Protests against Donald Trump’s harsh immigration policies have spread across the United States, despite a military-backed crackdown in Los Angeles and threats by the president to use “heavy force.” In Los Angeles, where the unrest began last Friday, an overnight curfew was largely effective, with police arresting around 25 people who refused to leave the downtown area.
Protester Lynn Sturgis, a 66-year-old retired school teacher, said, “I would say for the most part everything is hunky dory right here at Ground Zero… Our city is not at all on fire, it’s not burning down, as our terrible leader is trying to tell you.”
The protests were sparked by a sudden intensification of Trump’s signature campaign to deport illegal migrants, with raids conducted on workplaces. Around 1,000 troops from the 4,700 that Trump ordered to the city were actively guarding facilities and working alongside ICE agents, said Scott Sherman, Deputy Commanding General Army North.
The rest, including 700 active-duty Marines, were mustering or undergoing training in dealing with civil disturbances. The Pentagon has estimated the deployment will cost taxpayers $134 million.
Trump has deployed the California National Guard despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s objections, the first time a US president has taken such action in decades. “If our troops didn’t go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now,” Trump insisted on social media.
The White House doubled down on that rhetoric, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “President Trump will never allow mob rule to prevail in America.”
Newsom has charged that Trump is seeking to escalate the confrontation for political gain. “Democracy is under assault right before our eyes,” he said in a televised address. “California may be first, but it clearly won’t end here.”
Nationwide protests are growing, with thousands marching in New York and Chicago. Demonstrations are also planned in Seattle and Las Vegas ahead of a nationwide “No Kings” movement on Saturday.
Trump warned that any protests during a military parade in Washington on Saturday would face “very heavy force.” Critics argue that Trump is manufacturing a crisis, with Newsom saying Trump “inflamed” the situation and went “well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals.
His agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses.” Footage obtained by AFP shows federal agents ramming a car in Los Angeles, with witnesses saying a woman and two children were left badly shaken.