Front Burner - Battleground L.A.: Fighting Trump’s ICE crackdown

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

<p>The city of Los Angeles has been embroiled in protests for days after a series of ICE raids rounded up dozens of people. Now, after President Donald Trump sent in 2000 members of the National Guard, the city finds itself in the middle of a fight between the White House and state and local governments over the rights of undocumented immigrants.</p><p><br></p><p>Jeannette Zanipatin is a lawyer and the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an L.A.-based organization that supports immigrants. The group has been involved with some of the demonstrations. She explains how this situation came to be, what the community has been dealing with and the legal and political implications of Trump’s crackdown. </p><p><br></p><p>Fill out our listener survey <a href="https://insightscanada.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bfIcbmcQYPwjUrk?Podcast=Front%20Burner&Prize=Yes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. We appreciate your input!</p><p><br></p><p>For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts</a></p>

Hi, I'm Gavin Crawford, the host of Because News, Canada's funniest news quiz. Every week we make jokes out of the headlines with help from a panel of brilliant comedians like Alice Moran. Hi there, I'm a sweet little Alberta dirtbag with very gentle takes. They call me light, sweet, and crude. Half your job is making jokes, but the other half is scoring points. What subjects do you net the most points in? Sports, but also space, because I went to space camp so much as a kid, not to brag.

That's the exact amount of knowledge you need for this show. Stay vaguely informed while in good company. With me. Listen to Because News, available wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi everybody, I'm Jamie Poisson. On Monday night, the Pentagon deployed 700 active duty Marines to respond to protests in the Los Angeles area set to arrive within 24 hours.

This was seen as a major escalation in ongoing tensions between President Donald Trump and officials in California, particularly Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move un-American. Typically, the president would have to invoke the very rarely used Insurrection Act in order to send active military personnel for domestic law enforcement. It was unclear mid-evening whether he had done that. Earlier in the day, Newsom announced that he was suing the Trump administration for sending in 2,000 National Guard troops to squash protests in the state. These protests erupted over the weekend in response to a series of ICE raids in Los Angeles

in which many dozens of people were rounded up and detained. Thousands marched peacefully. Though some cars were burned, a freeway was shut down, a hotel housing agents became a target of protest. The protests in LA, though the largest so far, added to those that we've seen around the country in places like Minneapolis. An evolving tally of people are being arrested

for hitting the streets. Jeanette Sunny-Peteen is a lawyer and the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. It's an LA-based organization that supports immigrants and has been involved with some of the demonstrations in LA. She's joining me to talk about how this situation came to be, what the community there has been dealing with,

and the legal and political implications of Trump's crackdown. And just a note to say that Jeanette and I spoke before the decision to send in the Marines. Jeanette, hi. Thank you very much for making the time today. I know that you have a lot going on. No, thank you for inviting me. I'm happy to be here to let folks know what is happening on the ground here in Los Angeles. We're very appreciative for your time. So this all started with a round of ICE raids throughout Los Angeles County on Friday, right? Particularly in the city of Paramount. Where

were these raids? Who did they go after? And what did it all look like on the ground? Yes, so Friday we did receive word that ICE was going to conduct operations throughout the city and county of Los Angeles. The most notable raid occurred in the fashion district in downtown at the Ambience Clothing Company. At the Ambience Clothing Company, ice descended onto the business and folks were outside, you know, serving as legal observers, making sure that individuals who were inside had information that they needed in order to protect themselves. We also heard reports from throughout Los Angeles County of additional ice raids happening

simultaneously throughout the day. At one scene in downtown LA a crowd of people tried to prevent authorities from leaving in vans after multiple people were detained. Protesters could be seen throwing objects at the vehicles while others tried to block the vans from leaving. Chaos outside that Home Depot in Westlake. The man says my my friend started yelling, ice, ice, ice. I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. Then I saw all the day laborers starting to run. And so part of our work at Chirla

was to investigate those other ice sightings and those other reports of raids, to confirm reports, to let the community know and folks on the ground know, that these operations were happening. You know, we did ask for folks to remain calm, but to be vigilant and to ensure that individuals could exercise their constitutional rights, but also just be aware of what their rights are.

