Readers respond: Condemn deployment of the military in our streets

President Donald Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles is deeply concerning, (“

National Guard troops arrive in Los Angeles on Trump’s orders to quell immigration protests

,” June 8).

The root cause of this unrest is the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to round up people in workplaces, in courtrooms and in schools. These are not the violent criminals that the administration said would be the target of its heavy-handed mass deportation campaign. Many are in the country legally. Others were detained trying to attend immigration case hearings. Some are American citizens. These raids have broken up families, in some cases leaving children without parents to care for them.

While I deplore violence and vandalism, I cannot blame people for taking to the streets, speaking out and confronting ICE personnel who stretch or break the law to fill their deportation quotas.

I applaud

Gov. Tina Kotek’s decision to join with other Democratic governors

to condemn Trump’s actions, and to defend her power to manage the Oregon National Guard (“

Trump has no right to deploy Oregon National Guard against protesters in Portland, Kotek insists,

” June 9). This is a good start, but not enough.

I urge readers of The Oregonian/OregonLive to speak out and urge Kotek and Oregon’s congressional representatives to do everything in their powers to oppose this. Oregon’s National Guard must not be turned into a police force, and the decision to “send in the Marines” must be condemned. American citizens are not the enemy, and protesting the administration’s overreach is not an insurrection that calls for military intervention.

Stefan Jones, Hillsboro