We Did Not Ask You to Be in Los Angeles, Mr. President

June 11, 2025

By Brian Hews

Donald Trump came to Los Angeles not with compassion, and certainly not with any regard for the Constitution he once swore to uphold. He came with soldiers. He came with handcuffs. He came with orders to round up asylum seekers and separate families, as if cruelty were a campaign strategy.

Let’s be clear: the actions taken under Trump’s renewed immigration enforcement blitz are not just immoral—they are unconstitutional.

The Trump administration has activated National Guard units in Southern California without the consent of the governor—a direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and the 10th Amendment, which protects states from the overreach of federal power.

Even more alarming are confirmed reports that active-duty U.S. Marines—yes, Marines—have been deployed in support roles on domestic soil to assist in civilian arrests. 

One day before the Trump administration deployed U.S. Marines to confront protesters in Los Angeles, the CT Post obtained a letter from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to direct the military to detain or arrest “lawbreakers,” a move one expert called “a grave escalation.”

That would be not just inappropriate, but flatly illegal under federal law. Military force cannot and must not be used against civilians without congressional authorization or state approval. This is not a banana republic. At least, it shouldn’t be.

And yet here we are.

Thousands of people who came to this country legally to seek asylum, a right protected under both U.S. and international law, are being detained in hastily constructed facilities, separated from their children, and deported in lightning-fast proceedings that mock the very idea of due process. 

The Trump administration would like to convince you that these are hardened criminals. Well, give them due process so we can see the alleged evidence Donald. What they won’t show you are the families torn apart, the toddlers crying in chain-link cages, the mothers who still don’t know where their children were taken.

This is not border enforcement. This is authoritarianism, wrapped in a flag and wielded like a weapon.

And don’t be fooled by the political theater. Trump’s defenders argue that these actions are no different from those taken on January 6—just another show of force to “restore order.” 

But that comparison is a grotesque lie. On January 6, Trump incited a violent attack on our own Capitol. He did not call in the National Gurad, nor did he call in the Marines while insurrectionists were beating police officers.

Now, he seeks to do the same to the very fabric of our democracy by turning immigrants—many of whom are legal asylum seekers—into scapegoats for his campaign.

Angelenos did not ask for martial law. We did not vote for a regime of raids and roundups. We are not at war with asylum seekers. We are not at war with children.

We are at war with a man who thinks the presidency is a throne, and the military his personal enforcers.

To the National Guard troops: this is not your fight. To the judges: this is your moment. And to the people of Los Angeles: we must not look away.

History has seen this before—in other countries, under other strongmen, with other slogans. It does not end well.

Mr. Trump, we did not ask you to be here. And if our Constitution still means anything, you have no right to be.

Contact Brian Hews at [email protected] or follow @cerritosnews.bsky.social