On Friday (6/6/25), ICE launched massive immigration raids across Los Angeles, arresting 45 people including labor and union organizers.
Protests exploded downtown near a detention center. Demonstrators blocked buses, threw rocks, and clashed with federal agents trying to transport detainees.
But let’s be real: no number of ICE raids will stop undocumented immigration. The real solution isn’t more crackdowns, it’s a better legal process. Programs like the Bracero Agreement let people come, work, and return home safely. That’s how you fix it, not by terrorizing communities. The issue here is that politicians don’t want to fix the immigration problem.
People trying to become citizens “the right way” are being detained at their own immigration interviews. So what’s the message here? That playing by the rules gets you punished?
This is 2020 all over again. Trump is fueling tensions and putting on a show. These raids aren’t about safety, they’re political theatre. We can expect Trump and the federal government to issue lockdowns if they continue to instigate unrest.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration suddenly claims to care about “law and order.” Funny, maybe if these protesters said they were storming the Capitol on January 6, they’d get a handshake and a pardon instead.
For those of us who’ve spent the last six months discussing how Trump would use deportations to create chaos in Blue states and then use that chaos as an excuse to declare a national emergency and seize total power, things are right on schedule.
– Rachel Bitecofer
via social media
June 7, 2025
via social media
June 7, 2025
As chaos descends in the United States, with the Federal Government sending military National Guard units into Los Angeles to support ICE raids of elementary school graduations, restaurant kitchens, and Home Depots, keep in mind this simple fact:
They don’t have to do this.
There is no emergency. There is no need to bring hell down upon American cities and neighborhoods. This is a conscious choice to burn our nation to the ground. This is a choice to arrest moms, dads, and high school volleyball players, rather than the gang members they said were the targets. This is a choice to set our cities on fire.
A choice made by Donald Trump.
Always see that truth above all others.
This is a choice. Trump’s choice.
He’s choosing war.
Madness.
– Michael J. Tallon
via social media
June 8, 2025
via social media
June 8, 2025
This should never be allowed. Police officers are in the unique position of having the authority to seize people and things and take custody of them. The potential for abuse is enormous. Therefore they should always be identifiable by name, law enforcement agency, badge number, and face.
I call BS on the claim that threats to them and their families necessitate hiding their identities. As a criminal court judge my name and face aren’t hidden. If they are so concerned with their personal safety then they should find other employment.
Dressing like they’re in an active war zone to drag moms and 12-year old kids into shipping containers. We are now seeing the masked goons who will carry our the orders of the criminal regime. These are the men who will be sowing terror and fear throughout our neighborhoods for the next decade.
The GOP budget bill promises to increase the spending for these paramilitary operations by five fold. The U.S. government is poised to spend ONE TRILLION dollars on the largest detainment and relocation program in human history. Their scheme is nothing less than a 21st century, high tech, for-profit Trail of Tears. Palantir and private prison CEOs become billionaires while we watch our nation ransacked, and millions of mostly Latino and indigenous families from Central and South America are obliterated.
America will never be the same. Whatever you used to think, it is now gone. You will now have to choose a side.
These masked men, wearing no name tags, unbound by our Constitution or laws, and subject to no one except the whims of a mad King, are demanding quarter in our streets, public spaces, homes, schools, and churches. This is in direct violation of our Third Amendment rights.
Let me remind these fucking cosplay military muppets that they last time we had a revolution, the asshats working for the King lost. We’re on the eve of a second American Revolution, prepare your homes and communities.
The most striking thing about the L.A. protest is how many people just dropped everything to show up and yell at federal agents. There are people in suits, and carrying dogs, and wearing flip flops or bike helmets. These are not people who planned to do this today. But there they are.
– Erin Scafe
via social media
June 6, 2025
via social media
June 6, 2025
in Paramount, California – June 7, 2025.
(Photo: Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Unions and allies in California and across the United States on Saturday are demanding the immediate release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, after the highly regarded labor leader was injured and then arrested while witnessing a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Friday.
“SEIU California members call for the immediate release of our President, David Huerta, who was injured and detained at the site of one of today’s ICE raids in Los Angeles,” said Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, in a statement.
In a later update, the union said Huertas – a veteran labor leader whose union represents over 45,000 janitors, airport workers, security guards, and other property service workers – had been released from the hospital where he received treatment for injuries sustained during his arrest, but that he remained in custody.
The union included remarks from Huertas, who said, “We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice.”
“This is about something much bigger” than his own arrest, said Huertas. “This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice.”
