An immigrant defense attorney, an academic, a former mayor of Los Angeles, and the California prosecutor agreed that they had never seen or experienced immigration raids with masked agents arresting workers en masse and carrying assault weapons and grenades.

Much less the federal government deploying the National Guard and the Marines, culminating in the largest single-day protest in US history.

During the webinar “California Leads the Resistance to Immigration Repression,” organized by American Community Media (ACoM), Jeannette Zanipatin, director of policy and advocacy for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), said that in her more than 30 years of experience as an immigration attorney, she had never seen a situation like the one experienced under Trump.

“We have seen and experienced people being arrested in the immigration courts themselves, and as attorneys, we have not been able to speak to them once we locate them,” she said.

She mentioned that immediately after the raids, she went with Judy Chu and other members of Congress to try to enter the Central Detention Center but were denied access.

“So we are seeing the unconstitutional and unlawful ways in which this administration operates.”

She added that there are People are being arrested during routine interviews and check-ins with USCIS, which is unprecedented.

“People are having to decide whether to go to their appointment because of the risk of being detained; and if they don’t go, they wonder if they could receive a deportation order for not appearing and being arrested by ICE.”

She explained that all of this demonstrates how this administration changes policies at will, without considering the constitutional protections and rights as citizens of the United States.

“We have seen reports and videos of ICE agents with license plates from other states. We simply don’t know who these people are. They could be private citizens or bounty hunters.”

He added that they are seeing masked men and women approaching people in a very aggressive and violent manner who simply don't identify themselves.

“Right now, at the state level, two bills are being introduced to specifically ban immigration enforcement operations involving masked individuals.”

Never before

Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles and candidate for governor, said he had never seen this kind of action of federalizing the National Guard to infringe on people's civil rights.

"Never in my life have I seen people in military or civilian uniforms, covered from head to shoulders with assault weapons and stun grenades, attacking nannies in Los Angeles, gardeners, workers, and at graduations."

He recalled that in the 1930s, during the so-called repatriation movement, American citizens were deported, and in the 1950s, that operation returned and more than a million people were deported again.

"At that time, you didn't see people refusing to identify themselves. Sometimes people think they are being kidnapped, something like in Russia or under totalitarian governments."

He noted that More than 90% of these people have not committed crimes, and a much smaller percentage likely do not have serious or violent crimes. “This is simply unacceptable.”

Long- and Short-Term Consequences

Henry Brady, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said that Trump’s actions like the tariffs are causing job losses at the ports of San Pedro and Long Beach.

He said the arrest of immigrants will result in a lack of workers for construction, health care, and agriculture, which will hurt California’s economy.

“Third, on a budgetary level, they will hurt us, especially with respect to Medicaid, but also with food stamps.”

He specified that Hermoso’s bill would likely reduce the number of people with health coverage in California by millions.

“I’m very concerned that the state won’t be able to cover the shortfalls that will result from these cuts.”

He argued that mobilizing federal troops without calling in the state governor was truly unprecedented and broke state rules.

“What he’s doing to the universities will have enormous consequences. In the short term, we may have a harder time enrolling undocumented students and receiving compensation, but the long-term impact could ruin the greatest higher education system in the world: the UCs, the CSUs, and the community colleges.”

He emphasized that ruining these institutions is an unprecedented act of vandalism that could have very long-term consequences for our capacity for technical innovation.

Birthright Citizenship

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Trump has been sued 26 times in 23 weeks for breaking the law.

“He thinks he’s above the law. He’s not. Nobody is, so we’ll continue to go to court if rights are violated.”

He noted that unfortunately, they don’t expect the onslaught of unlawful, chaotic, and disruptive executive orders and actions to slow down, which means their work won’t cease either.

“The Supreme Court’s order in our birthright citizenship case was certainly contradictory. It did not address the underlying substantive question of whether birthright citizenship remains a constitutional right.”

However, he emphasized that it is clearly established in the United States Constitution that if you are born on American soil, you are an American citizen, period.

“It doesn’t matter who your parents are or what their immigration status is. That’s been the rule. It’s in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and I think that will continue.”

He clarified that the court’s order on Friday, June 27, focused on what type of remedy is appropriate.

“We continue to seek a nationwide injunction on this matter. The difficulty, administrative chaos, and financial cost to states of having a baby born in Texas with a different immigration status than a baby born in California… but if that Texas baby comes to California, the state will recognize them as a U.S. citizen.”