Tag Archives: California

Daily Beast: JD Vance’s Idyllic Vacation in Foreign A-List Hotspot to Be Hijacked by Protests

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The Stop Trump Coalition said the vice president will “find the resistance waiting” on his English summer break, an ocean and almost 4,000 miles from DC.

Anti-Trump protesters have warned that they will derail JD Vance’s planned English countryside escape.

The vice president, his wife Usha, and their three children are expected to explore London in mid-August, rent a cottage in the Cotswolds, and then travel to Scotland, according to The Telegraph.

The Cotswolds is a stunning area full of rolling hills and quaint villages in southwest England, which is frequented by the wealthy elite, including Hugh Grant, David Beckham, and King Charles. But a serene stay is set to be hijacked by “a coalition of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, climate protesters and trade unions,” the British publication reported.

Ellen DeGeneres, who decided to move to the U.K. with wife Portia de Rossi after Trump’s re-election, is also a recent American expat living in the area. DeGeneres said over the weekend that she had found an oasis of calm. “We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in,’” DeGeneres told the BBC. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here.’”

The Stop Trump Coalition has pledged to ensure that Vance’s merriment falls as flat as it did when he visited Disneyland with his brood earlier this month. Demonstrators gathered outside the hotel he was believed to be staying at to protest the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids in California.

The group, which helped mobilize mass protests against Donald Trump’s first state visit to the U.K. in 2019, warned that even in the heart of the English countryside, the vice president “will find the resistance waiting.”

A spokesman told The Telegraph that the group also plans to Trump’s visit to Scotland later this week, when the president will open a new golf course named after his Scottish mother, and a second full state visit planned for September.

“We are meeting Trump with protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh this month, and then in London and Windsor in September,” they said.

“J.D. Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the U.K. as Donald Trump. We remember how Vance cut short his ski trip in Vermont because he was so enraged by the sight of a few protesters.

“We are sure that, even in the Cotswolds, he will find the resistance waiting.”

In March, protesters in Vermont forced Vance and his family to flee a ski resort after demonstrations sprang up against the administration’s Ukraine stance.

He was told to “go ski in Russia,” and branded a “national disgrace.”

The Vances were also met with resistance at Disneyland earlier this month. Over 100 protesters turned up the day before he arrived to speak out against the Trump administration’s mass deportations in a demonstration outside the Grand Californian Hotel, where the Vances were booked.

A smaller crowd of protesters showed up the day he arrived, with the park reportedly shutting down certain rides for the Vances to enjoy privately, causing delays for other park guests.

Even California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted Vance in an X post, writing, “Hope you enjoy your family time, @JDVance. The families you’re tearing apart certainly won’t.”

The Stop Trump Coalition, meanwhile, has also said it will protest against the president’s visit. He will jet into Scotland, where he has business interests, meeting Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Aberdeen, on the country’s northeast coast.

The group previously said it will hang anti-Trump banners and flags along roadsides and position a huge message on a beach to be visible from the sky.

The folks in Greenland wouldn’t stoop low enough to have lunch with J.D. Dunce. Hopefully the folks in the U.K. will show equally high standards!

JD Vance’s Idyllic Vacation in Foreign A-List Hotspot to Be Hijacked by Protests
The Stop Trump Coalition said the vice president will “find the resistance waiting” on his English summer break, an ocean and almost 4,000 miles from DC.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/vances-vacation-plans-immediately-hit-with-protest-threats

Minneapolis Star Tribune: The Trump administration is turning up the pressure on Minnesota

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Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said the Republican White House is ‘actively against’ the state amid growing list of federal investigations, funding freezes.

President Donald Trump’s administration has adopted an aggressive posture toward Minnesota in his second term, launching a series of investigations into the state’s laws, canceling federal dollars with no warning and conducting sweeping law enforcement raids without any advance word to local authorities.

A probe into Minnesota’s affirmative action laws, announced last week, is the latest salvo in an escalating battle between the White House and the Democrats who run the state. The relationship is noticeably more hostile than in Trump’s first term.

