Gov. Josh Green and Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez joined their Democratic counterparts from around the country in condemning President Donald Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops to quell protests of immigration sweeps in Los Angeles.
Green was one of 22 governors who issued a joint statement that called Trump’s reaction to protests against deportation “an alarming abuse of power. Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous.”
On the floor of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz called Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard a purposeful effort to take attention from Trump’s budget bill, which Schatz said would slash federal funding for Medicaid, Medicare and food stamps to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said National Guard troops — and U.S. Marines that Trump also deployed — are unnecessary to deal with demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles. Protests have since spread to other parts of the country.
Lopez was one of 18 attorneys general who issued a statement that called Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic.”
But state Rep. Diamond Garcia (R, Ewa-Kapolei) said, “What’s been happening is inaction and that is unsafe and unconstitutional. … Federal buildings were broken into, federal law enforcement were being attacked. … The president has the right to federalize the guard in instances like this.”
Garcia, the House minority floor leader, said he supports peaceful protest, even in opposition to Trump. “But what’s happening out there is insane,” he said. “When you’re attacking law enforcement that crosses the line.”
Tamara McKay, chair of the Hawaii Republican Party, said video “shows people hurting people, damaging police cars and people having to run to protect themselves.
“If the governor (Newsom) isn’t going to take responsibility and downsize the illegal activity, when do they step in?” she asked. “A peaceful demonstration is one thing … but when is enough enough? … There were people going to the hospital and people running for their lives. How does that seem right or fair?”
Early Sunday, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Trump ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to redirect hundreds of National Guard troops from San Diego to Los Angeles for 60 days.
The move was not authorized by Newsom and goes against the wishes of local law enforcement, Bonta said in a statement.
On Monday, Bonta and Newsom sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to the suit, Trump exceeded the federal government’s authority and violated the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution aimed at ensuring states’ rights.
“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion,” Bonta said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends. Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the President’s authority under the law — and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
When National Guard troops arrived Sunday morning, according to Bonta, the protests had died out and the “streets were quiet, but soon after the National Guard arrived, tensions reignited, leading to the very sort of unrest the National Guard was supposedly sent in to quell. Concerningly, President Trump has already made clear his intention to expand the use of these National Guard troops to conduct interior civil immigration enforcement activities normally conducted by civil immigration law enforcement officers, creating fear and terror in California communities.”
In their statement of support for the California lawsuit, the attorneys general said, “As the chief law enforcement officers of our states, we are proud to protect our communities and support California Attorney General Rob Bonta in his challenge to the Trump administration’s illegal conduct.
“We oppose any action from this administration that will sow chaos, inflame tensions, and put people’s lives at risk.”
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Schatz condemned what he called Trump’s “authoritarian tactics” in Los Angeles that are meant to mask “Republican efforts to push through an unpopular bill that slashes health care and food assistance in order to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.
“If you heard that a leader of a foreign country was sending armed soldiers into his own cities, you would correctly call it authoritarian behavior,” Schatz said. “The fact that this is happening right here in the United States against fellow citizens at the direction of the president does not make it less dangerous.”
Schatz said, “Trump does what he always does. He creates a spectacle out of nowhere in order to distract people from what is actually happening. They are cutting Medicaid. They are slashing nutritional assistance for children and families. They are jacking up everyone’s health insurance premiums and energy bills.”
He called on Americans to push back against Trump’s budget bill.
“What we need across the country is a bunch of people saying, ‘Don’t cut Medicare. Don’t cut Medicaid. Don’t cut food assistance,” Schatz said. “And certainly don’t use all of those cuts to provide resources to the wealthiest people to have ever walked the planet. We’re going to fight as hard as we can. We’ve only got 47 votes. We need four Republicans to say ‘enough is enough.’”
Source: The Garden Island