And just quickly, I understand that at least one of these actions targeted a school. What would that look like? So my understanding was that there was a raid near a school. There was a middle school that was holding a graduation ceremony. Because of ICE presence, folks within the school became very concerned, very afraid. Parents fled because they feared arrest. The school essentially went into lockdown. Children were left there with their teachers and school administrators, fearful, crying. Children were very emotional. Students are graduating all over the place, the day that they should be proud,

a day that families get together to celebrate. My school was on high alert. It seemed like less families showed up for my kids. Our friends, neighbors, and family are being kidnapped. You mentioned before that part of your job is to help people understand their constitutional rights. I wonder if you could just tell me, what are their constitutional rights in these situations?

Yes, so many people mistakenly believe that folks who are undocumented do not have any constitutional rights in our country, but we do. In terms of ICE enforcement, ICE needs to have a signed judicial warrant. The information on the warrant needs to be correct. If they issue subpoenas, for example, subpoenas also have place, time, and manner restrictions.

And if those details in the subpoena are incorrect, you do not have to comply with the subpoena. ICE has said that 44 people, ostensibly for immigration violations, were arrested in a single operation at a job site on Friday. I've seen reports that another 77 were also arrested in the greater LA area on the same day. Have you learned anything more about how those people are doing and are organizations like yours able to ascertain that they were taken legally, like in accordance with what you just laid out, right? Right. Yeah. So there are varying reports throughout the county.

We believe many people were not taken under valid judicial warrants or search warrants as well. We believe that there have been many discrepancies actually that occurred with the way that ICE conducted these search warrants on many of these premises. We are hearing reports from family members who believe their family members were picked up. In some instances, calls have been made from detention centers, so some family members are aware where their loved ones are.

But in terms of being able to speak to folks that have been detained, that has been very limited and very circumvented. Folks try to go on Friday to the Federal Detention Center, to the building where folks are being held. They were denied access to their attorneys. Policymakers and members of Congress were also present. They were also denied. I know on Saturday, they were asked to come back at 8 a.m. to the federal building in downtown Los Angeles. And again, they were not allowed access to have their attorneys speak or even have congressional representatives come and inspect the conditions of the detainees.

And then yesterday, we also attempted to go to Adelanto, which is a detention center in the Inland Empire where we believe a lot of folks that were picked up on Friday and Saturday are being detained. We were also denied entry despite having three members of Congress with us and two other attorneys present with information about their clients and who they wanted to specifically visit. Hello, hello, hello.

Congresswoman Waters, I just came to use my congressional authority to check on David Warta. Member of the public, I'm securing now to all visitors. Excuse me, I need to get in. Contact our public apparel. I need to get in. What are you hoping to do, Congresswoman? I just want to see David Warta.

Would a congressperson normally be able to enter the... What are you hoping to do Congresswoman? I just want to see David work Would a congressperson normally be able to enter the normally yes And I believe that they were waited for about four hours and the last report is that they were only able to speak to one Client and so that's egregious. That's an egregious violation of due process, but it's also creates, you know a level of chaos and uncertainty and fear because individuals are not able to have contact or visit with their loved ones. And in many cases, we still don't know where many people are at this moment. So of course, this didn't just start on Friday. And it is not just happening in California, right? We've seen ICE ramping up their raids throughout the country.

We've seen quite a few tent standoffs where neighbors essentially have stepped in and tried to stop their neighbors from being taken away. Community groups have stepped in. I'm thinking of scenes out of San Diego, for instance, earlier last week. An immigration enforcement operation at a popular San Diego restaurant sparked spontaneous protests there. Armed federal agents arrested four undocumented employees

using flash bangs on an angry crowd outside. Shame! Shame! Shame! Would you consider Friday a major escalation here? Yes, definitely. Friday was a major escalation. The Trump administration is definitely trying to show force by bringing in the military, by bringing in the FBI agents as well to conduct these raids with ICE enforcement agents. But it's also an escalation of inciting chaos, right? This administration is purposely targeting Los Angeles because of its sanctuary policy. So we not only have a sanctuary state law, but Los Angeles also passed an ordinance that provides even more protection as a sanctuary city. And this is definitely, the administration is targeting Los Angeles to make an example of Los Angeles and to send a clear message to other jurisdictions that if they interfere, they will continue to bring

even more demonstrations of force within our communities. Just for Canadians listening who might not be familiar, I wonder if you could just tell me a little bit more about what it means to be a sanctuary city? Am I right to say that you can't use city resources to do any kind of immigration enforcement? Is that basically what it is? Yes. At the state level and at the city level, what a sanctuary city means legally is that neither local, county, or state resources will be used to collaborate with ICE in immigration enforcement. We have under the Constitution the right to not have our funds be commandeered by the federal government for this purpose.

