President Trump issued a memoranda deploying at least 2,000 National Guard troops to California in response to protests against aggressive immigration raids in the Los Angeles area. At one location, SEIU United Service Workers West President David Huerta was injured by law enforcement and detained while advocating for immigrant workers. He has been released from the hospital but remains in federal custody.
In response, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai S. Nelson issued the following statement:
“Protesters in Los Angeles have a constitutional right to express concern with this administration’s inhumane immigration policies, detentions, and arrests in Los Angeles and throughout the country without fear of harm or injury or other violations of their civil rights and liberties. As state and local officials in California have recognized, these protests have been mostly peaceful. Nonetheless, President Trump has caused grave alarm by deploying thousands of members of the National Guard against the direct wishes of California Governor Newsom.
“This unnecessary and dangerous escalation occurs in conjunction with the Trump Administration’s a sweeping effort to criminalize migrants, especially migrants of color, and weaponize federal resources against protesters exercising their rights to express support for those targeted by this Administration’s anti-civil and human rights policies.
“Through the deployment of military resources, President Trump seeks to usurp control of California from its Governor to promote an anti-immigrant agenda. A broad contingent of people across the country oppose this crusade, and they have the right to make their voices heard and to stand in solidarity with the countless families and workers being targeted. The freedom to protest and express opposition to government actions distinguishes a constitutional and multiracial democracy from totalitarian regimes, where rulers have the power to direct the military to silence dissent, especially from the most marginalized communities.
“Fortunately, President Trump is not above the law. He has no power to disregard the Constitution. The manner in which basic speech and expression are being suppressed, chilled, and in the worst instances, violently suffocated should cause alarm to every American. We call on President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to immediately stand down and respect the First Amendment rights of Los Angeles residents and their supporters.”
UPDATE 6/10: President Trump has deployed 700 active-duty U.S. Marines and 2,000 additional National Guard to Los Angeles, California following protests against anti-immigration raids.
In response, LDF Associate Director-Counsel Todd A. Cox issued the following statement:
“All people in the United States have the right to protest racial injustice free from the threat of military violence. The additional deployment of active-duty military in response to protests is another deeply dangerous effort to suppress and silence those who voice opposition to anti-immigrant enforcement. While this deployment is an alarming and authoritarian step that aims to chill protest, these Marines have no power to arrest anyone. The law is clear. Marines, and President Trump, cannot violate the constitutional rights of any protester.”
For more on the significance of the right to protest, read TMI’s brief.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
