Ana Faguy & Bernd Debusmann Jr.
BBC News, Washington DC
BBC
US President Donald Trump has sent thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of US Marines to Los Angeles as protests take place against the administration’s ramped-up immigration enforcement.
While the president’s allies cheer him on, both the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles say Trump is overstepping his authority and stoking tensions.
Everyday Americans are no less divided over the issue. But do they feel it is the president or the protesters who have gone too far?
Here’s what six voters had to say about the news.
Eric Kaiser, 46, Independent
This Indiana man worries about the precedent Trump is setting by sending the National Guard into Los Angeles.
I’ve seen some different takes on the legality of it, but it feels to me like the federal government is being very, very heavy-handed on this, which is concerning to me since protest is a protected form of expression in this country.
I’m concerned that this sets Americans against Americans, and specifically American military against American citizens.
The Trump administration is going about [the ICE raids] in an interesting manner… While making unilateral raids like these, they’re making a lot of mistakes and those mistakes are costing people their freedoms. [The Trump administration] is not admitting to their mistakes and they’re not following due process.
We have laws in this country for a reason.
Demesio Guerrero, 70, Republican
This Mexico-born Texas resident – a naturalised US citizen – supports the deployment of troops to put down “shameful” protests in California.
It’s a shame that people who have come to this country to set themselves up are doing this, the riots.
I tend to think that many of the rioters are people with cr
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