Trump’s crackdown on US residents is travelling all the way to California governor, Gavin Newsom.
This have escalated in the US quite quickly. It began when Trump ordered the random arrests of people who don’t look white. This in an apparent bid to crack down on US residents under the guise of going after illegal immigrants. This, of course, sparked backlash among California residents who came out in droves to protest this seemingly illegal wave of arrests.
In response, Trump apparently sent in the National Guard to crack down on protesters for daring to speak against the latest crackdown. From Global News:
Members of the U.S. National Guard faced off with protesters in Los Angeles on Sunday, and tear gas was fired at a growing crowd that gathered outside a federal complex hours after the federal troops arrived in the city on President Donald Trump’s orders.
The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group of demonstrators shouted insults at members of the guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields.
There did not appear to be any arrests. Other law enforcement officials are also on scene, and it was not immediately clear who fired the tear gas.
Around 300 National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles early Sunday following clashes in recent days between protesters and federal immigration agents.
An Australian journalist working for 9News was apparently also shot by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) with a non-lethal weapon.
Trump officials further threatened anyone daring to defy the police actions. That threat apparently made it all the way to California governor, Gavin Newsom. Newsom, apparently, shot back, daring the Trump administration to arrest him. From NBCNews:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back against threats of arrest by Trump administration officials, remaining defiant as he oversees clashes between law enforcement agents and protesters in response to immigration raids across Los Angeles while also managing an ongoing power struggle with the federal government.
Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, warned Saturday that immigration operations and the presence of federal personnel would continue in the city despite criticism from Democratic leaders who’ve warned it could further escalate protests. He threatened arrest for anyone who obstructs the immigration enforcement effort, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — though he acknowledged that neither yet had “crossed the line.”
“I’ll say about anybody,” Homan said. “You cross that line, it’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.”
In an interview for MSNBC with NBC News’ Jacob Soboroff, Newsom called Homan’s bluff, urging him to “just get it over with” and move ahead with the arrest.
“He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me,” Newsom said. “That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.”
Amidst the California crackdown, one union leader was arrested after being sent to the hospital. From the LA Times:
The arrest of union leader David Huerta is going to have a major impact in the coming months as deportations continue.
Huerta was taken to a hospital for treatment, then into custody, where he remains until a Monday arraignment.
Which is why the arrest of David Huerta, president of SEIU-USWW and SEIU California, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday is going to have a major impact on the coming months as deportations continue.
“They have woke us up,” Tia Orr told me Saturday morning. She’s the executive director of the 700,000-strong Service Employees International Union California, of which Huerta is a part, and the first African American and Latina to lead the organization.
“And I think they’ve woke people up across the nation, certainly in California, and people are ready to get to action,” she added. “I haven’t seen that in a long time. I don’t know that I’ve seen something like that before, and so yes, it is going to result in action that I believe is going to be historical.”
While unions have voiced their disapproval of mass deportations since the MAGA threat first manifested, the unions’ might has not gone full force against them, taking instead a bit of a wait-and-see approach.
Well, folks, we’ve seen. We’ve seen the unidentified masked men rounding up immigrants across the country and shipping them into life sentences at torturous foreign prisons; we’ve watched a 9-year-old Southern California boy separated from his father and detained for deportation; and Friday, across Los Angeles, we saw an anonymous military-style force of federal agents sweep up our neighbors, family members and friends in what seemed to be a haphazard and deliberately cruel way.
And for those of you who have watched the video of Huerta’s arrest, we’ve seen a middle-aged Latino man in a plaid button-down be roughly pushed by authorities in riot gear until he falls backward, and seems to strike his head on the curb. Huerta was, according to a television interview with Mayor Karen Bass, pepper-sprayed as well. Then he was taken to the hospital for treatment, then into custody, where he remains until a Monday arraignment.
Governor Newsom also released a statement saying that California is standing strong against Trump:
In case you missed it, last night, President Trump – disregarding Governor Newsom – federalized California National Guard troops in Los Angeles at a time when there were no unmet law enforcement needs. In fact, local law enforcement efforts successfully de-escalated the situation in Los Angeles County prior to any of Trump’s commandeered troops being deployed on the ground.
What followed were statements made by various leaders and civil rights organizations also condemning the crackdown in California.
Over top of this was the threat of legal action from Newsom. From The Hill:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said California will sue the Trump administration on Monday over its deployment of the National Guard to quell Los Angeles protests against federal immigration raids.
In an interview Sunday evening on MSNBC, Newsom said the lawsuit would challenge Trump’s federalizing of the California National Guard without the state’s consent, a move with little precedent in U.S. history.
“Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He’s exacerbated the conditions. He’s, you know, lit the proverbial match. He’s putting fuel on this fire, ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard — an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act,” Newsom said on MSNBC.
“And we’re going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow,” he added..
Asked to elaborate on the lawsuit, Newsom said that under Trump’s executive order, “it specifically notes — and under what the [Department of Defense] did — is they had to coordinate with the governor of the state. They never coordinated with the governor of the state,” he said.
Things seem to be getting real down south.