And so that's how we've been able to pass legislation at the state level and at the local level to ensure that our resources are not being used to assist ICE with their immigration enforcement. For a brief moment in the year 2000, the city of Phoenix was on fire. You could see a glow in the sky. An arsonist was on the loose. How many more ways can we fuck this thing up? The culprit will shock you. I had several dreams about that house behind me.

Your dreams about setting it on fire. One night I did. From Novel and Sony Music Entertainment, listen to The Arsonist Next Door. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts to binge all episodes now or listen weekly wherever you get your podcasts. So these protests, I know your organization organized one of those rallies. And from what I could see from where I am,

the crowds did look very large. Crowd, escucha, are in the fight! Our streets! Our streets! The footage of people waving Mexican and American flags and a car burning in the middle of the street are everywhere. But I wonder if you could describe for me what the protests were like from your view, because just having been in quite a few of these myself reporting, it's often quite different from what you see on television or on social media, etc. So we did hold a press event Friday afternoon at four at the federal building. We had over

20 plus speakers. People were very engaged in the conversation and the speakers. And then we proceeded to march and conduct a march. And from our perspective, it was a very somber and peaceful demonstration. We were calling upon our leaders to ensure that the federal government does not come in and conduct these raids, that public safety was actually being compromised, and that we needed to protect the sanctity of our communities and our community members as well. There were families there whose family members were arrested, family members who were really concerned

about the physical and mental state of their family members. And we saw children and adult children as well who had been torn away from their parents. So it was a very emotional, a very somber moment, and a very stark moment given the level of force that the Trump administration ensued throughout the county. And I know that LAPD declared an unlawful assembly Friday evening and asked crowds to disperse. However, the protest did continue. And then on Saturday, President Trump signed an order to send in the National Guard.

So 2000 troops. With the National Guard troops now on the ground in L.A., tonight, President Trump is defending their deployment. Well, we're going to have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart. The president calling Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass incompetent. We'll send whatever we need to make sure

that it's law and order. They landed there on Sunday. We've seen protesters face off at them. Witnesses say until this moment, Sunday morning's protests had been peaceful. More rounds of tear gas set demonstrators running. Officers with batons pushed back the crowds. Crowds ordered to go home as the president warned of a strong response.

We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under fight. So far, it does seem to be kind of largely peaceful. There have been multiple reports of cars being set on fire, though, and looting overnight. And also, I should timestamp this conversation right now. You and I are speaking just before 9 a.m. Pacific time. On Monday is just before noon Eastern time. And so what are you seeing and hearing

about what's been happening right now and about the National Guard in particular? So definitely. So our leaders, our governor and the mayor of Los Angeles have really asked the president to not send in the National Guard because it was unnecessary or is unnecessary. I was hoping to prevent this situation from happening. I was trying to encourage the administration that if they deployed the

National Guard in Los Angeles, it would create a sense of chaos. Definitely having the National Guard presence really shifts the dynamics here in the city and county of Los Angeles. It definitely continues to incite more violence. Obviously, protesters were upset, enraged, and very emotional about what's happening. And so I think, you know, there is a correlation between the escalation and the show of force by the Trump administration and the level of violence increasing. Trump described the protesters on Sunday as violent, insurrectionist mobs that are swarming and attacking our federal agents to try and stop our border operations, as a quote from him. The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators, they're insurrectionists,

they're bad people, they should be in jail. He went on to write that he's directing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi to quote, take all such necessary action to put an end to these migrant riots. And how real is the fear right now that this situation will escalate? There definitely is fear because they're also threatening to send in Marines via headset. US officials are telling our team at the Pentagon, again, they confirmed 700 Marines. They're coming from 29 palms in California.

