Speaker 1: Talk Ink Clue Paku Bay breaking News.
Speaker 2: Democratic Senator Alex Padilla speaking on Capitol Hill after being
forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary A Christy No Homes
press conference last week.
Speaker 3: Let's listen. Now we're seeing President Trump federalized National Guard
troops and deploy them without the governor's consent. Active duty
marines now being deployed, escalating tensions in our city. And
it's important to note all this without coordination with state
and local law enforcement, and despite repeated requests for the
justification for these extreme actions, and after months and months
of little to no response from the administration. Are their
aggressive and theatrical immigration rates. The Trump administration has done
everything in their power but to provide transparency to the
American people about their mission in Los Angeles. And so
last week I chose to go home to try to
get answers from the administration as they are literally militarizing
our city and I want to share what I learned.
I want to share what I heard because it should
shock the conscience of our country. Now. One of the
first items on my schedule last Thursday was a meeting
and a briefing with General Guillot the four star general
in charge of US Northern Command. Many of you know him.
The briefing was scheduled at the Federal Building in West
Los Angeles, where they're overseeing these military operations. Now, colleagues,
when the United States military is deployed domestically, when our
troops are deployed against the wishes of the governor for
the first time since nineteen sixty five, against the wishes
of the local mayor, and even against the wishes of
local law enforcement, both the police chief and the sheriff,
we are in uncharted territory. So, in my effort to
do my duty to conduct congressional oversight and to try
to get answers from the Department of Defense that state
and local officials were not receiving, I went to the
Federal Building in West Los Angeles. I was met at
the entrance. At the entrance by a National guardsman and
an FBI agent who escorted me through security screening and
up to a conference room for my scheduled briefing. Waiting
for my scheduled briefing with General Guillot, I learned that
Homeland Security Secretary Noam was holding a press conference literally
just down the hall and that press conference was causing
my briefing to be delayed. The thought occurred to me that, well,
maybe I could attend this press conference and listen in,
just listen in the hopes of hearing Secretary and don't
provides some new information that could help us make sense
of what was happening. I didn't just get up and go.
I asked and was escorted by the National guardsman and
the FBI agent into the press conference. They opened the
door for me, They accompanied me into the press briefing room,
and they stood next to me as I stood there
for a while listening, and at one point, the United
States Secretary of Homeland Security said that the purpose of
federal law enforcement and the purpose of the United States
Military was to quote liberate Los Angeles from our governor
and our mayor, to somehow liberate us from the very
people that we democratically elected to lead our city and
our state. Colleagues, let that fundamentally un American mission statement
sink in. That is not a mission focused on public safety,
and that simply is not and cannot be the mission
of federal law enforcement and the United States Military to
colleys on both sides of the isle. Are we truly
prepared to live in a country where the president can
deploy the armed forces to decide which duly elected governors
and mayors should be allowed to leave their constituents. Is
that really the president that we're okay with setting As
Secretary of Noam herself said last year when she was
governor of North Dakota at the time, she said, quote,
if Joe Biden federalizes the National Guard, that would be
a direct attack on states rights. That was governor, now
Secretary know them now. Throughout this country's history, we've had conflict,
we've had tumult, but we've never had a tyrant as
a commander in chief. And that is not by coincidence.
It's because the American people have always been willing to
speak up and exercise their First Amendment right to protest,
especially when our fundamental rights have been threatened. And it's
a proud son of immigrants from Mexico. It's that same
right that I came to revere when marching through the
streets with my family and my friends in nineteen ninety
four in Los Angeles protesting against the vile anti immigrant
rhetoric that was growing in California at that time. It
was that year that a Republican governor was up for
reelection and was down in the polls, and he turned
to scapegoating immigrants to try to improve his political standing
and his reelection chances. That fight is what inspired me
to leave an engineering careerd and dedicate myself to trying
to influence our government and our politics. So I've seen
this before, California has seen this before. So last week,
when I heard something so blatantly un American from the
Secretary of Homeland Security, a cabinet official, of course, I
was compelled, both as a Senator and as an American
to speak up. But before I could even get out
my question, I was physically and aggressively forced out of
the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a
United States Senator and I had a question for the Secretary,
and even as the National Guardsman and the FBI agent
who served as my escorts and brought me into that
press briefing room stood by silently, knowing full well who
I was. You've seen the video. I was pushed and pulled,
struggled to maintain my balance. I was forced to the ground,
first on my knees and then flat on my chest.