The Justice Department’s newest challenge to Minnesota hinged on a policy issued by the state Department of Human Services requiring supervisors to provide justification if they hire a non-diverse candidate. The protocol has been in place since 2002, tied to a state law passed nearly four decades ago, according to the state agency.

The White House has been aggressive in challenging blue-state policies out of step with its agenda. Since Trump returned to office in January, his administration has launched investigations and court challenges to Minnesota’s laws. It also has made moves that directly affected the day-to-day operations of the state, including canceling funding without warning and slowing or halting communication between agencies.

“They are actively against us,” said DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who has become a prominent foe to Trump since his stint on the national Democratic ticket last year.

Walz avoided public clashes with Trump’s first administration but now openly admonishes the president and his allies.

The DOJ is pursuing four probes in Minnesota ranging from state laws surrounding transgender athletes, college tuition rates for undocumented students and, on the local level, a policy instituted by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office directing prosecutors to consider race in charging decisions and plea deals.

In announcing the probe of Minnesota’s diversity hiring policy, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said last week the Civil Rights Division “will not stand by while states impose hiring mandates that punish Americans for their race or sex.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called the DOJ’s investigations “garbage” and “nonsense” pursuits without merit during an interview Monday with the Minnesota Star Tribune. He said he believes the Trump administration is targeting predominantly Democratic states.

“We’re probably more targeted than a red state,” Ellison said.

Another major blow to Minnesota by the feds came in late May when the same Justice Department division moved to dissolve Minneapolis’ federal consent decree, the long-awaited agreement brokered between the DOJ under the Biden administration and Minneapolis meant to usher in sweeping changes to the city police department. In their dismissal, DOJ officials under Trump described such court-enforceable agreements as federal overreach and anti-police.

Some city officials and advocates decried the timing of the announcement, just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death.

Such major decisions have sometimes come with no warning at all. The Trump administration abruptly froze and canceled some funding streams to Minnesota earlier this year, including grants to track measles, provide heating assistance and prevent flooding.

On Monday, Ellison joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to unfreeze more than $70 million for Minnesota schools. Ellison said Trump’s Education Department recently cut the funding “without warning.”

“They don’t cooperate,” Ellison said. “Even during Trump [term] one, it was common for us to be in touch with federal partners. Now, they don’t. It’s like they want to catch you by surprise.”

The hostilities go beyond investigations and court challenges to Minnesota’s laws. The state’s communication with the federal government has ground to a halt, Walz said. When state officials asked for a meeting with a local Veterans Affairs official, they were told it would take six to eight weeks to get an answer.

“If I want to talk to him now or my administration wants to talk to him, we have to put in a request to D.C. It has to be approved by the White House in addition to the VA, before he is able to engage in any meaningful conversation with us,” Walz said.

Federal law enforcement agencies didn’t warn state officials before they raided a Mexican restaurant in south Minneapolis in June, Walz said. That raid prompted confrontations between protestors and law enforcement on E. Lake Street after misinformation spread that an immigration sweep was under way.

An exception is the local U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI, which worked with state law enforcement to arrest suspect Vance Boelter after the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband last month. Walz said the state has “fantastic relationships” with those two agencies.

But Trump refused to call Walz after the assassinations of the Hortmans and the serious wounding of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Trump said it would be a waste of his time and then proceeded to insult the DFL governor. Vice President JD Vance did speak with Walz, however.

For his part, Walz also has been outwardly antagonistic toward Trump, comparing his administration to “wannabe dictators and despots” and accusing him of using federal immigration agents as a “modern-day Gestapo.” The Department of Homeland Security referred to Walz’s comments as “sickening.”

The broader breakdown in communication with the federal government is a notable change from Trump’s first term, when Walz could more easily reach administration officials. Walz told a group of States Newsroom editors in June that Vice President Mike Pence called him every couple of weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic to try to deliver masks and other relief.

Walz said he worries about how the federal government would treat Minnesota in a natural disaster. Critics have noted a contrast in how Trump treats blue and red states; he promised full support for Texas following deadly flash floods but criticized elected Democrats in California who sought federal help after wildfires devastated Los Angeles.

“The way California was treated on wildfires, that worries all of us,” Walz said. “How are we going to be treated when these things happen?”

It’s King Donald vs. America! King Donald will lose!

