curated citations to news sources
AP: Immigration authorities extend activity in Los Angeles area amid street protests
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Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street, some jeering at authorities while recording the events on smartphones.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement on Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to protests.
(AP more…)
NY Times: Trump Targets Workplaces as Immigration Crackdown Widens
NY Times: Trump Is Deploying National Guard Troops Under a Rarely Used Power
President Trump took extraordinary action on Saturday by deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protesters in California, making rare use of federal powers and bypassing the authority of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
Governors almost always control the deployment of National Guard troops in their states. But according to legal scholars, the president has the authority under Title 10 of the United States Code to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”
In a presidential memo, Mr. Trump said, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
(NY Times more…)
Steve Vladeck: Federalizing the California National Guard
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The TL;DR here is that Trump has not (yet) invoked the Insurrection Act, which means that the 2000 additional troops that will soon be brought to bear will not be allowed to engage in ordinary law enforcement activities without violating a different law—the Posse Comitatus Act. All that these troops will be able to do is provide a form of force protection and other logistical support for ICE personnel. Whether that, in turn, leads to further escalation is the bigger issue (and, indeed, may be the very purpose of their deployment). But at least as I’m writing this, we’re not there yet.
Adam Mockler: Authoritarian Creep: How Trump Militarized L.A. Overnight
Newsom said no. Trump did it anyway. This is a major escalation.
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Robert Reich: Time for non-violent civil disobedience
(Robert Reich more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – June 7, 2025
In April, John Phelan, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President Donald J. Trump, posted that he visited the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial “to pay my respects to the service members and civilians we lost at Pearl Harbor on the fateful day of June 7, 1941.”
The Secretary of the Navy is the civilian head of the U.S. Navy, overseeing the readiness and well-being of almost one million Navy personnel. Phelan never served in the military; he was nominated for his post because he was a large donor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. He told the Senate his experience overseeing and running large companies made him an ideal candidate for leading the Navy.
…Pearl Harbor Day is a landmark in U.S. history. It is observed annually and known by the name President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it: “a date which will live in infamy.”
But that date was not June 7, eighty-four years ago today.
It was December 7, 1941.
The Trump administration claims to be deeply concerned about American history. In March, Trump issued an executive order calling for “restoring truth and sanity to American history.”
…Trump is using false history to make his followers believe they are fighting a war for the soul of America. …
Trump’s enthusiasm for using history to cement his power has little to do with actual history. …
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After a lot of brainstorming and a lot of help—and an incredibly well timed message from a former student who has become a videographer—we have come up with Journey to American Democracy: a series of short videos about American history that we will release on my YouTube channel, Facebook, and Instagram.
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(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Allison Gill: Newly Unsealed Documents in Abrego Garcia Reveal the Games DoJ Played in Court
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Politifact: “President Trump has granted pardons that have wiped out over $1 billion in debts owed by wealthy Americans who have committed fraud and broken the law.”
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Lucian K. Truscott IV: The empty shell of Trump’s and Hegseth’s fake military machismo
Three words I never heard even once growing up in an Army family or in my four years at West Point are “warrior culture” and “lethality.”
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Not once did I hear anything about the “lethality” of any of the weapons I was trained to fire, or trained others to fire. Not once was what we were being trained to do or training others to do referred to as the “warrior culture.” We were in the Army. We were training to be soldiers.
(Lucian K. Truscott IV more…)
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404 Media: Podcast: Anti-Porn Laws’ Real Target Is Free Speech
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
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