They've been ordered to assist in Los Angeles. They think they're going to be here in the next 24 hours. And so I think the Trump administration, again, continues to compromise the public safety of every resident in the city and county of Los Angeles. And this is exactly what they want. They are really trying to make Los Angeles a test case to demonstrate to other jurisdictions and to the country

what can happen if you dare to stand up and assert your First Amendment rights. But we really are calling for people to remain as calm as possible, to not engage in any level of violence, but to speak up about what's happening within the immigration court system, within, with these ICE raids. we fear that many people that have been picked up may be U.S. citizens, may have green cards or lawful permanent residence. And so because of that, you know, we need to have oversight. We need to have more checks and balances. You mentioned earlier that the governor that nobody had asked the administration to send in the National Guard.

This is the first time since 1965 in Alabama, the Civil Rights era, that a president has activated a state's National Guard force without a request from that state's governor. also talked about how this administration is using LA and California more broadly as an example. And politics, of course, are running heavily through all of this because of that. And then also because of the people involved here, right? The mayor of LA and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who Trump calls Gavin Newscombe, he tweeted or he posted this morning that they're both incompetent. There's some history there, right? Now Newsom is accusing the administration of creating the situation and daring the Borders are Tom Homan to arrest him.

The hell is this guy? Come after me, arrest me. Let's just get it over with. Tough guy. I don't give a damn. but I care about my community. I care about this community. The hell are they doing? These guys need to grow up, they need to stop,

and we need to push back. And I'm sorry to be so clear, but that kind of bloviating is exhausting. So Tom, arrest me, let's go. California is now suing the Trump administration for sending in the National Guard. And how, I'm curious, how are you and your organization thinking about your elected representatives in California right now? So we are definitely engaging with our elected representatives to give them up-to-date information, to provide them information about all the discrepancies,

the violations of due process, the violation of individual civil rights, and the racial profiling that's happening. We are seeing the majority of folks that are being picked up are individuals of color. We know that this is the way that this administration operates. They operate out of vindictiveness, out of revenge. And for them to call upon the National Guard, says a lot about this administration. Why didn't they call the National Guard during the January 6 incident and insurrection? So, they are very calculating. They are definitely trying to manipulate the narrative and really trying to set this up for a showdown. And, you know,

the Trump administration has to know that immigrants are resilient and that we will continue to fight for our humanity, for our dignity, for our constitutional and civil rights. And we will continue to ask the community to do this in a way that is nonviolent. You know, we've been talking about these recent immigration crackdowns, but ICE has been around since 2003, and your organization has been sounding the alarm on their impact on immigrant communities for a very long time now. And I just wonder if you could tell me me for those who aren't aware, what are ICE's roots as a government agency? How do they, how does what we've seen from them recently fit in with their history?

Yes. So ICE has, has a history of operating in ways that are, you know, obviously not legal, not in compliance with the Constitution. In many cases ICE along with the California Customs and Border Patrol operate on some level as rogue agencies. I know with Customs and Border Patrol, they have the ability to conduct their operations with a little bit more flexibility. Because California is surrounded by coastline, there are different rules that apply when you're at a border or when you are 200 miles within a coastline. And so when we have a history of them violating civil rights, it does send a strong message to the community that you need to be aware,

that you need to know what your rights are. And so we work really closely with our community to understand the tactics that they are using to inform the community about those tactics that they're using and what their respective rights are and how they can preserve those rights. And so it's, it does have a history of operating in a manner that is not legal. And just to come back to the people affected here, how integral is LA's immigrant population,

both documented and not to the fabric of the city. And we hear all the time, right, that LA is a city of immigrants. And the numbers certainly bear that out. About a third of the population are immigrants, I believe. Yes, it has a big impact. I mean, we know in California that one out of every three children have at least one immigrant parent. We know that immigrants are the fastest growing segment of small business owners. And so the impact is huge. We know that if immigrants were to stop working,

the city would essentially be at a standstill. It is no mistake that California has now moved up and is the fourth largest economy in the world. That's in big part because of the contributions that immigrants make to the economy, to the tech industry, to the educational industry, and the children of immigrants. I am a daughter of immigrants as well and you know I'm here working as an attorney serving my community and so we need to understand that immigrants come to this country to work, they come to this country to provide for their children, to educate their children as well and really are the backbone of all of these economies

that we're talking about. Janette Sunnypaten, thank you very much for making the time. Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate it. Alright, that is all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening. Talk to you soon.