The start of the new school year is typically a time of excitement and joy. But as armed troops and masked agents roam throughout the district, this is anything but a typical year in Washington, D.C.
FCNL’s Bridget Moix provided a glimpse at how President Trump’s militarized takeover is impacting life in D.C. as kids return to school:
“This year, the first day of school…included military troops in our streets and families so filled with fear they decided to keep their kids home. It included parent-led patrols on school routes and educator training on responding to [ICE] raids. It included difficult conversations with children, trying to explain the unexplainable.”
“As a Quaker, a pacifist and the mother of two Mexican American young men, I am horrified by the deployment of military troops to my city,” Bridget continued. “Cloaked in the guise of public safety and a manufactured national emergency, the White House is using the military to enforce a racist, inhumane and authoritarian agenda.”
The repercussions of this dangerous agenda will be felt far beyond D.C.
This week, President Trump threatened again to deploy troops and take over law enforcement in other cities. Meanwhile, Republican governors continue to send more troops to the capital while mobilizing National Guard forces to assist ICE in immigration raids in their states.
As Ezra Klein warned in the New York Times, “Trump is building his own paramilitary force.”
What we’re seeing is “not Trump cleaning up crisis or disorder,” but “creating” it, Klein wrote, “so that he can build what he has wanted to build: an authoritarian state, a military or a paramilitary that answers only to him.”
This is a pivotal moment to make our voices heard – before Trump’s militarized takeover is further entrenched and expanded.
As FCNL’s José Moreno wrote this week, Congress must reject this ineffective, harmful, highly costly approach and instead invest in real, empowering solutions that address root causes of issues like crime and homelessness.
Join us and tell your lawmakers: End Trump’s Occupation of DC!
Elsewhere
Immigration Detention and Deportation: Concerning News – And a Major Victory
Immigration detention is expanding and brutalizing more people. The Trump administration has opened a detention camp at Ft. Bliss in Texas. This puts detention behind the gates of a military base, making oversight even more difficult. It also brings us back to a dark history: Ft. Bliss served as an internment camp for Japanese Americans during the Second World War.
As a detention center is opening in Texas, one is shutting down in Florida. Following a major victory in court for environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, the Everglades detention center will soon be shut down.
The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia provides an example of the inhumanity of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. He was illegally deported to El Salvador, brought back to the United States to stand trial in an unjust case, and now is being threatened with deportation to Uganda.
Trump Administration Attempting to Cancel More Foreign Aid
The Trump administration is using illegal parliamentary tricks to try to cancel an additional $4.9 billion in foreign aid, bringing the total to $12.8 billion. The administration’s efforts to cement its unconstitutional control over federal spending will only force vulnerable and innocent people to suffer.
This maneuver is already facing broad condemnation. As Republican Senator Susan Collins (ME) says, “Article I of the Constitution makes clear that Congress has the responsibility for the power of the purse.”
Remembering the March on Washington
This week, we remember the Aug. 28, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—when 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to call for racial and economic justice.
Quaker civil rights activist Bayard Rustin worked tirelessly to make the March a success — building coalitions, coordinating logistics, and ensuring that the message of non‑violence and human dignity was clear. His Quaker convictions and belief in the inherent worth of every person helped shape the spirit of the March.
