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Noem Vows to Keep Immigration Crackdown06/13 06:21
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to carry on with the Trump
administration's immigration crackdown despite waves of unrest across the U.S.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to carry
on with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown despite waves of
unrest across the U.S.
Hours after her comment Thursday, a judge directed the president to return
control to California over National Guard troops he deployed after protests
erupted over the immigration crackdown, but an appeals court quickly put the
brakes on that and temporarily blocked the order that was to go into effect on
Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing on the matter
for Tuesday.
The federal judge's temporary restraining order said the Guard deployment
was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded President Donald
Trump's statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard
troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge
said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets
yet.
Gov. Gavin Newsom who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops
helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the order before it was
blocked saying "today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed
the test" and had said he would be redeploying Guard soldiers to "what they
were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them."
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump thanked the appeals court
Friday morning.
"If I didn't send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning
to the ground right now," he said.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president acted within his
powers and that the federal judge's order "puts our brave federal officials in
danger. The district court has no authority to usurp the President's authority
as Commander in Chief."
The developments unfolded as protests continued in cities nationwide and the
country braced for major demonstrations against Trump over the weekend.
'This is only going to continue,' DHS chief says of raids
Noem said the immigration raids that fueled the protests would move forward
and agents have thousands of targets.
"This is only going to continue until we have peace on the streets of Los
Angeles," she said during a news conference that was interrupted by shouting
from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed
from the event.
Newsom has warned that the military intervention is part of a broader effort
by Trump to overturn norms at the heart of the nation's democracy. He also said
sending Guard troops on the raids has further inflamed tensions in LA.
So far the protests have been centered mostly in downtown near City Hall and
a federal detention center where some immigrants are being held. Much of the
sprawling city has been spared from the protests.
On the third night of an 8 p.m. curfew, Los Angeles police arrested several
demonstrators who refused orders to leave a street downtown. Earlier in the
night, officers with the Department of Homeland Security deployed flash bangs
to disperse a crowd that had gathered near the jail, sending protesters
sprinting away.
Those incidents were outliers. As with the past two nights, the hourslong
demonstrations remained peaceful and upbeat, drawing a few hundred attendees
who marched through downtown chanting, dancing and poking fun at the Trump
administration's characterization of the city as a "war zone."
Elsewhere, demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., emerging in more
than a dozen major cities. Some have led to clashes with police and hundreds
have been arrested.
Noem calls action in LA a blueprint
The immigration agents conducting the raids in LA are "putting together a
model and a blueprint" for other communities, Noem said.
She pledged that federal authorities "are not going away" even though, she
said, officers have been hit with rocks and bricks and assaulted. She said
people with criminal records who are in the country illegally and violent
protesters will "face consequences."
"Just because you think you're here as a citizen, or because you're a member
of a certain group or you're not a citizen, it doesn't mean that you're going
to be protected and not face consequences from the laws that this country
stands for," she said.
Noem criticized the Padilla's interruption, calling it "inappropriate." A
statement from her agency said the two met after the news conference for about
15 minutes, but it also chided him for "disrespectful political theater."
Padilla said later that he was demanding answers about the "increasingly
extreme immigration enforcement actions" and only wanted to ask Noem a
question. He said he was handcuffed but not arrested.
"If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I
can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers
throughout the Los Angeles community," he said.
Military involvement escalates in LA
The administration has said it is willing to send troops to other cities to
assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances -- in line
with what Trump promised during last year's campaign.
Some 2,000 Guard soldiers were in the nation's second-largest city and were
soon to be joined by 2,000 more, along with about 700 Marines, said Maj. Gen.
Scott Sherman, who is in charge of the operation.
About 500 of the Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been
trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, Sherman said Wednesday.
The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers,
but any arrests must be made by law enforcement.
States face questions on deploying troops
With more demonstrations expected over the weekend, and the possibility that
Trump could send troops to other states for immigration enforcement, governors
are weighing what to do.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has put 5,000 National Guard members
on standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other
Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they may
deploy troops.
A group of Democratic governors earlier signed a statement this week calling
Trump's deployments "an alarming abuse of power."
Hundreds arrested in LA protests
There have been about 470 arrests since Saturday, the vast majority of which
were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according
to the police department.
There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault
against officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine
officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries.
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