Latest news with #Chirla
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US rights groups warn of Republican effort to undercut LA advocacy work
Immigration and civil rights organizations across the US are warning of a growing effort to undermine their advocacy work as rightwing lawmakers accuse them of fueling the demonstrations against federal raids in California. Advocacy groups voiced alarm on Thursday after Josh Hawley, a Republican US senator from Missouri, threatened multiple immigration and civil rights groups with investigations over claims that they are 'bankrolling civil unrest' in Los Angeles. Hawley, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on crime and counter-terrorism, accused the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Chirla), the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Unión del Barrio of their 'alleged role[s] in financing and materially supporting the coordinated protests and riots that have engulfed Los Angeles in recent weeks'. Related: Senator Alex Padilla forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's LA press conference As part of a letter he wrote to the organizations, Hawley, who was memorably captured raising his fist in a salute to supporters of Donald Trump outside at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, then later fleeing the mob after they invaded the building to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election victory, said that 'bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech'. He referred to 'credible reporting' that the organizations were providing logistical and financial support to 'individuals' engaged in disruptive actions, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday, as Hawley followed up on a committee announcement in the House of Representatives that it will investigate 200 organizations it accuses of helping 'inadmissible aliens' during the Biden administration. The attacks on Chirla and others also came after advocates and lawyers rushed to advise people arrested and detained, and their affected family members, during the latest immigration raids in the LA area that sparked the most fierce protests over the weekend, the LA Times further reported. Hawley added: 'You must immediately cease and desist any further involvement in the organization, funding, or promotion of these unlawful activities,' also demanding that Chirla preserve a slew of records including all internal communications, financial documents, grant applications and funding proposals. 'Failure to comply will result in additional action by this subcommittee, including potential referral for criminal investigation,' Hawley said. In response, Chirla executive director Angelica Salas rejected Hawley's accusations, saying: 'Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values … We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our first amendment rights.' Similarly, the United Farm Workers Foundation, which represents a sizable presence across California's farmlands that are largely worked by undocumented workers, said that it 'unequivocally denounces the disturbing tactics' deployed against Chirla. 'Republican members of Congress are launching a troubling and politically motivated attack on non-profit organizations, including Chirla. These actions appear designed to intimidate and discredit the work of groups that serve immigrant communities across the country,' UWF Foundation said. In an additional statement, Erica Corcoran, the UWF Foundation CEO, said that Chirla's 'work is grounded in nonviolent action, community empowerment, and the defense of democratic values, principles that should be protected, not targeted, in a free society'. The Guardian has contacted the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Unión del Barrio for comment. Hawley's letters have also alarmed civil rights organizations. David Loy, the First Amendment Coalition's legal director, said: 'The first amendment … guarantees that … anyone who organizes or supports or participates in a protest cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of a few individuals who might do illegal things like throw rocks or bottles, unless the organizer or the participant had the specific intent to commit those illegal acts or further the commission or aid and abet those illegal acts. 'The problem with the senator's letter is that it's ignoring this fundamental principle, and the effect of what he's doing is to frighten and intimidate people against speaking out,' Loy said, adding: 'No one in government should ever be … taking action which has the effect of intimidating and chilling people from exercising their freedom speech, full stop.' Hawley's letter follows federal authorities' arrest earlier this week of David Huerta, the 58-year-old president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California who was charged with 'conspiracy to impede an officer' while serving as a community observer during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Los Angeles. Huerta, who was initially hospitalized after federal officers knocked his head into a concrete curb last Friday, said: 'Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.' Hawley's letter also comes after Bill Essayli, the interim US attorney for the central district of California, threatened advocacy groups with federal investigations over their involvement in the protests. Eric Rodriguez, UnidosUS's vice-president of policy and advocacy, told the Guardian on Thursday: 'What we have seen is the Senate committee now using this accusation to be able to put pressure and intimidate organizations from engaging in peaceful protest … that's something I think that should be objectionable to all Americans. 'Some of the folks who are putting an eye on the protesters or the organizations that are responding are the very same people who did not hold or did not have the desire to hold anyone accountable for the insurrection on January 6,' he added.