According to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 44 individuals were “administratively arrested” in a series of raids at retail stores in the Los Angeles area, while one individual, identified as Huertas, was arrested “for obstruction” of federal officers.
“This is what fascism looks like,” said California State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat. “Secret police raids. Injuring protesters. Arresting labor leaders.”
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the chief prosecutor in the Central District of California, claimed in a post on social media, that “federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday.”
. . . California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also weighed in. “David Huerta is a respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people," said Newsom. "No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action.”
Outrage over Huerta’s arrest and ongoing detention, both from the labor union movement and immigrant rights groups, continued to spread on Friday and into Saturday.
“We refuse to stay silent while ICE terrorizes working-class communities,” said the California Federation of Labor Unions (CFLU). “We are turning out and standing united in solidarity with SEIU-California calling on the release of SEIU President David Huerta!”
In a statement, CFLU president Lorena Gonzalez called for “an end to the cruel, destructive, and indiscriminate ICE raids that are tearing apart our communities, disrupting our economies, and hurting all working people. Immigrant workers are essential to our society – feeding our nation, caring for our elders, cleaning our workplaces, and building our homes.”
In a post on social media, SEIU California said: “Let’s be clear: ICE injured and detained the president of SEIU California for peacefully observing. ICE picked the wrong side. The wrong state. The wrong person. and the wrong union. David Huerta stood up. And 750,000 SEIU workers are standing with him.”
– Jon Queally
Excerpted from “'This Is What Fascism Looks Like':
Beloved Labor Leader David Huerta Arrested”
Common Dreams
June 7, 2025
Excerpted from “'This Is What Fascism Looks Like':
Beloved Labor Leader David Huerta Arrested”
Common Dreams
June 7, 2025
– Image: AP/Ethan Swope
When a move like this happens, it’s not just about crowd control. It’s about narrative control.
Deploying the National Guard against the will of a state governor is no small thing. It’s not normal. It’s not routine. And it’s certainly not just about keeping the peace.
It’s about owning the headlines.
Projecting strength.
Feeding fear.
And making sure the story being told is one that benefits those in power.
So let’s talk about why Trump really sent the National Guard into California: It’s election theater. He’s trying to stage-manage a “law and order” moment to make himself look like the only adult in the room. He wants voters to see protests and think chaos . . . then see troops and think Trump.
It’s a calculated escalation. Federal troops don’t de-escalate protests – they inflame them. And Trump knows it. He’s counting on it. More unrest means more chances to blame Democrats, immigrants, and “leftists.”
It undermines state authority. This move tells governors – especially ones who push back – that Trump can and will go over their heads. It’s a power grab dressed up as public safety.
It’s a test run. How far can he push it? How will California respond? How will the courts? It’s not just about today – it’s about laying groundwork for something more extreme tomorrow. (Don't sleep on this one!)
It’s Christian Nationalism in uniform. Let’s be real. This isn’t just politics. It’s theocracy with a badge. This is about imposing one version of “order” rooted in a whitewashed, weaponized version of Christianity that Jesus wouldn’t recognize.
Because the Jesus of actual Christianity didn’t deploy troops.
He flipped tables.
He welcomed the outsider.
He refused violence – even when arrested.
He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), not the fearmongers.
He said, “Whatever you do to the least of these . . . you do to me” (Matthew 25:40), not “call in the Guard.”
He told Peter to put away his sword (Matthew 26:52), not to “show strength.”
Christian Nationalism baptizes brutality. Jesus calls us to mercy. So don’t confuse the two.
What’s happening in California right now? It’s not crowd control. It’s narrative control.
And it has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus.
– Mark Sandlin
Minister at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant,
Greensboro, North Carolina
via social media
June 8, 2025
Minister at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant,
Greensboro, North Carolina
via social media
June 8, 2025
The Trump regime just unleashed a full-scale military and law enforcement assault on the streets of Los Angeles, deploying masked ICE agents, National Guard troops, and federal officers against innocent civilians. No warrants. No probable cause. No due process. Just brute-force kidnappings under the pretense of “immigration enforcement.” This isn’t policy. This is a purge.
Let’s be crystal clear: this isn’t about “illegals” or border security. This is about optics. This is about spectacle. Trump is staging live-action propaganda for his base – feeding them images of power, cruelty, and conquest in exchange for cheers and votes. The Constitution be damned. He’s not trying to solve a problem. He’s trying to be the problem—because fear is his fuel, and fascism is his method.
