With record arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the past week, the actions of ICE agents have sparked protests around the country and a prolonged standoff in communities around Los Angeles, with Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops escalating an already tense situation.
Detention dragnet widens
On June 3rd, ICE arrested more than 2300 immigrants, the highest daily number to date, as part of an escalation of ongoing operations that have set communities on edge since President Trump took office. These arrests include many in the Alternative to Detention program that allows undocumented immigrants who pose no threat to public safety to stay in the U.S. with periodic monitoring and check-ins as their cases proceed. The intensive supervision program is forty times more cost effective than confinement in detention facilities, according to ICE’s own facts page. These actions fly in the face of the Trump administration rhetoric and Border Czar Tom Homan’s claims that they are deporting “the worst of the worst.” News reports have captured the anguish of families torn apart, including a report of a 9-year-old boy from Torrance, California separated from his father as both were detained at an immigration hearing in L.A., then sent to a detention facility in Texas while awaiting deportation.
National Guard troops deployed to L.A. protests
Mass protests have erupted outside ICE facilities, in the community, and at courthouses which had been previously off limits from ICE actions. In California, Telemundo and local stations covered the protests in the city of Paramount near a Home Depot on June 7th, with roads blockaded as protestors clashed with over 100 deputy sheriffs sent to the scene. President Trump ordered 2000 National Guard members to be deployed to Los Angeles, an extraordinary move against the will of the Governor to federalize California troops using Title 10 authority, which is intended for acts or threats of invasion or rebellion. Moreover, Trump is pushing the bounds of presidential power that’s checked by a 19th century law, the Posse Comitatus Act, passed in 1878 to prevent military interference in civilian affairs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to mobilize active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton, adding to the specter of military force used on U.S. civilians.
Governor Gavin Newsom decried this order as “purposely inflammatory” and said these actions “will only escalate tensions.” On Monday he vowed to sue the Trump administration over the deployment of the California National Guard.
LA’s mayor, Karen Bass, posted the following to X following Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops. “The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real – it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs, and I urge protestors to remain peaceful.”
By Sunday morning, several hundred National Guards troops had been deployed to three locations in the greater L.A. region. Trump told reporters, “We’re gonna have troops everywhere. We’re not gonna let this happen to our country.”
Throughout the weekend, TV stations in L.A. County documented the escalation of protests in which law enforcement used rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and tear gas at the crowd. Protestors were reported to throw objects at Border Patrol vehicles, launched fireworks at the police on Saturday night, and set fire to several driverless taxis in downtown L.A. on Sunday. Of the dozens of arrests, the manhandling of SEIU California’s President David Huerta has sparked further outrage as he was handcuffed, dragged inside a federal building, and taken into detention after being released from the hospital.
Legislators condemn ICE, Trump’s use of force
Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire said in a statement, “America must put a stop to these fascist tactics.” He also called “for an immediate release of SEIU State Council President David Huerta who was violently thrown to the ground is now being detained by ICE.” Huerta is a U.S. born citizen. Four members of the Congressional delegation from L.A. were blocked on Saturday from entering a federal building in downtown L.A. where immigrants were being held with limited legal access, food and water. Outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in L.A., Representative Maxine Waters voiced her concerns to a reporter about Trump’s deployment of troops to quell the protests, “I think he’s up to creating martial law.”
