L&T Publisher Earl Watt
When a group of farmers and small town folk decided they would no longer bend a knee to the crown, they met the British along the road between Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.
That was the beginning of the resistance against tyranny by a militia that would become the cornerstone of the American Revolution.
By 1794, the colonists had won their freedom and formed an independent nation, but not everyone was happy with some of the policies of the federal government, and a group of whiskey producers in Western Pennsylvania decided to reject a tax on whiskey. The tax was unfair to those who had to ship their product great distances, and so the Western Pennsylvanians used violence to prevent collection of the tax.
President George Washington formed up an army and led them to Western Pennsylvania to squelch the resistance, setting the precedent that the federal government had the power and authority to maintain peace and enforce federal law even in the boundaries of one state.
Washington didn’t seek permission from a governor to do what he had the authority and the obligation to do.
President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, federalized the National Guard of Alabama June 10, 1963, to force the desegregation of the University of Alabama despite the fact that Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace vowed to stand in the doorway of the university to prevent black students from being able to attend classes.
Again, Kennedy didn’t ask permission from Wallace to federalize the National Guard, and Kennedy was in direct conflict with the governor’s attempt to thwart federal law.
Like it or not, federal law regarding immigration gives the federal government, and only the federal government, the authority to enforce immigration law in the United States.
These laws do not require each individual state to agree with those laws. The federal government is the supreme law of the land, and these laws have been duly passed in Congress.
Those in the country illegally may be arrested, detained and removed.
Much like the whiskey producers in Western Pennsylvania, the group of agitators in California who disagree with federal law believe they can suspend it in Los Angeles.
They cannot.
ICE agents have complete authority and obligation to enforce federal immigration law.
Those who say only fascists use the federal soldiers or national guard would have to claim that Washington was a fascist or Kennedy was a fascist.
Neither were. Nor is President Donald Trump for doing exactly what a president is supposed to do. To be frank, governors should have already done it.
For these detractors like Sunny Holstin who claim using the National Guard is fascist, there are two major difficulties with that claim.
The first is the reason why National Guards exist in the first place. Does she believe the National Guard exists only for foreign actions? Of course not. Domestic uprisings also require a National Guard presence to secure the blessings of liberty against criminal behavior which includes the destruction of property, bodily harm and the inability to peacefully navigate public space.
The Constitution guarantees the right to “peaceably assemble.” It does not guarantee rioting, looting and damage.
When local law enforcement either cannot or fails to maintain the peace, the National Guard is the next line of defense.
The second problem is Holstin and those like her are putting resisting all things Trump above the people. Many from the far left are opposing any and all proposals or actions Trump takes no matter what. This all-out resistance is operating under the belief that if Trump supports it, they must oppose it. An example of that was the refusal of Congressional Democrats to recognize a boys suffering brain cancer during Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress earlier this year.
By opposing all things Trump, Democrats have lost ground with independents, the working class and legal immigrants. Polls have indicated that only 32 percent support the riots in Los Angeles. That would be the core Democratic Party while abandoning all nonpartisans.
The abuse of fascist claims on every action taken by Trump misses the results of the 2024 election in which Trump outlined he would enact the largest deportation effort in history. Since many of those who entered illegally live in blue states, including many with criminal records, it was clear voters knew it would be necessary to have ICE enter cities like Los Angeles.
Holstin and others like her who advocate for illegal immigration had their chance during the last election. It was rejected by the voters.
What becomes dictatorial is to believe California can control immigration policy contrary to federal law. They believe their view to be superior to all others regardless of the outcomes of elections. And through violence they are seeking to prevent the enforcement of federal law.
The National Guard has been used to force states to comply in the past, and Trump is following the same precedent set by Washington and Kennedy before him to make sure federal law will be followed today.
