The Resistance Begins

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador despite legal protections, was brought back to the U.S. to face charges related to transporting undocumented migrants.

“The move, which was revealed today when an indictment was unsealed at a federal court in Nashville, could provide an offramp for the White House. A series of courts had ordered the U.S. to attempt to secure Abrego Garcia’s return. The Trump administration can now avoid escalating its legal fight while pressing its claim that he was worthy of removal. You can read the full indictment here.

“Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference this afternoon. “He was a smuggler of humans, and women and children.”

“ Garcia’s lawyers said they welcomed their day in court. “Today’s action proves what we’ve known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,” one of his lawyers said. “It’s now up to our judicial system to see that Mr. Abrego Garcia receives the due process that the constitution guarantees to all persons.”

More support for the proposition that TACO.

As I noted before, if that was actually, the charges against
Garcia, they should have led with that… instead of bogus
M-13 gang charges… the point here is that the government
has had time to put their ducks in order and find/create
witnesses against Garcia… he will be found guilty not
because he is guilty, he almost certainly is innocent…
no, the point is to try to taint him with a crime, literally
any crime they could manufacture against him…
this is an attempt to prove the government was right about
Garcia… and has nothing, and I mean nothing to do with
the guilt or innocence of Garcia… it is just another show
trial with manufacture witnesses and evidence…

Kropotkin

If the “government” is a monolithic juggernaut that your post suggests we’re all screwed anyway. But, the courts have been pushing back on Trump’s lawlessness. Yes the Trump brought him back thinking they could win and maybe they will. And yes SCOTUS tends to be bias in Trumps favor. But, at least now he can get due process and the possibility of justice that the US constitution guarantees.

From Newsweek: Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Friday after reported raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) swept through the city earlier in the day.
Newsweek reached out to ICE via email Friday night for comment.

"Since his January 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump has implemented sweeping change, mainly through executive orders, and has prioritized immigration control as a key pillar within the administration.

"Trump last month utilized the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that grants the commander in chief authority to detain or deport non-citizens. The implementation was originally blocked in federal court and sparked a contentious legal back-and-forth.

"Taking to X on Friday, Mayor Karen Bass posted a statement, saying, “This morning we received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in multiple locations in Los Angeles.”

“As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” Bass said. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. My office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this.”

"California Governor Gavin Newsom also took to social media, reacting to the reported raids and a post that Service Employees International Union President David Huerta had been injured and detained observing one of them.

“David Huerta is a respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people. No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action,” Newsom posted on X.

So Trump has intentionally provoked a riot. This will probably escalate until Trump evokes the insurrection act. We are moving toward authoritarianism at a rapid pace. The courts and the Blue states and people on the ground must stand up and push back. On June 14 people will be demonstrating in cities all over the country Trump conducts his military parade. Will the conflict that ensues be the occasion for Trump to declare martial law?

Addendum: June 9 @ 6:49 pm : The Trump administration is deploying a battalion of 700 Marines to Los Angeles to protect federal property and personnel, the United States Northern Command said on Monday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California quickly condemned the deployment as a “provocation,” saying in an interview with The New York Times that there was no need for Marines, that the National Guard troops Mr. Trump had already deployed were not all being put to work and that the president was acting to sow “more fear, more anger, and to further divide.”

Again, Trump’s riot incitement effort is likely to come to a head this Saturday when demonstrations go nationwide. Will he declare martial law and will he go on to call off the mid term elections and what will be the response of the resistance to these threats to democracy? At this point, at least we have Governor Newsom standing up to Trump’s threats, threatening to sue him, calling his bluff and pushing back.

Pretty sure it was the governor calling it a provocation that was the riot incitement effort. …or did I miss something?

