BREAKING:Trump sends the National Guard to protect ICE in California

Is this martial law?

image credit: Reuters

Trump has deployed 2,000 national guard troops in California over the Governor’s objection. Tensions are high as the Trump Administration has escalated their campaign to forcibly deport people, increasingly without due process.

As citizens have gathered to protest the situation Trump has sent in members of the national guard to intimidate them.

There is a lot happening right now that people are rightfully concerned about. Last Thursday, ICE detained more than 2,200 people which is the most people it has detained in any single day. They have already arrested 100,000 people in Trump’s second term and the numbers will likely continue to increase because the administration has said they want ICE arresting 3,000 people per day.

The budget recently passed by the House would direct about $200 billion to be spent on immigration and border law enforcement. CATO estimates the cost of mass deportation to be $5 trillion over our lifetime.

While the Trump Administration has said they want people to come here legally, ICE is arresting people after their asylum hearings in places like Portland, Oregon, San Antonio, TX and San Francisco, CA. Advocates say courthouse arrests have happened in 19 cities in 13 states.

Law enforcement claiming to be from ICE are wearing masks and not identifying themselves. In Chicago, masked agents, “came in with no identification, pointing guns, wearing masks, shoving people to the ground, without giving any reason for why they were being detained. This was not safe. This was mayhem." according to Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez.

The tactics being used are also suspect in other ways. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Illinois) said in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that the people arrested were responding to text messages asking them to check in as part of a federal monitoring program.

Trump posted at 2:41am on Saturday June 7th thanking the national guard for a job well done, which according to Governor Gavin Newsom, was before the national guard had been deployed. Protests in and around LA began on Friday and have included tear gas and allegations of violence and vandalism. News reports said that the protestors measured in the hundreds, and Gov. Newsom has said there was no shortage of law enforcement necessary to handle the issues.

As Senator Chris Murphy said, “Trump isn’t trying to heal or keep the peace. He is 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. None of this is on the level.”

It seems clear that the Trump administration is contemplating increasingly authoritarian measures and finding ways to exaggerate the extent of the protests and demonize anyone participating in them.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the protests a “dangerous invasion,” tweeting that he would activate the U.S. Marine Corps if protests in L.A. persisted. Trump said that any protest or act of violence is a “form of rebellion.” JD Vance posted an obsequious tweet calling the use of the term “invasion” a technical judicial issue. He also called the protestors “insurrectionists.” Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump immigration policy, described the protests as a "violent insurrection."

Why do these comments matter?

The White House activated the National Guard under Title 10 authority, not by invoking the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to enforce the law and suppress events like civil disorder.

Title 10, 10 U.S.C. 12406, allows the federal deployment of National Guard forces if “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

Under Title 10 authority, troops are NOT allowed to engage in ordinary law enforcement activities, they are only allowed to protect ICE personnel. Fomenting further escalation may in fact be the purpose of their deployment, but they are as of now not authorized to arrest immigrants or conduct raids without violating the Posse Comitatus Act which was passed to ban martial law. However The Insurrection Act, if invoked, would allow it.

Deploying active duty marines against protestors on American soil would contravene the entire tradition of American Democracy and any semblance of respect for personal liberty we could have as a nation.

By invoking rebellion language, blurring the lines between immigration enforcement and military authority and using the words “invasion” and "insurrection," the Trump Administration is laying the rhetorical and legal groundwork for suppression of dissent. The deployment of federalized National Guard troops, over the objections of elected state leaders, represents a dangerous federal overreach. This isn’t about keeping the peace. It’s about asserting control and it will continue to be a slippery slope. The administration is weaponizing language in order to achieve its goals.

While the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia this week shows that the administration is not fully unrestrained, it is clear that they will continue to push the envelope to see how much they can get away with. The callus and unconstitutional treatment of people who came here seeking a better life is not what America stands for.

Trump’s antics, like is public feud with Elon last week (more on that tommorow), can make one feel like his administration is a reality TV show. But behind the bloviation there is a dangerous strategy looming. Authoritarianism doesn’t come in one fell swoop like TV shows make it seem, it is a slow and ‘justified’ encroachment on norms and liberties by stepping on the necks of those most marginalized. Today it is immigrants and trans folks. Tommoorw it is all of us.