The Trump administration is turning up the pressure on Minnesota
Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said the Republican White House is ‘actively against’ the state amid growing list of federal investigations, funding freezes.

https://www.startribune.com/in-trumps-second-term-walz-says-federal-government-is-actively-against-minnesota/601420489

Independent: Border Patrol carries out raid at Home Depot parking lot 600 miles from US-Mexico border

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Activists say that a U.S. citizen observing the operation was among those arrested

“The Border Patrol should do their jobs – at the border – instead of continuing their tirade statewide of illegal racial profiling and illegal arrests,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told Cal Matters.

While the Border Patrol can operate within 100 miles of any U.S. border, including the California coast and nearby cities, a federal judge held in April that the agency cannot conduct warrantless immigration stops throughout California’s Eastern District, which includes Sacramento.

Border agents arrested at least 11 people during a Thursday raid outside a northern California Home Depot — including a U.S. citizen who was volunteering as an observer, according to local activists.

The operation, which took place in the Sacramento area, nearly 600 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, is the latest show of force from the Border Patrol in the state, which joined a full-cavalry raid in a Los Angeles park earlier this month.

“There is no such thing as a sanctuary city,” Border Patrol El Centro sector chief Gregory Bovino said Thursday in a video filmed in front of the state capitol building, referring to jurisdictions that don’t voluntarily assist with federal immigration enforcement.

“There is no such thing as a sanctuary state,” Bovino added in the clip, which features images of masked agents arresting men, soundtracked by the Kanye West song “Power.”

At least 11 people unlawfully in the U.S. were arrested in the early-morning operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security, including an immigrant man officials said was a “serial criminal” with past charges including illegal entry, possession of marijuana for sale, and felony burglary.

Bovino, in the video, said the arrests included a man who appears to have past fentanyl trafficking charges, and an individual arrested for impeding or assaulting a federal officer

So only 2 of 11 were actually criminals, plus you illegally bagged 1 U.S. citizen. Major fail!

However, Andrea Castillo said her husband Jose Castillo is a U.S. citizen and was among those arrested.

Video shared with KCRA shows Andrea Castillo yelling at agents as a group of masked officers pile Jose into an unmarked black minivan.

“Leave him alone, he’s a U.S. citizen!” she can be heard saying.

In the footage, one of the agents threatens to mace Castillo, and later says, “Google me,” when she asks for his badge number.

During the exchange, agents say they are detaining Jose Castillo because they believe he slashed the tires on a federal vehicle.

The activist group NorCal Resist said Jose Castillo was volunteering on behalf of the organization to document the operation, but did not impede officers. The group added that he has since been released.

Local lawmakers are questioning whether the operation violated a recent court order. Assembly member Rhodesia Ransom, whose district includes nearby Stockton, has reportedly asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate if federal officers are running afoul of state and federal laws or the U.S. Constitution with the operations.

“The Border Patrol should do their jobs – at the border – instead of continuing their tirade statewide of illegal racial profiling and illegal arrests,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told Cal Matters.

While the Border Patrol can operate within 100 miles of any U.S. border, including the California coast and nearby cities, a federal judge held in April that the agency cannot conduct warrantless immigration stops throughout California’s Eastern District, which includes Sacramento.

The ruling came in response to a series of operations at the beginning of the year targeting farmworkers in Kern County, which critics said were based on little more than the men’s appearance.

“You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say, ‘Give me your papers,’” U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Thurston said in court at the time.

A separate ruling last week barred the Border Patrol from making similar raids in the district including Los Angeles, after a lawsuit accused federal agents of making indiscriminate arrests in locations like Home Depot parking lots.

When asked about the alleged arrest of a U.S. citizen and the legal criticisms, federal officials pointed to a Homeland Security press release announcing the operation, which did not mention either subject.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of much of the administration’s immigration policy, has reportedly pressed immigration officials to reach 3,000 arrests per day, including by targeting hubs for day laborers like Home Depot parking lots.

The Trump administration’s recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill” domestic spending legislation contains about $170 billion in wider immigration and border funding, which officials say will fuel a surge in domestic immigration operations.

