(Los Angeles) US vice-president JD Vance assured on Friday that the presence of the military of the National Guard in Los Angeles was “still necessary”, despite the return to calm for a week in the Californian megapol.
The wave of arrests of immigrants in an irregular situation which provoked the anger of the population in early June continues, but the city has not known major demonstrations since last weekend.
Largely peaceful, the rallies had sometimes degenerated into violence and clashes with the police, in a small Los Angeles part. Donald Trump then deployed 4,000 soldiers from the California National Guard and 700 Navy soldiers.
“Unfortunately, the soldiers (of the National Guard, Editor’s note) and the Marines are still necessary in the current context, because it is feared that the situation will degenerate again,” said Vance, during a visit to the military command center on the spot.
The vice-president was delighted that a federal court of appeal validated the deployment of the National Guard the day before. This shows that the sending of soldiers “was completely legitimate and appropriate,” he insisted.
Donald Trump “will do him if necessary,” he warned, when the administration recently ordered new antimigrant operations in other Democratic cities such as Chicago and New York.
The deployment of the National Guard, without the approval of the Governor of the State-who also has authority over this reserve-reserve-and-and-end body since 1965 in the United States.
On the ground, these soldiers are used to protect federal buildings, as well as immigration police officers (ICE).
But the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, and the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, denounce an extreme and unjustified measure, which “makes a crisis”.
They have sentenced the violence several times and repeated that local police are enough to manage the situation: Los Angeles police arrested nearly 600 people since the start of the demonstrations and Tuesday, the city’s prosecutor announced the first lawsuits against thirty individuals.
Mr. Vance accused the mayor and the Democratic governor “of encouraging far left agitators” and of “facilitating violence and riots” in the city.
The vice-president linked this accusation of laxity to the policy of California, a “sanctuary” state for migrants, where the collaboration of local police with the federal immigration police is strictly limited by law.
“By dealing with the city as a sanctuary city, Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass somehow declared the hunt for open federal police,” he accused.
Donald Trump has erected the fight against immigration in absolute priority since his return to power and has promised to expel millions of people in an irregular situation. A promise difficult to achieve, and complicated by the existence of many democratic cities and sanctuary states in the United States.
