While Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he supports President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy federal resources, including 700 active-duty Marines, to end the anti-immigration enforcement riots in Los Angeles, he’s unsure of what authority the president is invoking to legally do so.
“I don’t know the particulars on what authorities exist there, but my assumption is that the administration has been looking carefully at what he can and can’t do under the law,” Thune said, according to The Hill. “Obviously, the 1798 Act is available to them if they choose to exercise it.”
Thune was referring to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives the president the authority to detain and deport citizens of an enemy nation during a declared war, invasion or predatory incursion.
Thune also said a response from the Trump administration was “warranted” because California officials failed to quell the violence and property destruction.
“In this case at least there were clear just failures on the part of state and local officials, which is why I think it required the president to take a federal response,” Thune told reporters. “There was a security situation out there that needed to be addressed, and I think ultimately the president’s objective is to keep people safe.”
The Pentagon on Monday mobilized 700 active-duty Marines in response to the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots in Los Angeles in recent days.
Trump also doubled the initial 2,000 National Guard soldiers he deployed to the area to 4,000.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, have blamed the Trump administration for escalating tensions with a federal show of force, insisting that the situation was being handled.
Newsom accused Trump of “intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities and endangering the principles of our great democracy,” while Bass said over the weekend that sending in the National Guard was “completely unnecessary.”
Bass said the Los Angeles Police Department was “well equipped” to handle the anti-ICE protests.
Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, testified before senators at a Tuesday budget hearing that the battalion sent to Los Angeles is already there, but has not yet been called to respond.
According to Smith, those Marines are equipped with batons and shields and are trained for crowd control. He said they are not authorized to make arrests and have been deployed to protect federal property and federal personnel.
Smith reportedly told Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., that he is “not concerned” about the Marines potentially using lethal force on demonstrators.
“I have great faith in my Marines and their junior leaders and their more senior leaders to execute the lawful tasks that they are given,” Smith said.
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