We stand in solidarity with all immigrant and migrant communities and reaffirm our commitment to protecting human rights, promoting equity, and resisting any efforts to divide our communities through fear and misinformation. Los Angeles will continue to be a city of refuge, resistance, and resilience.
Los Angeles was never in danger from the throngs legally and peacefully protesting the Trump Administration’s illegal and unconstitutional abductions by ICE of immigrants and citizens, denying due process, only because of the color of their skin and ethnic makeup. It is in danger now due to the administration’s unconstitutional reaction to place a contingency of marines in Los Angeles — a contingency greater than the number of marines currently in Iraq — against the wishes of the state and the city.
Throughout his presidencies, Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, threatening federal funding and promoting divisive policies that sought to vilify immigrants and sow fear in our neighborhoods. His administration’s aggressive ICE raids, family separations, and the demonization of Latine, Black, Asian, and Middle Eastern immigrant populations inflicted lasting harm on countless families and betrayed our nation’s values of inclusion, justice, and opportunity.
Who will be next?
Los Angeles is a proud city of immigrants. Its diversity is our strength. Attempts to scapegoat immigrant communities and paint them as threats to public safety are not only baseless but dangerous. These policies and statements were rooted in xenophobia, not fact. They fostered mistrust, separated families, and undermined the constitutional protections that every person — regardless of status — is entitled to.
We must be clear — the way in which the Trump administration claims it is combating an imaginary “foreign invasion” is not about protecting the country — it is instead overtly abusing the issue to divide Americans, undermine democracy, and harm vulnerable communities.
Five years ago, following the death of George Floyd, I wrote that “it is time for our nation to come together in support of basic human and civil rights through action.” Now, as our country faces another Trump-created rise in U.S. protests, we cannot allow manufactured wedge issues to be used to justify policies that target immigrants and other minorities, suppress free speech, or erode democratic norms.
We must be resolute and make the necessary changes to support human dignity of all people yearning for a better life. We all must do our part to build an America where justice, equity, and opportunity are available to all.
Where is the America in which President Reagan proclaimed, “our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism”? How is it that we, as a nation, have such fundamental disagreements about seemingly basic concepts of rightness and justice? America, where is our moral clarity?
Paraphrasing President H.S. Truman, “we cannot allow ourselves to be misled; what we do now will affect our way of life for decades to come.”
We unequivocally condemn the illegal and unconstitutional actions of President Donald J. Trump targeting the city of Los Angeles meant to cause fear and panic, and undermine the dignity and rights of immigrant and migrant communities across the nation. Make no mistake, this is about attacking the most vulnerable as political theatre to distract from a chaotic, failing, and flailing administration and its policies.
We have to make a change; each one of us can make a difference.
In Solidarity.
CALL FOR MORAL CLARITY
Now more than ever, we are called upon to make a difference.
