ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) issued this statement in response to President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests being held in support of immigrants.

“Over the weekend, President Trump invoked a statutory authority and deployed the National Guard to disperse protests against indiscriminate immigration enforcement in Los Angeles. Today, 700 Marines were deployed to support the National Guard.

“The president does reserve power to deploy the military domestically, but only in rare and extraordinary circumstances. President Trump’s potentially unlawful unilateral action over the weekend is an abuse of power and a cause for concern for all Americans.  

“We are witnessing deliberate and alarming use of militarized tactics by the Trump administration against immigrants, including rendering immigrants to notorious detention sites such as Guantánamo Bay and Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador. This deliberate militarism appears to serve the purpose of creating fear and producing images and televised footage meant to intimidate individuals and communities. 

“Most recently, we saw this in Minneapolis – near our headquarters – where an excessive and militarized show of force was used in what was purported to be simply a trafficking investigation, creating chaos and raising still-unanswered questions within the community. What is happening in Los Angeles is larger in scale but following the same playbook: stoking fear through force. 

“As an organization that extends care to refugees and asylum seekers, we know immigrants are not safe now. Fears of deportation are rampant. Our clients have fled military regimes, war and conflict, and collapse of the rule of law in their home countries. Many grew up seeing troops in their streets – now, in the country where they sought refuge and safety, they are being forced to confront the same scenes. They were targeted before; they are being targeted again. 

“President Trump’s effort to frame immigration and immigrants as a national security threat does not make America safer. The administration’s defiance of the rule of law puts protestors, immigrants, journalists, observers and all community members at enormous risk.  

“No American should view these developments with indifference – our values and laws are at stake.” -Yumna Rizvi, CVT senior policy analyst

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The Center for Victims of Torture is a nonprofit organization with offices in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Uganda, United States and additional project sites around the world. Visit www.cvt.org