The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) today strongly condemned the Trump administration’s militarized crackdown on immigrant communities and peaceful protesters across California, including the deployment of National Guard units and U.S. Marines to communities in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire, in response to mass demonstrations against recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and detentions.
SEE: US Marines arrive in LA on Trump’s orders amid immigration protests
Over the past 48 hours, more than 200 community members—many of them undocumented immigrants—have reportedly been detained by federal agents in and around a downtown Los Angeles courthouse and in surrounding neighborhoods. Eyewitnesses report that individuals were targeted while attending immigration hearings or walking through public spaces, fueling widespread fear and outrage.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“The rights of every American, and every immigrant living in this country, must be protected without exception. Deploying the National Guard and U.S. Marines against immigrant communities and peaceful protesters is a reckless abuse of power that betrays the Constitution, endangers lives, and drives our nation toward deeper division and militarization.”
In a statement, CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush said:
“These aggressive and unjust actions by federal and local agencies are part of a deeply disturbing pattern of repression aimed at immigrants, communities of color, and those engaged in constitutionally protected dissent. Deploying military forces against civilians is a dangerous escalation and a shameful use of federal power to silence public outcry and suppress basic human rights.
“We express our unwavering solidarity with our Latino immigrant neighbors and friends in the greater Los Angeles area, who are being terrorized, dehumanized, and subjected to ICE kidnappings and arrests that deny them due process and separate families.
“As we witness the same federal agencies that terrorize our neighborhoods also fund and arm oppressive regimes abroad—including Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza—we must understand that these struggles are interconnected. The U.S. government’s role in perpetuating global instability, ranging from funding foreign military occupations to militarizing domestic policing, has created conditions where both immigrant and international communities face violence, displacement, and systemic injustice. The fight for migrant justice in our country is inseparable from the global demand for dignity, safety, and liberation.”
CAIR-CA emphasized that this wave of federal enforcement does not exist in a vacuum but is part of a broader agenda that criminalizes migration, represses resistance, and dehumanizes marginalized communities. This militarized response comes on the heels of Trump’s newly expanded travel ban targeting 19 primarily Muslim-majority, African, and Caribbean countries. On Monday, June 9, CAIR-CA’s Los Angeles office, along with civil rights and immigrant-serving organizations, gathered at the Los Angeles International Airport to demand an end to this racist and xenophobic policy. These back-to-back attacks on immigrants reflect a broader strategy of state violence and exclusion aimed at racialized and marginalized communities. In San Francisco, CAIR-CA’s Bay Area office joined immigrant rights groups, community advocates, legal organizations, and elected officials for a press conference on the steps of City Hall to condemn both the discriminatory travel ban and the increasing use of militarized force by federal agencies.
CAIR-CA also welcomed Governor Gavin Newsom’s public opposition to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal military forces in the state and calls on all elected officials, faith leaders, and civic institutions to defend the rights of immigrants and protesters and to speak out unequivocally against this militarized repression.
CAIR-CA is currently working alongside partner organizations to provide legal support, Know Your Rights resources, and community defense efforts across impacted regions. It also urges community members to remain vigilant, document abuses, and connect with trusted local organizations for assistance.
If you or someone you know has been impacted by recent ICE activity or law enforcement actions, please contact CAIR-CA’s Immigration Department.
CAIR-CA is a chapter of CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com; CAIR-LA Senior Communications Coordinator Madi Morse-Hameed, mmorse-hameed@cair.com