AFT’s Weingarten on Situation in Los Angeles

WASHINGTON-AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after the Trump administration arrested activists and mobilized the National Guard to intimidate peaceful immigration protestors in Los Angeles.

"This illegal, heavy-handed, and unnecessary crackdown on peaceful protesters is a trumped-up excuse to manufacture a spectacle and stoke further tensions. Instead of de-escalating, the administration seems intent on provoking and scapegoating hardworking immigrants to distract from its political woes.

"This is Trump wanting to be king, putting the National Guard on the ground to target and intimidate. Our founders resisted kings after the U.S. revolution because we fought for due process, for constitutionally protected speech and for not disappearing people off the streets or arresting people for nonviolent protests. Today, that means not brutalizing immigrant workers advocating for themselves and their families.

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.