Border Patrol raids Home Depot parking lot 600 miles from US-Mexico border
Activists say that a U.S. citizen observing the operation was among those arrested

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/border-patrol-raid-sacramento-home-depot-b2791909.html

Columbus Ledger Enquirer: ICE Crackdown Draws Outrage from Local Leaders

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Federal immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles have escalated sharply, leading to 2,792 arrests, including nearly 1,200 individuals detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The surge in enforcement has drawn strong criticism from local officials and community leaders, who argue that the actions are sowing fear in vulnerable communities. Democratic leaders have called for greater transparency and accountability, warning that the crackdown could erode trust in public institutions.

A Home Depot spokesperson stated, “We aren’t notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and in many cases, we don’t know that arrests have taken place until after they’re over. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated, “CBP arrested 14 illegal aliens during an operation near Figueroa Street, and 11 illegal aliens in North Hollywood, CA, and 12 illegals on Sunset Boulevard. Criminal histories of those detained include drug trafficking, firearm offenses, theft, forgery, DUIs, and battery.”

And as usual DHS is probably lying and most of those 37 people that they arrested probably have NO CRIMINAL RECORDS.

City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez condemned federal immigration raids, saying they clash with city values. Reports showed children at summer camps were forced indoors during raids at places like MacArthur Park.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the actions “disgraceful.” Local officials argued that the federal crackdown does little to address crime and only fractures families.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed President Donald Trump’s authority to control the California National Guard, permitting its deployment in Los Angeles.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said, “I’m completely outraged by what’s going on.” Soto-Martinez added, “These are day laborers. These are people that are coming here every single day to try to find work. These are street vendors. These are folks that feed our community.”

ICE Crackdown Draws Outrage from Local Leaders

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-crackdown-draws-outrage-from-local-leaders/ss-AA1IV5ky

Latin Times: U.S. Food System in Peril as Deportation Policies Spark Exodus of Undocumented Workers From Industry: Report

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Immigrants make up about 20% of the entire food sector workforce—some 14 million people—including 27% of agricultural workers and 33% of meatpackers

A growing labor shortage triggered by increased immigration enforcement is threatening the stability of the U.S. food system, according to a report by The Guardian. As undocumented workers leave jobs or avoid public life out of fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, disruptions are mounting from farms to restaurants nationwide.

In Texas, farmers contacted by the news outlet report that longtime laborers are staying home, fearing arrest and deportation, while in Los Angeles, restaurants and food trucks are shutting down as kitchen and service staff disappear.

“They are scared, there are fewer opportunities, and they are no longer prospering here,” said Elizabeth Rodriguez, director of farm worker advocacy at the National Farm Worker Ministry to The Guardian. “Their fear will soon be seen in the harvest, when the quantities of produce are depleted.”

Immigrants make up about 20% of the entire food sector workforce—some 14 million people—including 27% of agricultural workers and 33% of meatpackers. In restaurants, nearly half of all chefs and nearly a third of cooks are foreign-born, most commonly from Mexico, China, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

“These workers are the backbone of the food chain,” said Mark Lauritsen, a vice president at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Without a stable, skilled workforce, safety and quality can decline, shelves can sit empty and grocery prices could rise even more.”

These jobs are often low-paid and physically demanding. Farmworkers are frequently paid per box of produce, working long hours in extreme heat with limited protections. Nearly half of the most strenuous food industry jobs are filled by undocumented workers.

Amid mounting criticism, officials have suggested the administration is considering exceptions for certain sectors. Tom Homan, White House border advisor, recently confirmed that discussions are underway about policy adjustments for farm and hospitality workers.

President Trump, on his part, has proposed allowing farmers to vouch for migrant workers to avoid deportation.”If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people… I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good,” he recently said at an event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds

U.S. Food System in Peril as Deportation Policies Spark Exodus of Undocumented Workers From Industry: Report
Immigrants make up about 20% of the entire food sector workforce—some 14 million people—including 27% of agricultural workers and 33% of meatpackers

https://www.latintimes.com/us-food-system-peril-deportation-policies-spark-exodus-undocumented-workers-industry-report-587105

The Hill: Homan slams ‘buffoon’ Nadler over comments on ICE agent attacks

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Border czar Tom Homan slammed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D) on Saturday over a comment the New York congressman made about assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

“What attacks on ICE agents?” Nadler asked in a clip that aired on Fox News.

