By Elson Concepcion Perez on June 13, 2025 from Havana
photo: Bill Hackwell
What is happening these days in Los Angeles, and in other cities across the United States, is a clear expression of the crisis of the system.
The demon, identified with a large dose of racism present in the Trump administration, is leading some states in that nation to war, whose most visible expression is the hunt for immigrants and the promotion of laws that discriminate against the foreign population living in the United States.
What is happening these days in the US city of Los Angeles, and which has spread to other parts of the nation, is a clear expression of the crisis of a system that talks about freedoms and human rights, while sending thousands of soldiers, including marines, to repress those protesting against the hunt that is being staged against migrants.
The US military, in full combat mode, is using, among other means of “deterrence,” sponge grenades, a piece of metal covered with rubber that acts as a projectile.
This type of ammunition should not be fired directly at individuals, according to the Los Angeles Police Department; however, in one of the most viral videos of the protests in California, a police officer is seen firing a rubber grenade at an Australian reporter, according to Sputnik.
Another weapon is the so-called “bean bag” cartridge, loaded with up to 40 pellets, which is fired from shotguns. These are combined by the more familiar tear gas, pepper spray, and pepper bullets.
A report by the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute, presented at the fifth annual Immigration Summit, shows that there are 3,500,000 immigrants in Los Angeles, representing 34% of the city’s population. Across California, the figure exceeds 10,600,000, mainly from Asia and Latin America.
Of course, these people have families, are involved, as workers in the state’s economy working primarily in the lowest paying jobs, and, for the most part, have legalized their stay in the country.
An important fact highlighted in the university’s report is that immigrants in Los Angeles have contributed more than $10 billion in taxes.
For all these reasons, it is difficult to accept that they are being treated like common criminals and expelled from the nation where they have built their families over years. There is no justification for hunting them down, handcuffing them, mistreating them, and forcing them to abandon everything.
It is the fever of racism that is corroding the current administration, which has sparked a social explosion that has thrown Los Angeles and other US cities into chaos.
Since the demonstrations began, Trump has ordered 2,000 troops and 700 marines to be sent to the city, a move described by California Governor Gavin Newsom as “a maneuver that will only provoke more tensions.”
On June 10, President Trump said he was using a 19th-century law (1807) to suppress demonstrations in California, considering the current protests an “insurrection” against which he can use the Armed Forces.
He argued, “There were areas in Los Angeles where you could say there was an insurrection.”
What is happening in the self-proclaimed “country of democracy, freedom, and opportunity” has nothing to do with reality, amid violent raids against immigrants, mass repression, and other demons that have ravaged the city of Los Angeles.
Source: Granma