Chaos
The past few days are a microcosm of what America lives through in a Trump Administration. The chaotic and frenetic pace of events far outruns analysis. It’s not just hard to keep up, it’s impossible to think through one event, when five more slam into it before you can reach a conclusion.
Given all of that, here’s some thoughts on the past few days. We started the weekend with ICE immigrant sweeps in Los Angeles. ICE wasn’t rounding up criminals, they were dropping in and grabbing undocumented workers, criminal or not. And, to get by the Trump “hurdle”, that all undocumented migrants are “criminal”; I call BS. That’s like calling all folks with a speeding ticket “criminal”. Yes, the undocumented likely violated the civil immigration regulations. That does not make them “criminals” in the legal sense. I have an unpaid parking ticket in Iowa from 1987. If I go back to Iowa, I guess I need to worry. I’m sure there’s fines and interest due. But I’m not a “criminal” non-payer!!!
Which takes us to “sanctuary cities”, like Columbus, Ohio, or Los Angeles. A “sanctuary city” doesn’t harbor criminals. They simply don’t help ICE enforce the civil penalties for violating immigration regulations, just like our local Pataskala Police don’t enforce Iowa parking tickets, or collect unpaid IRS taxes. Both Columbus and Pataskala have enough to do to deal with “real” criminals, without creating more work on civil matters. So they stay out of it.
Jurisdiction
There are two issues of “jurisdiction” that “arise” in Los Angeles. The first is the jurisdiction of ICE, who are charged with enforcing immigration laws. They can go into a Home Depot or a local garment factory and take “custody” of undocumented workers. It’s just not making the world safer. They aren’t getting the real criminals. But they are filling the quota of undocumented set by Trump aide Stephen Miller, of 3000 rounded-up a day.
I want ICE to go get real criminals, the gang members trafficking in fentanyl or humans. But that’s hard police work; those criminals are well insulated and protected. To make their “quota” for Miller, they have to take the “easy” migrants, like the hard-working folks picking vegetables in the hot sun of the Central Valley of California. It’s similar to the speed trap that used to be in the nearby village of Alexandria: they’d pick you up for doing twenty-six in a twenty-five zone (I’ve got the ticket to prove it). Sure, it’s “legal”, but it’s really just filling the “quota” for the officers, and the coffers of the Village. No one is safer.
Our Streets
And then there were protests against the ICE actions. Not surprisingly, there are lots of folks upset that their family, friends, and neighbors are going to work, and not coming home. And they are going out into the streets to make their feelings known. Controlling protests in the street is the job of local jurisdictions. When I marched in Cleveland this past weekend, the Cleveland Police were all around us. In fact, they made sure the roads were clear, and that we were safe from threatened attack. (In Virginia a van drove into a march, and in Salt Lake City a shooter killed a protestor).
And in protests here in Columbus, the City police are there to maintain safety. We can march on the sidewalk anyway we want, but, without a “parade” permit, we need to stay out of the street. In Cleveland, there was a permit. The marching chant, “Whose streets? Our Streets!” was absolutely true. In Columbus, just get a permit, and it’s true here too; no need for confrontation.
Backup
If the police can’t handle a situation, they call in backup. It’s just like a five-alarm fire, when one department runs out of engines, other departments come to help. And if the situation really gets bad, then the state militia, the National Guard, may be sent in. Remember the Vietnam era picture of the “flower child” putting flowers in the barrels of soldiers’ guns? Those soldiers are the National Guard.
But what if the “backup” shows up without invitation? What if the President ignores the local authorities or even the state governor, and “federalizes” the National Guard? Then there’s a big cross-wiring of authority – who’s in charge? And there’s an even bigger issue: if the National Guard is Federalized, and ICE is the Federal Government enforcing immigration laws, then the National Guard becomes the “target” of the protestors – after all, it’s not ICE out there trying to hold them back. It’s definitely pouring gas on a fire, using the Guard instead of the local police.
Of course, that’s exactly what the Trump Administration wants – gas on a fire to make a conflagration. It proves their point, that “Democrat Cities Can’t Control their Citizens”.
Listen
And the local authorities are still trying to control protest, while protecting civil rights. Yesterday it seemed clear that the Los Angeles City Police were trying to “serve and protect” and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was trying to provoke violence. And what about the National Guard and even the US Marines now on site? Well, they are “hanging out”, with their thumbs stuck firmly up their…webbed belts. But they make “attractive” targets.
Meanwhile, millions made their feelings clear all across America. From blue states to red, big cities to small towns, Americans took to the streets to protest the wide range of Trumpian usurpations in the “No Kings” marches. Whether it was 5 million or 11 million (estimates vary): it was a whole lot of people willing to “Rise Up” in protest about what’s going on. And other than the two attacks on the protestors (noted above), and the Sheriff’s Department violence in Los Angeles, the millions were notably peaceful.
What’s different today, after “No Kings”? We know that there truly are Americans, in every niche of our country, who don’t like what’s going on. From Newark to Mansfield, from Maine to California, in Ruby-Red Nebraska, and in overheated Texas: Americans want something very different from the Trump Administration. Of course, Stephen Miller isn’t listening.
But the Republican Congressmen and Senators up for election next year should be.