“This buffoon knows exactly what attacks — his party is the one encouraging them,” Homan responded on X. “ICE agents are facing an 830% increase in assaults because of smears from the left. Their words have consequences. We won’t let them pretend they don’t.”

Drama often, Pugsley Homan? The only buffoon here is you, Pugsley Homan.

An 830% increase of almost none is still almost none.

And given how your masked Gestapo thugs are treating my fellow Americans, I could care less if a few of them banged up and scratched. They’re getting the response that they deserve. Fuck ’em!

ICE enforcement actions have been met by protesters in several high-profile incidents, most recently in Camarillo, Calif., where 200 people without legal status in the U.S. were arrested in a raid at a marijuana farm. Agents used tear gas to disperse protesters, and one person died after falling from a roof during the raid.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have also targeted Democratic lawmakers on the basis of claims they have attacked immigration officers.

Rep. LaMonica Iver (D-N.J.), for example, pleaded not guilty to an assault charge stemming from an incident where her elbows appeared to come into contact with an officer during a crowded scene.

In his response to Nadler, Homan cited a DHS statistic released last week, claiming assaults against ICE agents are at an 830 percent increase, more than double the 413 percent increase it claimed in May. The agency claims that Democratic officials and media reports have encouraged assaults against agents.

Homan slams ‘buffoon’ Nadler over comments on ICE agent attacks
Border czar Tom Homan slammed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D) on Saturday over a comment the New York congressman made about assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. “What attacks on ICE…

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5410275-homan-slams-buffoon-nadler-over-comments-on-ice-agent-attacks

Raleigh News and Observer: Eighteen States Join Lawsuit Against ICE Operations

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Los Angeles has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing ICE of using unlawful tactics including racial profiling and excessive force. The lawsuit highlights how the deployment of armed agents, particularly at MacArthur Park, has created a climate of fear and intimidation within the community. City officials argued the actions violate residents’ rights and have demanded accountability for the enforcement practices.

Mayor Karen Bass said, “I got alerted that there was an ICE operation, military intervention — who knows — at MacArthur Park.

City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto expressed concern that armed agents and military vehicles are frightening residents.

Legal reps allege ICE and CBP have conducted unconstitutional stops and detentions based on race and ethnicity.

Soto said, “The federal government has concentrated thousands of armed immigration agents, many of whom lack visible identification, and military troops in our communities, conducting unconstitutional raids, roundups and anonymous detentions, sowing fear and chaos among our residents.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by 17 other states, filed an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit and urging an end to the enforcement actions.

Eighteen States Join Lawsuit Against ICE Operations

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/eighteen-states-join-lawsuit-against-ice-operations/ss-AA1IUCx1

YouTube: ‘The brick wall of reality’: Stephen Miller’s anti-immigrant pitch doesn’t hold up to scrutiny

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‘The brick wall of reality’: Stephen Miller’s anti-immigrant pitch doesn’t hold up to scrutiny
“What would Los Angeles look like without illegal immigrants,” asked Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to himself on Fox News. He painted an i…

Alternet: ‘Really corrupt’: Church accuses Trump administration of committing ‘domestic terrorism’

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Delegates at the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) 35th General Synod overwhelmingly passed an emergency resolution this week, condemning the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as “domestic terrorism” and accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of “weaponizing the Constitution.”

Religious News Service reported Tuesday that the resolution targets immigration enforcement operations “carried out by ICE agents working without uniforms, wearing masks or refusing to identify themselves,” condemning these tactics as threatening and abusive.

Titled “Responding to the federal government’s attack on immigrants, migrants, and refugees,” the resolution urges the church to divest from for-profit private detention firms, specifically naming CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp.— while allowing congregations to go further if they choose, according to the report.

Presented as an emergency motion by the Rev. Clara Sims of First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque on behalf of the Southwest Conference, the move reflects the church’s urgent response to escalated immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, First Congregational UCC has opened housing and provided food and aid to immigrants arriving from the border, actions its minister says stem from the denomination’s theological commitment to protect the vulnerable.

