a line in the sand? How far will Trump go?
Under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, it is considered illegal to use federal troops on domestic soil for law enforcement purposes. But an 1807 law, the Insurrection Act, created an exception to that ban for situations in which the president decides that “unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States,” make it “impracticable” to enforce federal law. On Sunday, reporters asked if Trump would use the Insurrection Act; his answer: "It depends on whether or not there's an insurrection."
What concerns me is the fact that just because the law prohibits Trump from deploying the military in a way that violates the Posse Comitatus Act doesn’t mean he won’t try. Trump’s record so far regarding the rule of law suggests that he is likely to violate it.
It is not just me. Senator Christ Murphy of Connecticut echoed my concern.“[It is] important to remember that Trump isn’t trying to heal or keep the peace. He’s looking to inflame and divide. His movement doesn’t believe in democracy or protest, and if they get a chance to end the rule of law, they will take it.”
As the recently filed California lawsuit points out, the U.S. government is built on a structure of dual sovereignties. Where state and federal law conflict, federal law is supreme. However, as long as states (which include state and local governments) operate within federal law, they remain fully sovereign in their respective domains. It’s the sovereign right of those of us who live in California to self-government. We elected a governor. Angelenos elected a mayor. Trump’s actions are in direct violation of what we Californians voted for.
Unfortunately, violence perpetrated by a few plays directly into Trump’s hands and gives him impetus to escalate his revenge further against California, and soon, other blue states.
This deployment signals to other cities that “retribution awaits those who would stand between immigrants and the administration’s deportation machine.” - The Economist.
This is most likely just the warm-up. At this point, Trump doesn’t want to see protests marking his “birthday parade,” but his desire to take retribution against states that voted against him is the real aim here.
When you take a closer look at Trump’s memorandum, no city or state is specifically named. It is not limited to any time or place. It is an open-ended authorization. It allows military personnel to be deployed not just where protests have occurred, but anywhere protests “are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations.”
He intentionally creates tension that easily escalates with his illegal use of domestic troops. If it goes to the extreme, Trump could assert the Emergency Powers Act to impose federal control. How far these powers go is a question the Supreme Court has never definitively defined.
The use of the Emergency Powers Act is pure speculation. Looking at the darkest side, it could be used to take over voting or suspend voting in California or other blue states, thereby ensuring a Republican victory in the House and Senate, or to secure a third term for himself or a successor, given his age and health. Let us pray it never gets that far.
I take heart in knowing that TACO has been an acronym used to describe Trump and his tariffs, but it is true of so much of what he does, bravado, then chickening out. That being said, the only way we can poke TACO Trump is with loud, sustained, peaceful, and overwhelming protests.
Don’t Get Distracted
The legacy press has been continually showing the burning of those five cars and other fake images. In the meantime, the tariffs and the reconciliation bill are ongoing severe threats to our economy and the economies of the world.
Last week, Republicans began floating the idea of Medicare cuts, not Medicaid, Medicare cuts, because of opposition within their party to the massive deficits in their reconciliation bill.
On Monday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kennedy continued his assault on truth, science, and the health of the American people by firing 17 members of a CDC panel of experts on vaccines.
There are protests planned across the US on Saturday to speak out against Trump’s military display of might for his birthday. If and how those escalate into anti-ICE protests is of concern. These are volatile times.
Tangential Items
A few important actions that need to be considered in the overall picture:
David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California, was detained by federal agents on Friday while protesting an immigration raid at a work site in downtown Los Angeles. Video of the incident shows Mr. Huerta being knocked down and lying with his head on the curb. He was hospitalized and, according to the union, was released from the hospital on Friday, but sent to jail. He was released from jail on Monday.
The president said he had directed the Director of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to take all such action necessary to “liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.” A use of verbiage that only incites more anger.
This all began as Californians came to the aid of immigrants who are neighbors and friends. People who may be here without papers, but have committed no crimes, they are just seeking a better life. These are not the murderers and rapists Trump said he would deport while campaigning. So we must not forget that another action by this administration is the blatantly prejudicial travel ban on citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries. The ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don’t hold a valid visa.
Take Care of Yourself
This is the beginning of summer. Vacations are being planned, kids are looking forward to a few months without homework, and the weather is telling you to go outside and smell the roses.
We are living through a momentous period in history. We all must do our part to stand up and make our voices heard in support of democracy. At the same time, take care of yourself.