Pretty sure it was President Trump and his federal immigration authorities who had provoked the unrest by sending federal agents in tactical gear to workplaces in the city to detain and deport immigrants. He chose a large city with a high immigrant population in a blue state. Why were there raids?” We had been told that he was going to go after violent criminals. It wasn’t a drug den; it was a Home Depot and workers in a wholesale clothing store. They made arrests of people who had gone to their immigration hearings in obedience to the law.

It appears that the Trump administration was deliberately trying to sow chaos in the city, and then generating more backlash by sending in National Guard troops. What was the reason that the president had to take the power from the governor and federalize the National Guard? The night before this action was taken, there was a protest that got a little unruly, late at night. It was 100 people. Twenty-seven people were arrested. There wasn’t a reason to call the National Guard without approval from the governor.

Why did Trump do this? He wants to be in control of every news cycle. He wanted to divert attention his association with Jeffery Epstein which was dominating the headlines. He wants to suspend the law of habeas corpus so he can lock up anyone who opposes him. That may come as early as this weekend, when he stages his military parade designed to frighten everyone with his power. His supporter Mike Johnson calls this “peace through strength.” It’s the new America. Trump style. Or you could call it by it’s real name ”fascism.” Whatever we call it, you seem to like it. What does that say about you?

I don’t like it. Trump is the worst president this country as ever had. He makes Nixon look good. He makes George W. Bush and his phony war look good. Sure, previous presidents have been corrupt. But Trump is the most corrupt president ever. He’s destroying democratic institutions for personal power and gain. He’s destroying publicly supported science research. He’s destroying health and human services.I think he may be planning to suspend the midterm elections. What do you think? He’s inciting violence now, so that he can declare a martial law and make that possible.

Australia Condemns LAPD Shooting of Reporter, One of Many Attacks on Reporters Covering L.A. Protests | Democracy Now!.

Just one instance of a violent unprovoked attack by Trump forces on an innocent person. In the photo, you can see the shooter standing behind her with a rifle in his hands.

“No Kings No Kings Activists,

This Saturday, millions of Americans will come together across the country to remind the world that, in America, WE DON’T DO KINGS.

With tanks rolling down the street in DC and troops being deployed to Los Angeles, it’s never been more important for the people of our country to come together in community and nonviolent action to exercise our First Amendment right to peaceful protest. This nationwide, nonviolent display of people power will remind the world that authoritarianism has no home here.

Try as he might, President Trump can’t make our nonviolent protests into riots. He can’t turn our joyful dissent into despair. He can’t make us accept a king.

So on Saturday, we will be taking to the streets. From Philadelphia to Miami. From St. Paul to Flagstaff. From Anchorage to Honolulu. And yes, in Los Angeles. Because no amount of fearmongering can break our spirits, and we believe in the sanctity of our First Amendment right to assemble.

We will gather in towns all across this country (and the world) and remind President Trump that we the people, united in nonviolent protest, cannot be cowed. “

I plan to be there. Won’t you join me?

I just watched a press conference given by the mayor, council woman, and others who validated the protests that were peaceful and denounced the damage done after protesters went home. The damage is being done indiscriminately against the downtown community which includes immigrants. The very same mayor did call for an end to the raids, and sort of contradicted herself by saying they provoked the sort of damage she was absolving the real protesters from. I feel like that is a balanced request, though. If people are law-abiding citizens, they should not be detained like criminals if their only offense is that they came here illegally (and/or peacefully protested their being treated like criminals). I already said previously such criminalizing practice is retarded. However, I think equating the protesters with the provoked people that are doing all the graffiti and looting (even if they don’t really care about the cause of the real protesters) is just like equating the Palestinians with Hamas and Iran‘s other proxies.

But if people are being detained like criminals even though they are doing nothing wrong (they are suffering unprovoked aggression), is that not a declaration of war, and are they not permitted to defend themselves with similar tactics? Targeting businesses indiscriminately is not a similar tactic. So I think ending the raids on otherwise law-abiding persons is a reasonable request. …but I fully support dealing with troublemakers appropriately after the raids have ended, or while their targeting is indiscriminate.

