In the U.S. federal immigration raids in Los Angeles have provoked a two day loud, citywide protest leaded by groups opposing president Donald Trump's xenophobic policies. On Sunday, 300 men from the National Guard arrived in Los Angeles, increasing the tension. Our Multiplatform interviewed Julia Wallace, social worker at the Service Employees International Union, to get her opinion and more information on the subject.. teleSUR
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00:00And as has been reported in the U.S., federal immigration raids in Los Angeles have provoked a two-day loud city-wide protest
00:07led by groups opposing President Donald Trump's xenophobic policies.
00:11In this context, President Donald Trump on Saturday night ordered about 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles
00:18against the will of state officials.
00:21For more information, we welcome at this time Julia Wallace.
00:25She is at Service Employees International Union.
00:27Welcome, Julia.
00:30Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate you interviewing me.
00:35Okay, so the first question is how many people are deported so far in the last few days?
00:45The Trump administration has not released the numbers of how many people have been deported so far.
00:51On Friday, they attempted to deport and detain 44 people, including SEIU Union President David Huerta,
01:04who's also on the executive board of the LA County Federation of Labor, with 44 other people,
01:10as he protested against the ICE raids in the Garment District of Los Angeles.
01:16Okay, some experts have warned that President Donald Trump's move to deploy this amount of National Guard troops is dangerous.
01:27Why do experts say something like this?
01:29I think that President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops is because, at this point, he is very weak and has a low approval rating.
01:41And this is a way to garner support from his most jingoist sectors, as well as other sectors of the capitalist class who are wanting more deportation.
01:52I think that it is dangerous in a sense that it is a provocation, and especially in a city and state that has been explicitly called a sanctuary city and has condemned Trump's policies.
02:07As well, the population, as you clearly see, have been rising up against Trump, from Paramount to Long Beach, Englewood, downtown Los Angeles today, and other cities as well.
02:21And this is part of a growing movement of mainly Latino, but also Black, Asian, white, multicultural youth that are rising up against Trump.
02:32And it's important that I think the labor movement as well defend David Huerta, and that we all, as people who are members of the labor movement and unions, stand up, including potentially striking, against these deportations and repressive measures by the Trump administration.
02:49So, the state of California may reportedly file a lawsuit tomorrow over Trump's National Guard deployment.
03:00What can we expect from this lawsuit if it's filed?
03:03So, both Gavin Newsom and other members of the Democratic Party have condemned Trump's deployment of the National Guard, calling it a provocation.
03:16And I think that it is true that it is a provocation, but it is important for us that are members of the labor movement and those of us who remember, who are part of the immigrant rights movement, that these legislatures have also been supporting deportations, including the Obama administration, which deported more people than any other president in U.S. history, the Bush administration, and the continuation of the militarization of the border.
03:40Legislators are taking these positions, but in many ways, they cannot be relied on because during their own Biden administration, there were many deportations and raids as well.
03:54I think it really shows that if there is going to be, not if, when ICE is kicked out of our communities, it's going to be because of the working class uprising and mobilizations that are happening and just burgeoning in Los Angeles and in other cities around the country.
04:10Are there efforts to pressure Governor Newsom to take bolder steps against these actions of Trump?
04:22I think these, I think the mobilizations are a pressure on Newsom.
04:28He is also under pressure because of the FIFA World Cup, which is happening next year, and the Olympics.
04:35I, myself, as a social worker, are seeing a lot of homeless people being attacked by encampments led by Newsom.
04:43And so really, there are, the legislatures are taking some of these stances, but they cannot be relied upon.
04:49What can be relied upon is the organized effort of the working class and students and the pro-Palestine movement, uniting with the labor movement to fight against all deportations and to form our own political organization.
05:05based on class and independence.
05:11So, can we expect full-dirt demonstrations in the upcoming days, especially now with this deployment of the guards in L.A.?
05:22Absolutely.
05:24What is shown today is that the people are unafraid and are willing to challenge the police, the sheriff, the National Guard.
05:32If you look at the history of Los Angeles, every uprising from Watts, 65 to 1992, Rodney King, as well as the 2010 uprising for Manuel Camino's Zoom, a Guatemalan immigrant, and Black Lives Matter,
05:47that we are experienced in protesting and mobilizing against the brutality of the state, including the police, including the sheriff,
05:54and including the National Guard, in fact, in 1992, when they were deployed.
06:01So people will continue to protest.
06:03Tomorrow, there is a protest organized by SEIU, Service Employees International Union, demanding the release of David Huerta, who is a union president, as I mentioned.
06:15And it is organized by SEIU, and it is tomorrow, starting at 11 a.m. at 200 North Grand Avenue.
06:23And this is just the beginning.
06:25It's important for us to realize that Los Angeles is the experiment.
06:31Los Angeles was part of Mexico, if folks remember.
06:34And people have long history and long roots, including the Chicano Rights Movement and the walkouts and the burnouts of the 1960s and 70s,
06:44and the Black Panther struggle and the Black Power Movement during that time period, as well.
06:49People have been organizing against the state, and they are not slowing down.
06:54We know that we have to continue to stand up for ourselves in our communities and at our workplaces against ICE until we kick ICE out of our communities.
07:07So one final question, Julia.
07:10How do these protests connect to a wider global movement against far-right anti-immigrant policies?
07:15Well, I'm glad you asked that.
07:20Anti-immigrant policies are not unique to Los Angeles or the United States.
07:24For example, in France, Macron has anti-immigrant policies, and actually a comrade of mine, Anas Kazeeb, is facing charges.
07:34His trial is on June 18th, and we're calling for dropping the charges.
07:40Immigrants are also attacked in other parts of the world, in Argentina as well.
07:45The far-right of the Malay government has been literally beating up elderly people who are fighting for their pensions.
07:53And as well in Germany, they're wanting to militarize.
07:58And so we have to, especially folks that are in imperialist countries, take a stand against imperialism
08:04and defend immigrants who are forced to take a chance, literally fleeing for their lives, to come to imperialist countries to make a better life, only to be called illegal.
08:17Immigrants are used to being super exploited and disciplining the entire working class.
08:22So when immigrants are organized, the entire working class benefits and must and stand with immigrants.
08:30I myself, as a black person born in the United States, understand that black people and Latino people, we live in communities together, we work together, and we are the most exploited.
08:40So if we join together, we're an incredible powerhouse because we are some of the backbone of the United States proletariat.
08:50And so the far-right is trying to mobilize all over, trying to use racism to divide us.
08:57It's important that we develop working-class unity and that we fight for oppressed people and working-class people with the methods of the working class, including and especially the strikes.
09:08So thank you, Julia, for your time with us in From the South.