“Our faith has always called us into spaces of risk on behalf of the vulnerable,” said Sims, “especially when people are being made vulnerable by really corrupt systems of power.”

The Southwest Conference fast-tracked the resolution after national church leaders and regional partners voiced deep concerns about human rights violations in detention facilities, per the report.

Last month, Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, released a letter addressing recent reports that ICE agents had entered Catholic churches.

As head of the sixth-largest Catholic diocese in the U.S., Bishop Rojas strongly criticized the escalation of ICE operations.

In his communication to Catholics, he highlighted that “authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God.”

He conveyed his solidarity with immigrants “who are bearing the trauma and injustice of these tactics,” and assured them that “we join you in carrying this very difficult cross.”

‘Really corrupt’: Church accuses Trump administration of committing ‘domestic terrorism’

https://www.alternet.org/trump-immigration-ice

Associated Press: Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone

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George Retes, 25, … said he was arriving at work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out…. Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch…. He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody. On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges. “They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around,” Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being “locked up for three days with no reason and no charges.”

A U.S. Army veteran who was arrested during an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm last week said Wednesday he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle and pinned down by federal agents who arrested him.

George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, said he was arriving at work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out.

“It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back,” Retes said.

The Ventura City native was detained during chaotic raids at two Southern California farms where federal authorities arrested more than 360 people, one of the largest operations since President Donald Trump took office in January. Protesters faced off against federal agents in military-style gear, and one farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.

The raids came more than a month into an extended immigration crackdown by the Trump administration across Southern California that was originally centered in Los Angeles, where local officials say the federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke on the raids at a news conference Wednesday, calling Trump a “chaos agent” who has incited violence and spread fear in communities.

“You got someone who dropped 30 feet because they were scared to death and lost their life,” he said, referring to the farmworker who died in the raids. “People are quite literally disappearing with no due process, no rights.”

Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught over his ordeal and missing his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday party Saturday.

He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody.

On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges.

“They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around,” Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being “locked up for three days with no reason and no charges.”

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Retes’ arrest but didn’t say on what charges.

“George Retes was arrested and has been released,” she said. “He has not been charged. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing his case, along with dozens of others, for potential federal charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo.”

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests without warrants in seven California counties, including Los Angeles. Immigrant advocates accused federal agents of detaining people because they looked Latino. The Justice Department appealed on Monday and asked for the order to be stayed.

The Pentagon also said Tuesday it was ending the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles. That’s roughly half the number the administration sent to the city following protests over the immigration actions. Some of those troops have been accompanying federal agents during their immigration enforcement operations.

Retes said he joined the Army at 18 and served four years, including deploying to Iraq in 2019.

“I joined the service to help better myself,” he said. “I did it because I love this (expletive) country. We are one nation and no matter what, we should be together. All this separation and stuff between everyone is just the way it shouldn’t be.”

Retes said he plans to sue for wrongful detention.

“The way they’re going about this entire deportation process is completely wrong, chasing people who are just working, especially trying to feed everyone here in the U.S.,” he said. “No one deserves to be treated the way they treat people.”

Retes was detained along with California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, also a U.S. citizen, who was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X.

The California Faculty Association said Caravello was taken away by agents who did not identify themselves nor inform him of why he was being taken into custody. Like Retes, the association said the professor was then held without being allowed to contact his family or an attorney.

Caravello was attempting to dislodge a tear gas canister that was stuck underneath someone’s wheelchair, witnesses told KABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles.

A federal judge on Monday ordered Caravello to be released on $15,000 bond. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1.

“I want everyone to know what happened. This doesn’t just affect one person,” Retes said. “It doesn’t matter if your skin is brown. It doesn’t matter if you’re white. It doesn’t matter if you’re a veteran or you serve this country. They don’t care. They’re just there to fill a quota.”

Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone
A U.S. Army veteran arrested during an immigration raid at a California marijuana farm says he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle on his way to work.

https://apnews.com/article/us-army-veteran-immigration-raid-53cb22251a01599a0c4d1a8d5650d050