Newsom criticizes federal immigration raids and military deployment, outlines state responses

Governor Gavin Newsom criticized recent federal immigration enforcement operations and the deployment of federalized National Guard and U.S. Marines in Southern California, saying they are terrorizing communities and hurting small businesses.

Newsom spoke on church grounds in the Bell and Downey area, saying roughly 5,000 military personnel were deployed — about 4,000 federalized National Guard members and “close to a thousand U.S. Marines” — and that the mission’s effective utilization rate was closer to 5 percent rather than the 26.6 percent the federal government reported. “Weakness masquerading as strength,” Newsom said, repeating the phrase as he criticized the White House’s tactics.

The governor said the deployments and unmarked-car workplace actions have produced “indiscriminate” effects on residents: workers not showing up to jobs, empty tables at family-run restaurants and malls, and people carrying passports to prove legal status. Newsom described meeting a longtime small-business owner who said the business had lost roughly 80 percent of its customers and a 15-year…