Michigan lawmakers decry federal deployments in California, urge non-violent ‘No Kings’ protest

Two Democratic members of the Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday called for non-violent action this Saturday, June 14, when a nationwide protest movement plans to hold rallies against the administration of President Donald Trump and its recent actions to detain and deport large numbers of immigrants.

The call to action comes after a weekend of chaos in Los Angeles and Paramount, California, where protesters formed a resistance response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. The protests began peacefully but escalated as law enforcement descended on the cities to quell the uprisings.

Protests were planned on June 14 before the weekend’s events played out in California. But organizers of the Michigan Resistance Coalition in a virtual call Tuesday said the scenes out of the Golden State further emphasized the need for the No Kings movement to be a peaceful opposition force.

“Let me be clear, what we’re seeing from the Trump administration is not law and order. It’s state sponsored terror,” said Ken Whittaker, the executive director of Michigan United Action. “When ICE agents dressed as military commandos kick in doors and drag people away under the cover of night, that’s not law enforcement, that’s a war on the people.”

Whitaker warned that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to California was a massive overreach and noted that those individuals were trained for war, not non-violent protests or civil disobedience.

Michigan Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) said she is the daughter of a man who served in World War II and helped liberate a Nazi Germany concentration camp. In that vein, she said she was raised to not stand idly by while dictators weaponize a government against its own citizens, as she said Trump is doing now with those who stand up against ICE while they conduct raids.

“We are witnessing something that I hoped we would never see in America, the U.S. military and immigration agents in full military gear on the streets of a major city targeting protesters and the media,” Pohutsky said. “Let me be crystal clear: We unequivocally condemn any violence. That has no place in our movement for peace and justice. Everyone should use their voice peacefully, but the Trump administration intentionally provoked the situation by sending a force of armed and armored agents to round up immigrant workers.”

Pohutsky said the Trump administration is sending waves of armed forces and armed agents to round up immigrant workers, day laborers, garments employees and others all without warrants – a far cry from the gang members and criminals Trump said he’d focus on when making campaign promises for mass deportations.

“These are people working hard to provide for their families. They aren’t dangerous. They’re our neighbors and they’re our friends,” Pohutsky said. “The cruelty is the point. Trump and his movement have been clear. He has said repeatedly that he wanted to send in troops against protesters. The MAGA think tank, the Center for Renewing America, wrote a playbook for doing exactly what we are seeing today, using immigration enforcement to provoke confrontation and then using that as a pretext to send in troops against our own citizens.”

It was noted that labor leaders are also becoming targets of ICE, as SEIU President David Huerta was recently detained for protesting ICE activity in Los Angeles.

“This is a wholesale assault on political opposition, and I want to underline this,” Pohutsky said. “Trump’s order sending in troops does not just apply to Los Angeles or California. It applies to the whole country.”

State Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) said she has been worried about this very scenario since Trump was elected to his second term.

“He laid it out in his campaign that he was going to take any excuse he can to use the military to target civilians,” Rhiengans said. “It’s wrong. It’s un-American, and we have to stand up against it.”

She also called on Michigan residents to join the No Kings protests on June 14, which is also Trump’s birthday.

“They’re counting on us,” she said. “They elected us to represent them, and we, all Republicans and Democrats, swore an oath to the United States Constitution, and it’s our duty to defend and protect it.”

Michigan Republicans react to California protests

While some Democrats in Michigan called for further demonstrations, Republicans in Congress and the state Legislature called for new ways to curtail protesters and to create a pathway for local law enforcement to assist ICE.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), reintroduced the “Clear the ROADS Act,” which is a direct response to protests unlawfully obstructing traffic on local roads and highways. In a news release, Huizenga said news reports have highlighted that a freeway was shut down by protesters in Los Angeles.

The bill would provide the Trump administration with another tool to hold states accountable when federally-funded roadways are “overrun by these dangerous roadblocking activities.”

“If states are neglecting their duties to keep their federal taxpayer-funded roads free from these traffic-obstructing actions, then federal taxpayer funds should be withheld from those states,” Huizenga said in a statement. “My legislation recognizes that endangering the free flow of ambulances, fire trucks, and other drivers is not an option. Based on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of the recent road-blocking riots in California, the Clear the ROADS Act would provide President Trump … with the ability to penalize California’s access to roughly 400 million in taxpayer-funded federal transportation dollars.”

In Michigan, state Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) introduced a resolution calling on local governments to cooperate with ICE in enforcing federal immigration law. The resolution was described as a direct response to the California protests.

In early May, Schriver and several of his Michigan House Freedom Caucus colleagues introduced House Bill 4472. The bill would create a task force to develop policies on “orderly removal” and deportation of immigrants from Michigan. It was referred to the House Government Operations Committee – which is known as the place where bills go to die – and has yet to receive a committee hearing.

Michigan Advance asked Pohutsky and Rheingans about the measures and what kind of friction ICE action has caused with House Republicans who control the chamber.

Pohutsky said that the resolutions or policies that have been brought up by House Republicans have been “heinously anti-immigrant,” but weren’t terribly well-though out and don’t get funding.

“It talks about, in some cases, requiring local units of government to comply with ICE, with no clear direction about what complying actually means, whether or not law enforcement even has the ability in these areas to comply with ICE,” she said. “That doesn’t even begin to take into account the human toll. And you know what? These folks who are our neighbors contribute to our communities, and what the communities want in terms of their neighbors.”

Pohutsky mentioned that the House is bearing down on its self-imposed July 1 deadline for having its budget ready to present for final passage, but no such budget bill has emerged from House Republicans.

“We need to be working on things that will actually help people, not targeting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities,” she said.

Rheingans said House Bill 4472 would, in effect, create a Michigan Gestapo focused squarely on immigration enforcement.

“You’re seeing this extremism play out not only in resolutions, but also in bills, and these things are going to run up the tab in our state,” she said. “It is important to make sure that we keep track of what Republicans are doing, and not just what they’re saying. They’re trying to run up the tab, waste our money and target people that they don’t like, and it’s not right. That’s dictatorial and authoritarian behavior. And there are no kings in America.”