And as I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway,
repeatedly asking why am I being detained? Not once did
they tell me why. I pray you never have a
moment likeness, but I will tell you in that moment,
a lot of questions came to my mind. First of all,
where are they taking me? Because I know I'm not
just being escorted out of the building. Am I being
arrested here? And what will a city already on edge
from being militarized think when they see their United States
senator being handcuffed just for trying to ask a question?
And what will my wife think? What will our boys think?
And I also remember asking myself, if this aggressive escalation
is the result of someone speaking up against the abuses
and overreach of the Trump administration, was it really worth it?
But colleagues, how many Americans in our nation's history have marched,
have protested, have shed blood, even lost their lives to
protect our rights? How many Americans have served in wars
overseas to protect our freedoms here at home? And how
many Americans in the year twenty twenty five see a
vindictive president on a tour of retribution unrestrained by the
majority of this separate and coequal branch of government, and
wonder if it's worth it to stand up or to
speak out. A few United States Center becomes too afraid
to speak up, how can we expect any other American
to do the same, Colleagues, you know me, I can't
think of a person who would describe me as a flamethrower.
I try to be respectful. I try to be considerate
to every member of this body, regardless of our political differences,
and so I do want to take a moment to
thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle who have reached out to share your messages of support,
whether they were public messages or many in private. Trust me,
they mean the world to me. I know they mean
the world to my family. But if you watch what
unfolded last week and that what happened is just about
one politician and one press conference, you're missing the point.
If that is what the administration is willing to do
to a United States Senator for having the authority to
simply ask a question, imagine what they'll do to any
American who dares to speak up.
Speaker 2: If what you saw happen an emotional California Senator Alex
Padilla there. Just about forty five minutes ago, he tweeted
that he would be here on the floor of the
Senate floor to talk about the what he calls the
militarization of Los Angeles, his hometown, and his experience of
being thrown to the ground and handcuffed when attempting to
get answers from the administration. As you'll remember during those
protests here in Los Angeles, when DHS Secretary Christy Nome
held this press conference, the senator said he showed up
to ask questions of the secretary, was saying it right
there in the presence of the secretary, but you can
see her detail taking him right out, and well, you
heard from the Senator about what happened next. They did
meet later after that, the Secretary and the Senator, but
it's still clearly an emotional situation. As the Senator says,
he's worried about others and how they are treated as
these immigration raids continue across the country. Let's bring in
our Christian Cordero here in Washington. Padilla, as we know
as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee.
Let's talk about his Republican colleagues who have the majority,
and how they're reacting to all this Christian Well.
Speaker 1: Kiera, it'll be really interesting to see whether they react
in a form of action. But we know as far
as the Republican Party overall in reaction to this over
the past week or so, it's really a mixed bag.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Several were Republican have said that Padilla got exactly what
he wanted, that he was there to put on a show.
DHS Secretary Noahim said that she didn't recognize him, and
you heard him go into detail during this testimony about
how he was escorted in by the National Guard and
the FBI, how he sat there and listened to some
of her speech before or her remarks anyways, before you know,
asking his question and approaching the podium, and then you know,
no one later slammed him too for not setting up
a meeting with him, and he kind of alluded to
just that it was an act of impulse, so to speak.
One thing he said, though that does echo from one
of his Republican colleagues in the Senate anyways, is he
said it should shock the conscious of our country. Senator
Lisa Murkowski said it is shocking at every level, the
video that she saw and that it's not the America
she knows.
Speaker 2: And as we monitor this, we should point out it's
been calm on the streets of Los Angeles today, Fingers crossed.
Christian Cordero, thank you so much.