Meeting Member Jessica González-Rojas is condemning President Donald Trump’s deployment of the Nationwide Guard and Marine Corps to Los Angeles, calling him a “fascist” and describing the transfer as a response to rising public outrage over his administration’s immigration insurance policies.
González-Rojas mentioned the continued anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles show that “people have had enough” of what she described as Trump’s “abhorrent and terrifying” strategy to immigration enforcement.
Her feedback adopted Trump’s resolution to federalize the California Nationwide Guard on Saturday, June 7, in response to anti-ICE demonstrations that started on June 6.
Along with the Nationwide Guard, 700 Marines have been despatched to Los Angeles, escalating the federal response to protests that erupted in response to a collection of ICE raids carried out in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
González-Rojas joined different Queens lawmakers in denouncing the escalation, calling the President’s actions “unacceptable” and “unconscionable.”
Police stand guard as they conflict with protesters gathered across the Los Angeles Federal Constructing following a number of detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 6, 2025.REUTERS/Daniel Cole
“I’m at a loss for words to explain what’s happening,” González-Rojas mentioned Tuesday. “We cannot use our military in that fashion.”
She attributed the protests to widespread frustration with latest ICE actions, particularly the detention of immigrants who’re both lawfully current within the nation or actively pursuing authorized standing.
“Many of the immigrants that they’re picking up are here lawfully. They are pursuing their asylum cases or the refugee cases, or they are legal permanent residents,” González-Rojas mentioned.
The protests in Los Angeles started after ICE brokers performed raids in neighborhoods with massive Latino populations, resulting in tense standoffs between demonstrators and federal brokers. Though the Los Angeles Police Division didn’t take part within the raids as a result of metropolis’s sanctuary insurance policies, officers had been later deployed as protests escalated exterior ICE detention facilities.
González-Rojas described the federal immigration raids as “absolutely horrifying” and warned that New York may face the same response if protests get away right here.
“I have no doubt that Trump would deploy the military in New York if similar demonstrations take place,” she mentioned.
“He said he was going to focus on criminals, and they are not focusing on criminals,” she added. “They’re focusing on students, on people seeking health care, people exercising their rights—people who are lawful in this country and have done nothing wrong. So he’s proven to be a liar and a white supremacist.”
González-Rojas cited the latest detention of a highschool pupil enrolled at Grover Cleveland Excessive College in Ridgewood, who was taken into custody forward of an immigration court docket listening to. She mentioned the incident highlights how susceptible communities in New York may additionally turn into targets of federal enforcement, and warned that the town must be ready for the potential for troop deployment if protests erupt in response.
A pupil from Grover Cleveland Excessive College in Ridgewood has reportedly been detained by ICE.File Picture by Christina Santucci
“He’s showing us who he is, and I think we have to take that very seriously,” González-Rojas continued. “Residents of this country are exercising our constitutional right to protest… it is abhorrent and terrifying what’s currently happening.”
González-Rojas was not alone in her criticism of the President’s actions. A number of Queens lawmakers additionally condemned the deployment of the Nationwide Guard and Marines in Los Angeles in response to the protests.
Meeting Member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani expressed “solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters” in Los Angeles and denounced the ICE raids that triggered the demonstrations.
Zohran Mamdani, New York State Assemblyman and mayoral candidate for New York Metropolis, at a latest rally held by the Working Households Get together to criticize the Trump administration, after ICE brokers arrested the mayor of Newark and New Jersey Democratic candidate for governor in New York, New York, U.S. REUTERS/Bing Guan
“People deserve to be safe in their homes, workplaces, schools and neighborhoods,” Mamdani mentioned in a publish on X, previously Twitter. “We will not allow this administration—or anyone—to strip away the dignity and humanity that every person deserves.”
State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez described the occasions unfolding in Los Angeles as “chilling” and mentioned they underscore the necessity for statewide legislative motion.
“We are seeing the violent arm of a broken immigration system and a fascist federal administration that’s targeting working families and our most vulnerable communities,” Gonzalez mentioned in a press release.
She renewed her name to go the New York for All Act, which might prohibit native and state legislation enforcement businesses from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
“No local or state agency should collaborate with ICE,” Gonzalez mentioned. “Our communities deserve sanctuary, not surveillance.”
González-Rojas echoed that decision, urging the state legislature to go the invoice earlier than the Meeting adjourns for the summer season on June 17.
“It’s not a crime to be an immigrant in this country,” she mentioned. “It’s a civil violation if you’re unlawfully here without legal status, but we should not be wasting our local and state police and law enforcement on civil matters. Of course, if someone breaks a law, that’s a different story.”
State Sen. Jessica Ramos additionally denounced the President’s actions, accusing Trump of “building his brand on punishing immigrants.”
“Now, that cruelty is showing its teeth in Los Angeles,” Ramos mentioned in a press release. “Sending within the Nationwide Guard, Marines, and militarized police isn’t about security. It’s about worry. It’s violence paid for with our personal tax {dollars}, and it’s meant to silence and disappear the very individuals who constructed this nation with their labor and sacrifice.
“We should be investing in care, not escalation. If D.C. wants to bring the hammer down on immigrant communities, they’ll find me standing in the way every damn time.”
Not all Queens lawmakers had been important of the President over his dealing with of demonstrations in Los Angeles, nonetheless.
Republican Council Member Vickie Paladino has issued a number of statements on X since demonstrations and rioting started on Friday, calling for demonstrators who burned autos to be deported.
Responding to a video of protestors showing to throw rocks at legislation enforcement brokers, Paladino described such acts as “attempted murder.” She additionally referred to as for lethal drive for use in opposition to rioters or protestors who throw objects reminiscent of stones at legislation enforcement brokers.
“Rioters are throwing concrete blocks and stones at federal officers. These can very easily kill,” Paladino mentioned on X. “They’re committing tried homicide; on the very least assault with a lethal weapon. There may be completely no purpose to not use lethal drive on them. In some unspecified time in the future, endurance goes to need to run out and the feds must do what’s vital.
Paladino additionally criticized Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass after Bass expressed anger at stories that ICE was conducting raids at varied areas throughout the town. Bass posted that ICE raids “sow terror” into communities and added that her workplace reached out to immigrant rights teams within the wake of the raids.
We won’t stand for this. pic.twitter.com/Ug1CN4JKOz
Paladino, nonetheless, accused Bass of “coordinating” with teams that facilitate rioters.
“Progressive mayor of a major city is just straight-up advocating riots, and coordinating with groups who facilitate the rioters,” Paladino wrote.
