Over the past week, we’ve seen the Trump administration manufacture a crisis in Los Angeles in a slapdash attempt to impose authoritarian rule on the city most UUP members call home.
Across the region, we’ve seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers rip through our neighborhoods, creating chaos and provoking strong responses from communities. These lawless, often masked agents in combat gear have kidnapped children from schools, questioned and snatched neighbors off the street, and taken workers from Home Depots, car washes, apparel stores, restaurants. Our union brother, David Huerta, was arrested at an ICE raid downtown, detained for three days, and now faces trumped up federal charges.
LAPD and local law enforcement have responded to protests against all this with batons, tear gas, flash bangs, “less-than lethal” (read: still lethal) rounds, and horses that have trampled activists—tactics that are likely prosecutable under international human rights law, but are all too common against people in the U.S.
Meanwhile, many media figures and state, local, and national officials paint an exaggerated picture of protests causing anarchic destruction, wittingly or unwittingly aiding the Trump administration in its goals. These distortions hardly match reality: most protests have been peaceful, and the city and region carries on, albeit with residents on guard about ICE raids and concerned about what the White House will ask of the National Guardsman and Marines it ordered here.
The Executive Board of United Union Professionals condemns:
- The indiscriminate ICE raids that have terrorized our neighborhoods and are part of a broader, bigoted campaign to assault people of color that White House officials wish were not part of the nation and want to expel.
- The Trump administration’s orders to bring military personnel to Los Angeles to intimidate our residents and impose its racial, ethnic, and cultural preferences at the barrel of a gun.
- Local law enforcement’s partnership with the White House in suppressing protests and news reporting with extreme military tactics.
- Statements from officials and news media figures exaggerating the extent of violent protest and distorting reality in ways that wittingly or unwittingly aid the Trump administration in its authoritarian goals.
We call for:
- An immediate end to all ICE raids and investigations into what we believe are its unlawful activities.
- The removal of military personnel from Los Angeles.
- The termination of extreme combat practices used by local law enforcement, and investigations into the tactics used during protests.
- An end to exaggerated statements from officials and news media figures regarding violent protests.
As circumstances develop, the E-Board wishes to continue conversations with rank-and-file UUP members about ways we can support our immigrant neighbors and those born outside the U.S. who are part of our union. We also welcome discussion about peaceful, strategic opportunities to oppose the presence of the military in L.A. and the combat tactics being used against protestors.
For those of you who are concerned about ICE raids and arrests, we’re pointing members to resources offered by various civil and immigrant rights groups:
- What to Do if You Are Arrested or Detained by Immigration – National Immigration Law Center
- Printable: Know Your Rights Card – National Immigration Law Center
- ICE Agents at Your Door – ACLU of Southern California
- Video: Know Your Rights: ICE at Your Doorstep – NowThis Impact
- What to do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace – National Immigration Law Center, National Employment Law Project
- Find an Immigration Lawyer – American Immigration Lawyers Association
If you witness ICE activity in the Los Angeles area, please report it to this rapid response line: 888-624-4752. For other areas, please see these lists.
To UUP members joining protests, we ask that you use common sense to stay safe, be an example of peaceful demonstration and de-escalation, and leave if conditions devolve and the risk of arrest is heightened. Other veteran protesters have advised attending only with friends or comrades and carrying documentation with you. Please see these resources about protest rights from the ACLU and tips about peaceful protest from the Human Rights Campaign. ACLU SoCal has an intake form and resources if you are injured by law enforcement during a protest, subjected to excessive force, or believe your rights have been violated.
Leave a Reply