SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined a spotlight forum entitled “Cruel and Unamerican: The Abuse of Immigrants to Attack our Constitutional Order” to condemn President Trump’s inhumane, theatrical immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, including his unprecedented move to federalize the California National Guard and mobilize hundreds of members of the U.S. Marine Corps. He warned that Trump’s actions in California are a “test case” for using the National Guard or Marines to attack immigrants’ rights in communities across the country.
Padilla made clear that the blame for the unrest in Los Angeles falls squarely on President Trump. He blasted the President for using the same playbook when the headlines turn against him: scapegoat immigrants and manufacture a crisis. He outlined that Trump sought to sow chaos across Los Angeles to distract from his struggling political agenda, including Republicans’ billionaire-first tax bill that would gut health care and nutrition services that millions of Americans depend on to give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Padilla also urged Californians to continue peacefully protesting the Trump Administration’s unprecedented overreach, and strongly condemned violence in all its forms, including the small set of bad actors engaging in violent behavior or vandalism.
“Proud to have been born and raised in Los Angeles, and I can tell you that Angelenos have a long history of speaking up for ourselves — for our communities and for the vulnerable in our community. We’ve seen that tradition continue this past week as Angelenos have spoken up against the extreme actions of the Trump Administration. And yes, while a small number of bad actors have sought to exploit the peaceful protests and have engaged in violence or vandalism, the overwhelming majority of activity has been peaceful and protected by the First Amendment.”
“Donald Trump created this chaos. He inflamed this violence. And he did it intentionally. He sent federal agents in to terrorize communities, and then turned around and blamed state and local leaders for the very chaos that he unleashed.”
“By last Friday, Trump was drowning in negative headlines. And so just as he’s done throughout the years, when all else fails, when everything is going bad, he turns to the same tired playbook: Attack immigrants. Blame immigrants. And manufacture a crisis to try to change the news cycle.”
Padilla criticized Trump for his severe escalation of the conflict, deploying the National Guard without the Governor’s consent or request for the first time since 1965. Since then, Trump has arrested Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California President David Huerta for peacefully protesting, threatened to arrest Governor Newsom, and mobilized approximately 700 Marines to Los Angeles without a clear mission or justification. Padilla warned of the dangerous precedent Trump’s actions set, not just for California, but for the entire nation.
“This is dangerous territory. Servicewomen and men are trained to fight wars overseas not to police communities here in the United States. But that’s exactly what Donald Trump wants. He wants to create theatrics. He wants a viral clip of a protest turned chaotic so he can justify his crackdown on immigrants and distract from his own failures. He’s testing the boundaries of his power.”
“And my message to the country today is this: What’s happening in California is not just a threat to California, it’s not just a threat to immigrant communities. It’s a threat to everybody. Because an attack on anyone’s rights is an attack on everyone’s rights.”
“And no matter where you live or what’s your background, don’t think that anybody is insulated from Trump’s actions. If Donald Trump can bypass the Governor of California to activate the National Guard and suppress immigrant rights, he’ll do whatever he wants to suppress other rights, too. And if he can deploy Marines to Los Angeles, he can deploy them to any city in America.”
Padilla concluded his remarks by promising to fight against President Trump’s reckless attempt to circumvent due process to enact his mass deportation agenda.
“If he can bypass due process, declare lawful residents ‘criminals’ subject to deportation, and disappear them to foreign countries without even giving them an opportunity to make their case, what’s to stop him from doing the same to any of us?”
“California is nothing but Trump’s test case for the rest of the country. We can’t let him get away with it. We won’t let him get away with it.”
Video of Padilla’s full remarks is available here ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLRT0ia63PY )
In his questioning, Padilla discussed the Trump Administration’s alarming erosion of due process, including the unprecedented number of arrests taking place over the last few weeks at immigrants’ court dates, hearings, or regular check-ins.
Senator Padilla has been outspoken in calling out the Los Angeles Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and Trump’s misguided mobilization of the National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps. Yesterday, Padilla and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) demanded answers regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to deploy approximately 700 Marines to Los Angeles.
Padilla has spoken on the Senate floor multiple times to blast President Trump for manufacturing a crisis by launching indiscriminate ICE raids across Los Angeles and deploying the National Guard and active-duty servicemembers to the region. Earlier this week, Padilla, Schiff, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanded answers from top Trump Administration officials regarding the arrest and detention of David Huerta, President of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West.
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News item based on a press release issued by Senator Padilla. Photo credit, the office of Senator Padilla (file photo).