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US rights groups warn of Republican effort to undercut LA advocacy work
Immigration and civil rights organizations across the US are warning of a growing effort to undermine their advocacy work as rightwing lawmakers accuse them of fueling the demonstrations against federal raids in California. Advocacy groups voiced alarm on Thursday after Josh Hawley, a Republican US senator from Missouri, threatened multiple immigration and civil rights groups with investigations over claims that they are 'bankrolling civil unrest' in Los Angeles. Hawley, who chairs the senate subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism, accused the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Chirla), the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Unión del Barrio of their 'alleged role[s] in financing and materially supporting the coordinated protests and riots that have engulfed Los Angeles in recent weeks'. As part of a letter he wrote to the organizations, Hawley, who was famously captured raising his fist in a salute to supporters of Donald Trump outside at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, then later fleeing the mob after they invaded the building to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election victory, said that 'bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech'. He referred to 'credible reporting' that the organizations were providing logistical and financial support to 'individuals' engaged in disruptive actions, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday, as Hawley followed up on a committee announcement in the House of Representatives that it will investigate 200 organizations it accuses of helping 'inadmissible aliens' during the Biden administration. The attacks on Chirla and others also came after advocates and lawyers rushed to advise people arrested and detained, and their affected family members, during the latest immigration raids in the LA area that sparked the most fierce protests over the weekend, the LA Times further reported. Hawley added: 'You must immediately cease and desist any further involvement in the organization, funding, or promotion of these unlawful activities,' also demanding that Chirla preserve a slew of records including all internal communications, financial documents, grant applications and funding proposals. 'Failure to comply will result in additional action by this subcommittee, including potential referral for criminal investigation,' Hawley said. In response, Chirla executive director Angelica Salas rejected Hawley's accusations, saying: 'Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values … We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our first amendment rights.' Similarly, the United Farm Workers Foundation, which represents a sizable presence across California's farmlands that are largely worked by undocumented workers, said that it 'unequivocally denounces the disturbing tactics' brought forth against Chirla. 'Republican members of Congress are launching a troubling and politically motivated attack on non-profit organizations, including Chirla. These actions appear designed to intimidate and discredit the work of groups that serve immigrant communities across the country,' UWF Foundation said. In an additional statement, Erica Corcoran, the UWF Foundation CEO, said that Chirla's 'work is grounded in nonviolent action, community empowerment, and the defense of democratic values, principles that should be protected, not targeted, in a free society'. The Guardian has reached out to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Unión del Barrio for comment. Hawley's letters have also alarmed civil rights organizations. David Loy, the First Amendment Coalition's legal director, said: 'The first amendment … guarantees that … anyone who organizes or supports or participates in a protest cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of a few individuals who might do illegal things like throw rocks or bottles, unless the organizer or the participant had the specific intent to commit those illegal acts or further the commission or aid and abet those illegal acts. 'The problem with the senator's letter is that it's ignoring this fundamental principle, and the effect of what he's doing is to frighten and intimidate people against speaking out,' Loy said, adding: 'No one in government should ever be … taking action which has the effect of intimidating and chilling people from exercising their freedom speech, full stop.' Hawley's letter follows federal authorities' arrest earlier this week of David Huerta, the 58-year-old president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California who was charged with 'conspiracy to impede an officer' while serving as a community observer during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Los Angeles. Huerta, who was initially hospitalized after federal officers knocked his head into a concrete curb last Friday, said: 'Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.' Hawley's letter also comes after Bill Essayli, the interim US attorney for the central district of California, threatened advocacy groups with federal investigations over their involvement in the protests. Eric Rodriguez, UnidosUS's vice-president of policy and advocacy, told the Guardian on Thursday: 'What we have seen is the Senate committee now using this accusation to be able to put pressure and intimidate organizations from engaging in peaceful protest … that's something I think that should be objectionable to all Americans. 'Some of the folks who are putting an eye on the protesters or the organizations that are responding are the very same people who did not hold or did not have the desire to hold anyone accountable for the insurrection on January 6,' he added.
AsiaOne
08-06-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Protesters rally against immigration agents for second day in Los Angeles, World News
LOS ANGELES -Federal agents in Los Angeles faced off against demonstrators for a second day in a row on Saturday (June 7) following immigration raids a day earlier, prompting a senior White House official to call the protests a "violent insurrection." The security agents on Saturday were in a tense confrontation with protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags and others covered their mouths with respiratory masks. Live video footage showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. "Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people -- they cannot do that without an organised and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44. Kristi Noem, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, said on X: "A message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down." Trump's border czar Tom Homan said on Fox News that the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday evening. A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that "1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted Ice law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property." Reuters was unable to verify DHS's accounts. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called "very worrying." Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner and the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X that Friday's demonstrations were "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States." On Saturday, he described the day's protests as a "violent insurrection." The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term. Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for Ice to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. In a statement on Saturday about the protests in Paramount, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said: "It appeared that federal law enforcement officers were in the area, and that members of the public were gathering to protest." Salas of Chirla said protesters gathered after an Ice contingent appeared to be using parking lots near a Paramount Home Depot store as a base. Ice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the protests or potential immigration sweeps on Saturday. Political divisions over Friday's sweep Television news footage on Friday showed unmarked vehicles resembling military transport and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. [[nid:718740]] Raids occurred around Home Depots, where street vendors and day laborers were picked up, as well as at a garment factory and a warehouse, Salas of Chirla said. The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, in a statement condemned the immigration raids. "I am deeply angered by what has taken place," Bass said. "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this." The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-Ice slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held. In a statement, DHS criticised Democratic politicians including Mayor Bass, saying their anti-Ice rhetoric was contributing to violence against immigration agents. "From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This violence against Ice must end," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
RTÉ News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Protesters rally against immigration agents for second day in Los Angeles
Federal agents in Los Angeles faced off against demonstrators for a second day in a row following immigration raids a day earlier, prompting a senior White House official to call the protests a "violent insurrection". The security agents were in a tense confrontation with protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags and others covered their mouths with respiratory masks. Live video footage showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. "Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people -- they cannot do that without an organized and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44. Kristi Noem, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, said on X: "A message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down." Mr Trump's border czar Tom Homan said on Fox News that the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles yesterday evening. A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that "1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property". Reuters was unable to verify DHS's accounts. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained, which she called "very worrying". Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner and the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X that Friday's demonstrations were "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States." He described the day's protests as a "violent insurrection." The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Mr Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term. Mr Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. In a statement on Saturday about the protests in Paramount, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said: "It appeared that federal law enforcement officers were in the area, and that members of the public were gathering to protest." Salas of Chirla said protesters gathered after an ICE contingent appeared to be using parking lots near a Paramount Home Depot store as a base. ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the protests or potential immigration sweeps. Political division over Friday's sweep Television news footage on Friday showed unmarked vehicles resembling military transport and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. Raids occurred around Home Depots, where street vendors and day laborers were picked up, as well as at a garment factory and a warehouse, Salas of Chirla said. The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, in a statement condemned the immigration raids. "I am deeply angered by what has taken place," Ms Bass said. "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this." The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held. In a statement, DHS criticized Democratic politicians including Mayor Bass, saying their anti-ICE rhetoric was contributing to violence against immigration agents. "From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This violence against ICE must end," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
