NASW Opposes Military Action Against California Protests

In Brief

The deployment of federal troops against American citizens, especially in direct opposition to the concerns of state and local leadership, represents an unacceptable overreach of executive power, NASW Senior Policy Adviser Mel Wilson writes in a blog post at NASW’s socialworkblog.org. Such action “undermines the core principles of democracy, disregarding the constitutional rights that protect people from governmental authoritarianism,” Wilson states. “By unilaterally disregarding these safeguards without consulting California’s governor or the mayor of Los Angeles, President Trump has eroded public trust and escalated tensions.”

The Trump administration had federalized about 4,000 National Guard soldiers and deployed Marines to L.A. in early June to quell anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests. At press time, 2,000 National Guard troops had been withdrawn from the mission.