- 6 months ago
Congressman Gil Cisneros (D-CA) joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss the protests in Los Angeles over workplace ICE raids, as well as President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard and Marines against Governor Gavin Newsom's wishes in response.
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00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now
00:07is Congressman Gil Cisneros. Congressman, thank you so much for joining me once again.
00:12Thanks for having me, Brittany. Congressman, I would love to get your perspective over what
00:15we've seen unfold in Los Angeles over the past couple of days. So let's start on Friday,
00:20where we saw protests break out over workplace raids by ICE. The scene on the ground by some
00:25over the past couple of days have been called largely peaceful with pockets of violence or
00:30chaos here and there. L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonald said over the weekend this, quote,
00:36in recent days, many protests across the city have been peaceful before adding that law enforcement
00:41must respond firmly, quote, when peaceful demonstrations devolve into acts of vandalism
00:45or violence. He also said that over the weekend by Sunday, things have gotten increasingly more
00:51violent. There have been images and videos of skirmishes between protesters and police,
00:57cars lit on fire, and even a video of someone riding a motorcycle directly into a group of police
01:02officers. So to start the conversation, can you describe exactly what's been going on on the ground
01:08in Southern California? Look, you know, they're trying to, I think, portray this as, especially on
01:15the right wing, right wing media, that there are riots going on, that there's unrest. The president
01:22himself said he was sitting in the National Guard to stop the looting. None of that is, none of that
01:27is occurring. None of that is happening. You know, as you said, right, most of the protests, the vast
01:33majority of the protests have been peaceful demonstrators that are out there. Now, there are always some bad
01:38apples. There's some agitators out there that want to create chaos, and they see this as an
01:43opportunity to go out and confront law enforcement and create havoc for whatever their cause may be.
01:50But, you know, the majority of people there are doing it peacefully, and they're doing it right.
01:56And, you know, even the LAPD that I saw earlier today put out a statement that the National Guard
02:02and the Marines are not needed. Let's talk about that, because as of now, President Trump deployed
02:08in total 4,700 service members, when you think of the troops as Marines and the National Guard members,
02:16what do you make of that number?
02:19Well, you know, right now, currently, from what I, what we heard from the Adjutant General from
02:25California is they've only actually received 300 National Guard, you know, soldiers that have
02:34kind of moved into the L.A. area. The Marines were on their way. We heard there's a total of 700 Marines
02:40that were making their way towards Los Angeles. But, you know, they still have the ability to call up
02:47those other, you know, at first it was 2,000 in total, so they had like another 1,700 or I think
02:52it was 1,600 that they could still call up. And then they, you know, went and asked for another 2,000.
02:59You know, Gavin Newsom, our governor, sent out a picture yesterday. The Marines aren't doing anything
03:07but, you know, them sleeping on the ground, right? They had nothing to do. The guardsmen that are
03:14there are mostly just standing around. This is not needed. They are not needed. The president is trying
03:20to create a confrontation between the people of California, these agitators probably, and the
03:29soldiers that are there, whether they be guardsmen or the Marines that are there, to allow him to go
03:35to bring more in and for whatever reason to invoke, you know, to create martial law or whatever his goal
03:42may be. But, you know, he is fully responsible for this situation right now. Law enforcement did not
03:50ask for his support. The mayor of Los Angeles did not ask for his support. The governor did not ask for
03:56his support. But he went over them and did this anyway because he is trying to create chaos. He is
04:05trying to invoke confrontation. For whatever reason, he wants California. He thinks he needs to bend
04:13California to his rule. But we're not going to go for that. To that point, this is a really largely
04:19unprecedented move against a governor's wishes, the sitting president deploying the National Guard
04:25anyway. Governor Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass essentially said that the situation was under
04:31control. Do you think before President Trump called in the National Guard, do you think that they were
04:36handling the situation well? It was being handled. Again, you know, there was no request for, you know,
04:44for services from the National Guard. And if Governor Newsom felt that the National Guard was
04:49needed, he could have called them up on his own. But they weren't. You know, Los Angeles and the
04:56other surrounding cities there did not request any assistance from the governor as far as being
05:00in order to act to have him activate the National Guard. The situation was being handled by local law
05:08enforcement, the police departments around the Southern California area, the sheriffs,
05:13some CHP came in to help as well to control traffic. But nothing like this was ever, you know,
05:20needed in order to bring in the National Guard. Look, this isn't even, they are blowing it. I was
05:25actually watching Fox News earlier today just to kind of see what they were talking about it.