Trump has given Newsom a platform for leading nationwide resistance to him. https://www.youtube.com/live/0n77NFjDlBI?si=d6xYgGCTJd7tqjwS

What pisses me off about these raids is… it’s like raiding a place that does human trafficking, but only punishing the ones who are trafficked.

If you study American history to say nothing of world history you will find that’s the way it usually goes. Throughout American history, immigrant workers have indeed faced significant persecution, and discrimination, often alongside or even more acutely than those who employed them. Periods of economic downturn, or perceived job scarcity often lead to increased anti-immigrant sentiment and scapegoating where immigrants are blamed for economic woes. Employers, sometimes exploit this vulnerability hiring immigrants for lower wages or under poor conditions, knowing they may be less likely to complain due to fear of deportation or lack of legal protections. Concerns about competition for jobs, housing and resources then fuel nativist attitudes, and discriminatory practices against immigrants.

Immigrants have been targeted based on their race, national origin, religion, and perceived un-American beliefs.
This is manifested in discriminatory laws and practices such as the Chinese exclusion act of 1882, which severely restricted Chinese immigration and denied citizenship to those born in China. Immigrants also have experience, verbal and physical abuse, harassment, and social discrimination, including being blamed for societal problems as is going on now.

Immigrant workers have been vulnerable to wage theft, unsafe work conditions, and other forms of exploitation by employers. Some historical periods saw the active exploitation of immigrant labor by the government itself as seen in the exploitative “bracero program” which brought in Mexican workers, but denied them fair wages and pathways to citizenship. Historically, government policies and laws have also played a role in the persecution of immigrants, such as restrictive immigration laws, and discriminatory enforcement practices. For example, the immigration act of 1924 established discriminatory quotas favoring immigrants from certain regions. And immigrants have been subjected to dehumanizing and racist treatment during immigration and criminalization processes. So yeah, employers have often exploited immigrant labor, and not been penalized for it while immigrant workers themselves have consistently been the target of persecution and discrimination from various sources, including discriminatory laws, nativist sentiments, and prejudice from the wider society.

There should be a global outfit that has embassies in every country so disgruntled citizens can declare lack of citizenship and have their human rights protected until they gain citizenship somewhere they call home.

I wonder how many folks would do that who currently never even considered immigrating?

If this global group gains enough citizens because it does such a great job advocating for human rights—countries would have to align or become irrelevant.

From Democracy Now: A nationwide “No Kings” movement plans to hold over 1,800 anti-Trump rallies across the United States on June 14, the same day as President Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., as he celebrates his 79th birthday. Organizers are protesting President Trump’s mass deportations, militarized crackdown against protesters, defiance of court orders, and attacks on civil rights. “We’re going to show him on June 14 that real power lies in the people,” says Leah Greenberg⁠, co-founder and co-executive director of ⁠Indivisible. Tanks and other armored vehicles are being transported to Washington, D.C., for the parade, which Marine Corps veteran JoJo Sweatt calls an “egregious overspend.” President Trump threatened heavy force would be used on anyone who protests at the parade in D.C. I plan to attend the rally at Florida’s capitol with members of my family.

In addition to what’s going on in California cities , there were large demonstrations against ICE in Chicago and New York City yesterday with multiple arrests.

America appears to be entering what Ernst Fraenkel, a German jurist and political theorist called a “dual state”. The term refers to a theoretical framework used to describe a state that operates with two distinct coexisting legal systems or structures: 1) a normative state that operates according to establish laws regulations and institutional rules and 2)a prerogative state which functions through arbitrary and unchecked power essentially bypassing legal constraints to serve the interests of the ruling authority.

Fraenkel used this term to analyze the functioning of the Nazi regime in Germany, which maintained a semblance of legal normalcy for some citizens while simultaneously operating a brutal and arbitrary system of oppression for others. But the dual state model can be applied to analyze other states, including those like the United States that is transitioning toward authoritarianism. What Trump appears to be doing, is to consolidate power outside the traditional oversight and legal frameworks based on the constitution.