People are being ripped off sidewalks, thrown into vans, denied lawyers, denied identification, and in some cases, denied their rights as U.S. citizens. Families are being separated in broad daylight. Children are being left stranded on curbs like trash bags. Trump’s government is abducting people for the crime of existing while brown. If this happened abroad, we’d call it human trafficking. But here? They call it “law and order.”
And yet the national response is eerily quiet. Cable news is lukewarm. Democrats are hedging. Editorial boards are wringing their hands. And meanwhile, a major American city has been turned into a test site for full-blown martial law. Don’t look away. Don’t pretend it’s normal. Don’t let the language of bureaucracy or border talk soften what’s happening. This is fascism. Period.
This is more than a crisis for Los Angeles. It’s a referendum on the rest of us. Will we protest? Will we resist? Or will we let them normalize this – just like they normalized family separations, just like they normalized pardoning insurrectionists, just like they normalized governing by cruelty? Because once you give them an inch of unchecked power, they take your country with it.
If this regime can do it in L.A., it can do it in Houston. In Chicago. In Brooklyn. In Boise. All it takes is silence. All it takes is one more day where people shake their heads and scroll past the horror without doing a damn thing. The alarm is sounding. And if you ignore it now, don’t be surprised when it arrives at your door without knocking.
What is our moral responsibility as citizens of the United States when the President of the United States moves to deploy thousands of American soldiers against us?
Trump signed a memo late yesterday ordering 2,000 members of the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles County after federal immigration agents in riot gear squared off with hundreds of protesters for a second consecutive day.
Trump’s action is extreme although technically legal. Title 10 of the United States Code allows a president to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” In a presidential memo, Trump said, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
Why is he doing it, and why now?
Because Trump can’t stand to be humiliated – as he has been in the last two weeks. By senate Republicans refusal to quickly enact his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. By Xi Jinping’s refusal to back down on trade (and restrict shipments of China’s rare earths, which American industry depends on). By Putin’s refusal to end the war in Ukraine. By the federal courts pushing back against his immigration policy. And, now, by insults and smears from the richest person in the world, who has a larger social media following than does Trump.
So what does Trump do when he’s humiliated? He deflects public attention. Like any bully, he tries to find another way to display his power – especially over people whom he doesn’t consider “his” people.
He has despised California since the 2016 election when the state overwhelmingly voted against him.
And what better Ground Zero for him to try out his police state than Los Angeles – a city teaming with immigrants, with Hollywood celebrities who demonize him, and wealthy moguls who despise him?
He is calling out the National Guard to provoke violence. As California governor Gavin Newsom said, “that move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
Exactly. Trump wants to escalate tensions. He wants a replay of the violence that occurred in the wake of the George Floyd murder – riots, mayhem, and destruction that allow him to escalate his police state further – imposing curfews, closing down parts of Los Angeles, perhaps seeking to subdue the entire state. And beyond.
Please do not give him this. Don’t fall into his trap.
We cannot be silent in the face of Trump’s dictatorial move. But we must not succumb to violence.
What is needed is peaceful civil disobedience. Americans locking arms to protect those who need protection. Americans sitting in the way of armored cars. Americans singing and chanting in the face of the Americans whom Trump is drafting into his handmade civil war.
Americans who do not attempt to strike back, but who do what many of us did during the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements – peacefully but unambiguously reject tyranny.
A humiliated Trump is the most dangerous Trump. But he will overreach. He already has. And this overreach will ultimately be his undoing.
As long as we keep our heads.
May we look back on this hellish time and feel proud of what we did.
Be strong. Be safe. Hug your loved ones.
– Robert Reich
Excerpted from “Sunday Thoughts:
Time for Non-violent Civil Disobedience”
RobertReich.substack.com
June 8, 2025
Excerpted from “Sunday Thoughts:
Time for Non-violent Civil Disobedience”
RobertReich.substack.com
June 8, 2025
– Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Related Off-site Links:
ICE Launches “Military-style” Raids in Los Angeles: What We Know – Al Jazeera (June 7, 2025).
National Guard to Be Sent to L.A. Amid Clashes; Newsom Calls Hegseth’s Threat of Marines “Deranged” – Los Angeles Times (June 7, 2025).
Trump Authorizes 2,000 National Guard Troops to Deploy to Los Angeles Amid ICE Protests – Lauren Gambino, Maya Yang, and Diana Ramirez-Simon (The Guardian, June 8, 2025).
A New Phase of Trump Neofascism – Robert Reich (Common Dreams, May 25, 2025).
Maria Ressa Warns of Authoritarianism in the U.S.: “This Is a Pivotal Moment” – GBH News (May 2, 2025).