05:29And you, they make it sound as if like the city's on fire. It's being burnt down, riots everywhere.
05:38You know, they keep showing the same images of a couple vehicles being burnt down.
05:43Or being burnt. You know, this is kind of comical, but true, right? Is this isn't even close to like
05:49if the Lakers had won the NBA championship, you know, that celebration was probably 10 times bigger
05:56than what's actually going on right now. That's happened in the past.
06:00And to that point, the National Guard was deployed in LA. The last time they were deployed in LA was for
06:05riots in 1992. So over 30 years ago. And even someone, I guess I just had on who is critical of
06:12Governor Newsom's leadership said that these what's happening in LA right now does not equal
06:18what was happening in LA back in 1992. And Governor Gavin Newsom is close. It is not even close to
06:26what the riots that were going on, looting the destruction of property, where the National
06:32Guard was needed. And we're, you know, that actually caused President Bush to invoke the Insurrection
06:38Act. We're not even near anywhere near that. And so, again, you know, Donald Trump is just trying
06:46to create chaos. He's trying to, you know, incite confrontation between, you know, the citizens and
06:55the military for whatever. And I don't know what his end game is. You know, a lot of people are talking
07:01about how he is just trying to distract from how bad everything is going, right? From his one big,
07:06you know, bloated bill, how that's not really going well, how the tariffs, he said he was going
07:11to have all these tariff deals. He hasn't, he's gotten one. You know, the, he hasn't ended the war
07:16in Ukraine. He, you know, Gaza is still going on. All these things that he said he was going to take
07:23care of, none of this had happened. You know, I mean, he's even, he's even destroying the Kennedy
07:27Center right now, you know, and asking for foreign, you know, the Qatar to come in and bail him out
07:34there, just like they gave him a plane. You know, he is, he's enriched himself by $3 billion while he
07:41sits there, you know, the five months that he's been in office, corruption running rampant in his
07:47administration. And they are saying this is, you know, and really, this is just a cover to kind of,
07:55you know, distract attention from all that stuff to just put it on this.
08:01To that point, last week, there was a lot of blowback between the relationship and the falling
08:07out rather between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. And Elon Musk's criticism of the big,
08:14beautiful bill really opened a can of worms for Republicans to go after that bill as well,
08:19especially when it comes to the deficit. Immigration is one of those issues. I think one of the only
08:25issues right now where President Trump has a higher approval rating when it comes to his handling of
08:30that. So you're saying you think that him, you think a, he's blowing what's happening in LA out
08:35of proportion right now. And B, you think it's because to distract from that negative press
08:40surrounding him last week. Correct. Look, the first thing is we got to stop calling it the one big,
08:45beautiful bill. There's nothing beautiful about that bill. It's, it's, it's the title. I did not make
08:50that up. I know. I know that's the title, but you know, we, we got to call it like what it is. I call
08:56it the, the one big billionaire bailout because that's what it is, right? It's giving tax cuts
09:01to billionaires. It's taking away, you know, healthcare from millions of individuals. It's
09:07taking food out of the mouths of kids. It is not creating, it's not doing anything for the middle
09:14class for the working people in this country. So we have to stop calling it what the actual title
09:19is and actually talk about the reality of it, right? It is big, bloated and ugly. But yeah,
09:26that is the one area right now, I think where, you know, with immigration, where the polling is saying
09:31he's actually succeeding. But when you dive in deeper to it, right, he is actually going around
09:39telling people and his messaging is right. We're getting all the violent criminals out. That's who we're
09:43going after. But once the reality comes out and they start talking about who they're really going
09:48after, you know, people quickly change their mind. They don't like the fact that there's no due
09:55process, right? And what's going on here in Southern California, and it is, you know, it's an LA, but it
10:00is the surrounding area, LA County and other areas. It's also moved into San Bernardino and Orange County
10:07as well to where they're going after individuals. But they're not going after violent criminals.
