from the fascism-doesn’t-need-to-work-to-be-effective dept
There are a few thousand military troops in Los Angeles now, thanks to Trump’s Martial Plan. Local law enforcement officials pointed out they had the situation under control, what with most of the violence (what there was of it that isn’t police violence) limited to a few blocks in downtown LA.
The rollout of National Guard troops remains a point of judicial discussion. The imposition of Marines on Los Angeles has already resulted in military troops doing what appears to be cop work, which is something they’re definitely not allowed to do.
But having more dudes duded up in camo is definitely turning heads. Last week, a whole bunch of warfighter-looking officers invaded a Los Angeles flea market, turning a normal swap meet into downtown Fallujah.
Now, we have the answer to a question no one should have needed to ask? How many officers does it take to effect two (2) immigration-related arrests?
With a Department of Homeland Security helicopter circling, several dozen heavily armed, masked ICE agents dressed in military tactical gear raided one of the most popular swap meets in Southern California, which caters to a predominantly Latino crowd, over the weekend.
[…]
An estimated 60 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were seen on the flea market grounds, which also houses a music venue.
Sixty officers and a helicopter. The optics of turning a local flea market into something that more closely resembles military actions in foreign countries. The absolute shock value of storm-trooping a domestic marketplace. And what did the administration get from this show of force?
It’s unclear if federal officials expected to detain a lot of individuals at the event, but despite their large numbers, only two people, a woman and a man, the latter of whom told an onlooker he’s Colombian, were seen in handcuffs as they were escorted away.
Not to nitpick, but it’s perfectly clear the government expected to detain a lot of people. That it didn’t shows how desperate federal officers are to meet constantly escalating deportation quotas. But, in this case, the optics are the end game. This administration has pretty much declared war on any state Trump perceives to be governed by his enemies.
And this underwhelming outcome was confirmed by the DHS, which appears to believe this is an acceptable cost-benefit ratio.
“ICE administratively arrested two individuals. Both entered the United States near Yuma, Arizona in March 2022. They were placed into removal proceedings and released from custody in 2023. They will now remain in custody pending the completion of removal proceedings,” the spokesperson added.
Yet again, we’re being shown the administration isn’t actually interested in removing truly dangerous immigrants from this country. All it wants to do is remove any (non-white, mind you) immigrants from this country and is willing to break laws to do it.
There was no specific target here. This was nothing more than the government utilizing its endless resources to troll for high-profile arrests. The government had no reason to believe the swap meet was host to dangerous criminals. It just sent 60 troops/officers and a helicopter to a place where there were a lot of people who looked kind of foreign.
The administration, of course, won’t see this as a failure. The primary purpose is a show of force in a “hostile” (using Trump’s words) city with the secondary intended effect being the promotion of a constant climate of fear. In any rational sense, the impromptu raid was a failure. But when the goal actually isn’t deportation of dangerous people, every loss is still a win.
Filed Under: dhs, donald trump, ice, los angeles, mass deportation
