Listen Now: 
Violent protests have erupted across Los Angeles after Donald Trump sent immigration agents to round up unauthorised migrants. The US president deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to uphold “very strong law and order” in the city, prompting California Governor Gavin Newsom to call the move “illegal and immoral. Sites in Downtown Los Angeles, including the Metropolitan Detention Center and sections of the 101 Freeway, became focal points for confrontations on Friday. Trump ordered troops into the city without the consent of California Governor Gavin Newsom, an action not seen in Los Angeles since 1965. The President may employ the armed forces … to … restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition. Trump has stated he will deport between 15 and 20 million people, although the estimated number of illegal immigrants is only 11 million. The American Immigration Council says that a “highly conservative” estimate of Trump’s plan would cost at least $315 billion, or $967.9 billion over a decade, and be unworkable without massive outdoor detention camps.
Trump has stated that his plan would follow the ‘Eisenhower model,’ a reference to the 1954 campaign Operation Wetback. To achieve the goal of deporting millions per year, Trump stated his intent to expand expedited removal pursuant to section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; invoke the Alien Enemies Act within the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798; and invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to allow the military to apprehend immigrants and bypass the Posse Comitatus Act.
Trump told a rally audience in September 2024 that the deportation effort “will be a bloody story.” He has also spoken of rounding up homeless people in blue cities and detaining them in camps. The Trump team will also attempt to overturn the Flores settlement that prevents the indefinite holding of children.
This is a developing story – More to come
RELATED NEWS
