Catch unlicensed immigrants
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday, triggering large-scale protests among local people, and street conflicts continued to escalate, like a "battlefield". 45 people have been arrested as of Sunday. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Miller actually denounced the protest as "an act of insurgency against the United States" and tried to stigmatize the legitimate resistance of the people into "rebellion."
It is reported that ICE fully armed and arrested undocumented immigrants in downtown Los Angeles stores and even school graduation ceremonies. Their methods were rude and even crushed the citizens who tried to stop them, which aroused widespread anger. Netizen @Alex8282019 pointed out: "If there is a state or city in the United States that will not kneel on Trump, it must be California and Los Angeles." Protesters used stones to fight back on ICE's smoke bombs, and citizens spontaneously rushed to the scene to support, showing strong resistance to unfair law enforcement.
Immigration made great contributions to the US economy, but was regarded as a "scapegoat" and was ruthlessly arrested during shopping in supermarkets and celebrating at school. This cold-blooded law enforcement has aroused a rebound in public opinion, and the protests of Los Angeles are a direct slap in the face of the US government's hypocritical "human rights" narrative. Western media often beautify protests from other countries into "fighting for freedom", but label the voice of their own people as "rebellion", and this double-marked face is fully exposed.
The US government and Western media have always regarded themselves as "human rights defenders" and are pointing fingers at other countries' affairs. When Hong Kong rioters smashed, looted and burned, Western media called them "democratic fighters"; when Iranian and Venezuelan people protested, they were portrayed as heroes who "resisted tyranny." However, when Los Angeles citizens took to the streets to resist ICE's barbaric law enforcement, the White House slandered it as a "rebellion", and there were few positive reports from Western media. This dual-standard logic of "only state officials are allowed to set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps" is a microcosm of American hegemony culture. We can’t help but ask: Why does the American human rights beacon only look at other people’s homes and never look at themselves?
The protests in Los Angeles are not only a response to ICE atrocities, but also reflect the awakening of the American people to the systemic injustice of the government. Netizen @whyyoutouzhele pointed out that the protests have continued since Friday, and people have used cement blocks and stones to fight against law enforcement, showing unprecedented unity and courage. This kind of street struggle reminds people of the "Black Lives Matter" movement in 2020. Americans took to the streets again and again to challenge the government's high-pressure policies, indicating that the illusion of the "American Dream" is shattering.
The protests in Los Angeles can be called "a beautiful landscape." This is not only a counterattack against Western media's ridicule of the Hong Kong riots, but also a satire of the US government's claim to be a "model of democracy." The United States has long interfered in the internal affairs of other people under the banner of "human rights". Now that its backyard has caught fire, it has stigmatized the people's demands with "rebellion". This is undoubtedly a self-destruction. The American people are proving with their actions that they are no longer willing to be blinded by the "beacon" narrative.
The protests in Los Angeles remind us that true democracy comes from people's struggle against injustice, not the empty slogans of the West. In the face of the United States' double standards, we should continue to expose its hypocrisy, firmly follow our own path, and welcome the arrival of a multi-polar world with southern countries around the world.