On March 17, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said” federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the president’s conduct of foreign affairs, is authorities under the aliens enemies act in his core article 2 powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from the US soil and repel a declared invasion.”

This is not the first time persons in power have enacted a dual state. When this country was founded, the liberal legal order applied to European settlers while Native Americans and enslaved people were subjected to a more authoritarian violence system. During the Jim Crow era, southern states operated as a single party, authoritarian regime permitting or even encouraging extra legal violence, like lynching while participating in democracy at the federal level. During the so-called war terror, the Bush administration claim sweeping power to detain suspected terrorists.

In federalizing the California National Guard over the objections of governor Gavin Newsom Trump is asserting broad powers that could be used against any state. Trump‘s deployment of the military to Los Angeles, undermine federal law, barring the government from using military personnel in civilian law enforcement it may lead to further overreach. This is not a legal use of military force, nor is it appropriate. Trump cited 10 USC 12406 an archaic statue that allows the president to mobilize the guard when the country face is foreign invasion or rebellion or when the president is unable to execute laws with regular resources. California sued Trump alleging that he violated 10 USC 12406 because the protests couldn’t possibly be constitute a rebellion. Further, the statute says “shall be issued through the governors of the states, or in the case of the District of Columbia through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.”

Trump is relying on a theory of executive authority called protective power. The asserts that president’s using troops to protect federal personnel, property and functions do not violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits using active duty personnel to execute laws. These moves are escalatory. As protest spreads to more cities against Trump‘s mass deportation efforts there’s growing fear that Trump may attempt to activate other state guards to provide military assistance to ICE which will provoke more protest.

Homeland, security secretary, Christie Noam called habeas corpus “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.” The Trump administration has actually already done this to American citizens without due process under the law.

As a caveat to this post, I must add that those who flew the Mexican flag in Los Angeles. protests were supplying ammunition to Trump‘s argument that this is an invasion. I have no doubt that those were shown over and over on Right leaning media. Those were likely literal false flags placed into the hands of protestors by the Trump people. This is a media war and the Trump media is well organized. Unlike the Left, the Right repeats the same talking points from the same script through every news cycle. Symbolism is important. A new Resistance must rise up and get its act together to battle the dual state. The Resistance must organize from the ground up. It cannot be left in the hands of the old Democratic party.

On its editorial page, the Knickerbocker Press , an upstate New York Republican newspaper, asserted, “The law that would jail any laundryman for having an underfed horse should jail him for having an underfed girl employee.” Source.

That was about minimum wage. But it should be about all the skyrocketing prices — not just in the U.S. — keeping that girl underfed or houseless, while arresting … or deporting … her for it:

Hold the overprivileged accountable as long as there are underprivileged. Stop doing things upside down.

https://youtu.be/ebsHov1ytVE?si=_RkTSp142K4frm1l

https://youtube.com/shorts/k2W39n6hXn8?si=vqOvNqwXKzXohpRo

Videos show a United States senator being forced to the ground and handcuffed for asking a question at a press conference being held by the secretary of homeland security in clear violation of his first amendment right to free speech under the United States constitution.

Felix, does one of those vids show the “beforemath”? Some claim he had lunged at the woman — is there video evidence of that?

No, I haven’t see that. He may have pushed pass the guards to get to position where he could ask Noem a question. They may have interpreted that as a threat. The senator has trying to get to talk to her on behalf of his constituents since the ICE raids last weekend and she has ignored him. Noem ignored him and what her guards were doing to him. She’s a cruel person who recounts in her book that she shot her own puppy execution style because it was disobedient. Sadly this is where we are. Tensions are high. Trump characterizes Democrats as the enemy. His people take him seriously view and them that way. How long before they start shooting protesters for protesting? This weekend maybe?

This about sums it up for me…