LA Times: ICE raids and National Guard activation are Trump distraction tactics, Sen. Padilla says
By Rachel Uranga
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla blasted the Trump administration on Sunday, saying its crackdown on immigrant communities and mobilization of National Guard troops was a diversion from what he called a “devastating” congressional bill, and he encouraged local demonstrators to continue protesting peacefully.
“Keep protesting because Donald Trump would love for everybody to sit back quietly while he continues to overreach, to bring cruelty to every corner of America and violate the law,” the California Democrat said.
“What he is doing is classic Donald Trump. He is trying to deflect and distract,” Padilla said of Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
“They have this devastating bill coming through Congress that would cut healthcare for so many Americans, raise costs on working families and underwrite tax breaks for billionaires. Trump doesn’t want people talking about that, so he goes back to demonizing immigrants and trying to thump his chest for being a tough guy.”
Padilla blamed some of the violence on agitators taking advantage of the situation, but he said they are not immigrant advocates or organizers and he called on the National Guard to pull back.
“Let local law enforcement do their job,” he said.
The Trump administration should not be surprised by the protests after “extremely cruel” immigration enforcement activities, he said.
The protests that have roiled the city for two days began Saturday after protesters showed up at a staging area in Paramount for immigration enforcement operations. Many believed it was the site of a raid.
Anger has been boiling in some communities as children and families have become increasingly caught up in the Trump administration’s ramped-up enforcement actions.
“Long gone are the days when he said he was only going to focus on violent criminals. It may have started that way, but when you hear story after story of a working mother, a working father, a 4-year-old undergoing lifesaving treatment that is notified that they’re getting deported, when federal agents show up at elementary schools to talk to children without parental permission,” he said.
Padilla, the son of a Mexican-born housekeeper and short-order cook, said the protests reminded him of when he returned to California after graduating from MIT and found the state embroiled in anti-immigrant sentiment.
“I can’t help but take this personally, because I remember those days. I remember coming home from college with my mechanical engineering degree … and being welcomed by ads on television from then-Gov. Pete Wilson saying that the state was going downhill and it was the fault of people like my parents and communities like the one I grew up in. It’s offensive.”
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