Is Trump’s America Still a Democracy?: An Interview With Autocracy Scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat – Prospect (May 1, 2025).
People Who Fled Authoritarian Regimes Say Trump’s Tactics Remind Them of Home – Frank Langfitt (NPR News, May 1, 2025).
What If It Is Fascism? – Fred Glass (Jacobin, April 29, 2025).
Marks of the Fascist, Tacky, Insatiable Beast – Abby Zimet (Common Dreams, April 27, 2025).
Democracy Is Dying in Broad Daylight: How Trump Is Leading a Totalitarian Coup – Marianne Williamson (Rising, April 8, 2025).
Expert on Fascism Explains Why He’s Getting Out of America; Offers Chilling Warning – Mike Figueredo (The Humanist Report, March 28, 2025).
“How Fascism Works”: An Interview With Author Jason Stanley – Amanpour and Company (March 26, 2025).
How the Media Walked Us Into Autocracy: An Interview with Ralph Nader – The Chris Hedges Report (March 6, 2025).
UPDATES: Trump Is Normalizing the Unthinkable: Federal Troops in American Streets, Breaking the Law – and Getting Away With It – Thom Hartmann (Common Dreams, June 9, 2025).
“Absolutely Unprecedented”: Trump Deploys National Guard to L.A. and Hegseth Threatens to Send in Marines – Democracy Now! (June 9, 2025).
L.A. Under Siege: Trump Sends in National Guard as Protests Continue Over Militarized ICE Raids – Democracy Now! (June 9, 2025).
California City Cancels “Divisive” ICE Contract Amid Los Angeles Protests – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, June 9, 2025).
With Tanks Heading to D.C., Call by “Dictator” Trump to “Bring in the Troops” Spurs Fear of Wider Repression – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, June 9, 2025).
U.S. Military Deploys Marines to Los Angeles as Trump Backs Arrest of California Governor – Jane Ross and Idrees Ali (Reuters, June 9, 2025).
Donald Trump Manufactured the Crisis in Los Angeles – Meagan Day (Jacobin, June 9, 2025).
Latinx Caucus of the Green Party Condemns ICE Paramilitary Raids Across California – Green Party USA (June 9, 2025).
Some Notes on the City of Angels and the Nature of Violence – Rebecca Solnit (Meditations in an Emergency, June 9, 2025).
Ta-Nehisi Coates Unleashing on Trump and the L.A. Riots – Bulwark Podcast (June 9, 2025).
1,800+ “No Kings” Rallies Planned Across U.S. as Trump Deploys Military to Crush Protests – Eloise Goldsmith (Common Dreams, June 9, 2025).
The L.A. Awakening: Repression, Resistance, and the Possibility of Radical Democratic Renewal – Peter Bloom (Common Dreams, June 10, 2025).
“A Grave Escalation”: Leaked Letter Shows Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Requested Military Arrests at L.A. Protests – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, June 10, 2025).
From Protest to Pretext: Trump, Troops, and the Illusion of Crisis – James B. Greenberg (James’s Substack, June 10, 2025).
From Travel Ban to Troops in Streets, Advocates Blast Trump’s Targeting of Immigrant Communities – Democracy Now! (June 11, 2025).
“The Beginning of Fascism”: Rep. Delia Ramirez Says Trump’s Immigrant Crackdown Is Crushing Democracy – Democracy Now! (June 12, 2025).
“We Are in the Midst of the Creation of a Police State”: Rep. Ilhan Omar on Trump’s Authoritarianism – Democracy Now! (June 13, 2025).
See also the following chronologically-ordered Wild Reed posts:
• Marisa Kabas: “We’re Witnessing a Coup By an Unelected Billionaire Propped Up By a Felonious President”
• Timothy Snyder on Resisting the Oligarchs’ “Logic of Destruction”
• “This Is Essentially Viktor Orbán’s Playbook”
• “An Extremely Clever Ruse” by and for the Rich: Owen Jones on Elon Musk’s Coup
• “To Be a Rib in This Body of Our Country”
• Quote of the Day – February 21, 2025
• Ralph Nader: “We’re Heading Into the Most Serious Crisis in American History. There’s No Comparison”
• Why the Democratic Party Is Not Going to Save Us From Fascism
• “This Is How Democracy Unravels”
• Jason Stanley on How Fascism Works
• James Greenberg on Trumpism: “The Tactics Are Unmistakable”
• Tony Pentimalli on Trump’s “Death Warrant for Democracy”
• The Reckoning Is Coming
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