Michigan Congresswoman eyes legislation to curb Trump military deployments on US soil

BY BEN SOLIS, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

LANSING—President Donald Trump’s deployment of US Marines and moves to control the California National Guard to quell protests over federal immigration enforcement raids has one Michigan congresswoman calling foul.

Michigan’s US Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) announced Monday that she plans to introduce the “Stop Trump’s Abuse of Power Act” within the next week. Stevens’ bill would make it illegal for Trump, or any other president in the future, to deploy active duty military forces to a state or a territory without a request from that state’s governor or that territory’s executive leadership.

Trump deployed US Marines to the streets of Los Angeles this month in response to community uprisings and protests against federal ICE raids targeting immigrants in California. He also moved to control the California National Guard, which was at first blocked by a federal district court, but was allowed later by a federal appellate court panel.

Stevens said the Trump administration’s actions would only increase tensions between law enforcement and protesters.

“President Trump has shown a disturbing pattern of disregard for the Constitution and due process. This month, he made it harder for local law enforcement to do their jobs in California by unlawfully deploying our military on US soil—further escalating tension and violence,” Stevens said in a statement. “We must stand up to Donald Trump’s chaos and destruction, which is why I am introducing this legislation to limit his powers and make sure he cannot deploy troops on U.S. soil for his political gain. We are a nation of laws and it’s about time the president begins to follow them.”

A news release noted that Stevens’ bill would add the language prohibiting unauthorized military deployments to rein in citizen uprisings to the Insurrection Act of 1807 and would only apply to peaceful protests and demonstrations.

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This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.