Spouses experiencing health emergencies alone, because their loved ones are serving on the streets of Los Angeles. Troops fatigued by a mission they weren\u2019t prepared for. Children of active-duty troops left without their parents, who were deployed on U.S. soil. <\/p>\n
Such incidents are happening because of the Trump administration\u2019s decision to send troops to Los Angeles, said Brandi Jones, organizing director for the Secure Families Initiative, a nonprofit that advocates for military spouses, children and veterans. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from families who have a concern that what their loved ones have sacrificed and served in protection of the Constitution, and all the rights it guarantees, are really under siege right now in a way they could never have expected,\u201d Jones said Thursday during a virtual news conference.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
California National Guard troops stand outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles during a June 14 protest.<\/p>\n
(Zurie Pope \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
On the eve of Independence Day, veterans, legal scholars and advocates for active-duty troops warned that sending troops to quell protests in California\u2019s largest city threatens democratic norms. Under a 147-year-old law, federal troops are barred from being used for civilian law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Dan Maurer, a retired lieutenant colonel who is now a law professor at Ohio Northern University, described this state of affairs during the news conference as \u201cexactly the situation we fought for independence from,\u201d adding that President Trump is \u201cmaking America militarized again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though 150 National Guard troops<\/a> were released from protest duty on Tuesday, according to a news release from U.S Northern Command, around 3,950 remain in Los Angeles alongside 700 Marines, who are protecting federal property from protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. <\/p>\n Trump has defended the deployment of troops in Los Angeles, saying on his social media platform that the city \u201cwould be burning to the ground right now\u201d<\/a> if they were not sent. He has suggested doing the same in other U.S. cities, calling the L.A. deployment \u201cthe first, perhaps of many<\/a>,\u201d during an Oval Office news conference. <\/p>\n Troops in L.A. were federalized under Title 10 of the United States code, and their purview is narrow<\/a>. They do not have the authority to arrest, only to detain individuals before handing them over to police, and they are only obligated to protect federal property and personnel, according to the U.S Northern Command<\/a>. <\/p>\n Though Marines detained a U.S. Army veteran in early June<\/a>, the most active involvement they and the National Guard have had in ICE\u2019s activity is providing security during arrests<\/a>, according to reports from Reuters and the CBS show \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe administration has unnecessarily and provocatively deployed the military in a way that reflects the very fears that our founding fathers had,\u201d Maurer said. \u201cUsing the military as a police force in all but name.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe closer they [the military] act to providing security around a perimeter … the closer they act to detaining individuals, the closer they act to questioning individuals that are suspected of being illegal immigrants, the closer the military is pushed to that Posse Comitatus line,\u201d Maurer said, referring to the law that prohibits use of troops in a law enforcement capacity on American soil. \u201cThat is a very dangerous place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Other speakers argued that the use of troops in Los Angeles jeopardizes service members, placing them in a environment they were never trained for, and pitting them against American citizens.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Marines are our nation\u2019s shock troops, and it\u2019s entirely inappropriate that they\u2019re deployed in the streets of Los Angeles,\u201d said Joe Plenzler, a Marine combat veteran who served as platoon commander, weapons platoon commander and company executive officer for the 2nd Batallion 7th Marines,<\/a> which is now deployed in downtown L.A. <\/p>\n Plenzler recalled that more than half of the men he served with in 2nd Batallion came from Spanish-speaking families, and some were in this country as legal permanent residents with green cards and had yet to enjoy all the benefits of citizenship. <\/p>\n Members of the California National Guard are deployed at a June 14 protest in downtown L.A.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cThink about what might be going through their heads right now, as they\u2019re being ordered to help ICE arrest and deport hardworking people who look a lot like people they would see at their own family reunions,\u201d Plenzler said. <\/p>\n Plenzler also contrasted the training Marines receive with those of civilian law enforcement. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are not cops,\u201d Plenzler said. \u201cMarines aren\u2019t trained in de-escalatory tactics required in community policing. We don\u2019t deploy troops in civilian settings, typically because it increases the risk of excessive force, wrongful deaths and erosion of public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n