Trump Officials Release Statement Following Protests
The scenes from Los Angeles have become emblematic of a growing national divide—not just about immigration enforcement, but about what to even call what’s happening.
As violent protests erupted around ICE operations—featuring rioters waving foreign flags, hurling projectiles at federal officers, and openly defying deportation orders—the debate in Washington escalated far beyond public safety. For President Donald Trump and his team, the term of the hour is not merely “crisis.” It’s “invasion.”
Vice President JD Vance brought the issue into sharp focus with a post on social media: “So now we have foreign nationals with no legal right to be in the country waving foreign flags and assaulting law enforcement. If only we had a good word for that…” That word, of course, is “invasion”—a term with serious legal weight, particularly when paired with the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Wondering why people are waving another country’s flags as they riot?
The New York Times is here for you
It’s about “pride” and “solidarity”
Cannot make this up pic.twitter.com/xz22q2dfsL
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 9, 2025
Under this rarely-invoked federal law, if the United States is under invasion—either declared war or predatory incursion—the President can detain and remove non-naturalized nationals from hostile foreign governments. The law grants sweeping power once an event is publicly proclaimed as an “invasion,” making it a linchpin in Trump’s bid to expand fast-track deportations and national security-based removal authority.
Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized the urgency: “These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States.” Her wording reflects a strategic shift—from fighting illegal immigration as a domestic law enforcement challenge to framing it as an act of foreign aggression.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that sentiment, calling the violent riots “a dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations)” and branding the situation as a direct national security threat. It’s a framing that does more than raise eyebrows—it’s meant to invoke executive war powers.
In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California.
These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States.
In…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 8, 2025
The optics add fuel to the argument. Protesters were seen carrying Mexican flags, resisting deportations of individuals with convictions for sexual assault, weapons charges, and drug trafficking. At the same time, judges continue to push back on classifying the migrant surge as an invasion, citing the need for narrower constitutional interpretation.
But for Trump allies and immigration hawks, the legal debate is only part of the story. What matters to them is the symbolism—and the warning signs. As mass illegal crossings continue and cities like Los Angeles erupt in defiance of federal agents, their view is that this is more than just broken policy. It’s foreign encroachment.
Vance calls the LA protests an “invasion.” 4 min later, Miller calls it an “insurrection.” 29 min later, Hegseth threatens to send in Marines.
It’s like clockwork. They’ve chomped at the bit for months for a pretext to declare martial law under pretext of insurrection/invasion. pic.twitter.com/Nn94XUk4KJ
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 8, 2025
Meanwhile, a new front is opening in the form of “legalized invasions” through work visa programs, with migration watchdogs pointing to countries like India whose governments are allegedly backing the mass export of tech labor to U.S. corporations. Critics argue this phenomenon undermines native workers in a less visible, but equally impactful way—another form of infiltration, only this time through spreadsheets instead of street riots.