10:13They are just rounding up people off the streets. In my district, you know, they saw some people
10:20going to lunch on their lunch break, and they went over there and confronted them and ended up
10:25arresting some of them, right? They're not going after violent criminals. They're going after kids.
10:30I mean, they arrested a 10-year-old boy, you know, last week, separated from his father.
10:35You know, what, you know, risk to security, right? Is this 10-year-old kid who's like a
10:42fourth grader actually went to school with my cousin's kids. But these are the things that
10:47they're doing, right? And once that comes out, you know, then the results change, right? Then people
10:52don't agree with them. People don't like the fact that there's no due process, that they're just
10:56rounding up people off the street, that they're not going for violent criminals, and that they're,
11:00you know, arresting kids and taking them away from their parents. And now you see the situation
11:05in California. There are protesters not happy with these ICE raids. And Governor Gavin Newsom,
11:13yourself, other Californian lawmakers have said that President Trump, by sending in the National Guard,
11:17by sending in Marines, he's unnecessarily turning up that temperature. He's inflaming the situation.
11:24The police chief in LA said that there has been more violence when it came to over the weekend.
11:29Do you think President Trump, by sending in the National Guard, do you think that he is
11:33inflaming the situation? Do you think that that's responsible for more violence that we're seeing
11:39and these violent images that are coming out of this protest?
11:43That's 100 percent that is what he's doing. And listen to his rhetoric. You know, he put out like
11:49a post, I think a couple days ago, talking about how Los Angeles has been taken over, that there's an
11:55invasion going on in Los Angeles, and he's going in there to clean it up. He is provoking this
12:02situation. He is making it worse, sending in the National Guard, sending in the Marines. It's just
12:09making it more dangerous for everybody. These Marines haven't received the training to deal with crowds.
12:14And really, I don't think the National Guard has really got the training that they need. They're not
12:18law enforcement. This is not what they deal with, right? You know, they are trained. They're military
12:25individuals trained, you know, for combat. And you put them in a situation where now all of a sudden
12:31they're feeling threatened and they're pressured. Their natural reflexes are going to take over.
12:37And that's to shoot and to attack. And that's just going to cause chaos and havoc. And this is just a
12:45big accident waiting to happen. And he is provoking it. And it's going to be his responsibility if
12:50something does go bad. And to that point, I mean, in your opinion, what position does this put the LAPD
12:57in? Because as of right now, you have these troops coming in. They're tasked with guarding federal
13:02buildings. Do you think that this is too many cooks in the kitchen in this sense? I mean,
13:07what does that really look like? Look, you know, the LAPD right now is handling the situation in Los
13:13Angeles. The other police departments around the surrounding area, they're handling the situation.
13:18The National Guard is not doing anything. They're pretty much, as I said earlier, they're just
13:22standing around in front of these federal buildings, you know, really just kind of twiddling their
13:29thumbs, not really doing anything, right? But I will tell you, the threat is, you know,
13:37what are they going to use the Guard for, right? Are they going to try and use them? Are they going
13:41to deputize them? Are they going to try and take them out on ICE raids? Are they going to try and use
13:46them for security for ICE agents as they go on their missions? And by doing that, that is really going
13:52to provoke confrontations out there, right? And it's not needed.
13:56And you're seeing other protests spilling out to other cities. And as you know, Governor Newsom
14:03suing President Trump over deploying both the National Guard and the Marines, he called the
14:07actions, quote, an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism and a, quote, blatant abuse
14:13of power. Is there anything right now in your conversation with members of Congress that Congress
14:19can do right now about the situation or that Congress is planning to do?
14:24Well, look, you know, unfortunately, you know, we have a Republican majority, right,
14:29who is step in line and step with President Trump, who goes along with his rhetoric,
14:33because they think a lot of them are afraid that he doesn't, you know, that he may have somebody run
14:39against them if they're, you know, not doing his bidding right now, right? They're afraid to stand up
14:44to him, and they don't have the backbone to do that. And that's very unfortunate. We as Californians
14:49are rallying. We are working. We are standing there. We are supporting our local elected officials,
14:56our local governments, and our constituents out there. And we'll continue to do that.
15:01You know, the other thing that happened this weekend, too, when I was in California was, you
15:06know, by law, I am allowed to go to ICE detention facilities and, you know, unannounced,
15:12be allowed in, inspect them, see what's going on, ask questions. I went to the Atalanto
15:18processing center in Atalanto, California on Sunday with two of my colleagues. They locked
15:24the gate and would not let us in. They wouldn't even answer our questions. They said they were
15:28going to send somebody out, and nobody ever came out. But, you know, right now, there is no respect
15:33for the law. There is no due process. And this is really something that we should all be concerned
15:39about, right? That it doesn't matter, you know, what your status is, right? You know, citizen,
15:44non-citizen, green card holder, whatever it may be. The fact that they are or have no disregard for
15:52the due process of law is a threat to all of us. And if they're doing it to some, they will do it to
16:00all. You know, when I was at that processing center, a gentleman and his, I think, and his niece
16:07came out, and they were looking for his nephew. They hadn't heard. He got arrested three days ago.
16:13They had not heard from him. No call, no nothing. And they had no idea where he was.
16:18They were going around to different facilities trying to find him and locate him.
16:23You know, they're arresting people. They're not assigning them, you know, alien numbers as they're
16:29supposed to, which is supposed to be done once they're arrested. There's just really no respect for
16:36the law and procedures of this country right now. And again, if they're doing it to them, they'll do it to
16:41anybody. Congressman, to that point, I mean, what do you make or what do you think is missing then from
16:48the national conversation, really, when it comes to immigration? Because as you said at the beginning
16:52of this conversation, that most Americans are for tougher immigration policies until you peel back the
16:59layers, and then you start talking about specific stories. And then people say, well, not in that case,
17:04or not in that case, then you're talking about due process. Then when you're looking at LA specifically,
17:09I mean, depending on where A, you get your news, B, what video you're watching, the LA situation looks
17:17very different, right? Because if you're listening to certain news outlets, it's mostly peaceful with
17:22these pockets of violence, pockets of chaos. If you're looking at other places, there's videos of
17:28complete chaos, cars on fire, and everything in between. I mean, what do you think is really
17:33missing, as someone from California, from this entire conversation?
17:40You know, the bad part is, right, and actually one of my colleagues made this analogy earlier that,
17:47you know, nobody wants to cover the safe landing of the plane, right, that landed safely.
17:53You know, they're never going to cover the peaceful demonstrations, they're never going to cover
17:59anything that's not going on right here in the media, right? It's like my wife used to work in
18:05television news, she would talk about this all the time, right? They want the stuff that's, you know,
18:10the dirty stuff, the stuff that's burning, the stuff that's, you know, inflamed, the craziness that's
18:14going on. That's what brings people to the channels to watch them. And that's really what I think is
18:21going after there, right? It's, I mean, we're seeing the same images over and over and over,
18:26right, that is kind of played and replayed and replayed. But, you know, I think we need to focus
18:32on, and it would be great if the media could do this, right, that things are, you know, relatively
18:38peaceful there, right? And the National Guard is not needed. And, you know, the Marines are not needed.
18:43And, you know, just by having them there is invoking confrontation, and it's a possibility
18:50for things to get worse.
18:52Then what would be your message to President Trump, then, when it comes to this situation,
18:56just, what would be that message?
19:00It would be stand down, you know, send the National Guardsmen home. You know, some of them
19:05have been, you know, with the fires that were going on in California. Some of them haven't been
19:12home for like a long time. They've been kind of out there patrolling those areas, keeping, you know,
19:17those neighborhood safes from looters and possible people that could come there. You know, they want
19:22to go home. They want some time with their families. Send them home. Send the Marines home.
19:28You know, this whole thing was done without any thought. You know, no logistics kind of procedures
19:33or process was put into this. They sent the Marines out here with no food. They have no place to stay.
19:39It's just, it was totally ridiculous. Send them all home. They're not needed. The situation is in
19:46control by local law enforcement, you know, and really get off this thing, right? California is
19:53never going to bend to your will. You just have to agree to disagree and be okay with that.
20:00Congressman, I really appreciate your time today. I always appreciate our conversations.
20:04You are welcome back anytime. Thanks again for joining me.
20:07Well, thank you. Appreciate it. Take care.
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