(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and his administration officials warned that the use of the military in response to protests against his immigration crackdown may not be limited to just Los Angeles, saying it could be the first “of many” — and that protesters could be met with “equal or greater force.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that his administration was going to enforce its deportation policy strictly and that it would not tolerate violent protests against ICE officers.
“This is the first, perhaps, of many,” Trump said of the deployment of 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to Los Angeles as demonstrators clash with law enforcement amid the protests.
Demonstrators have clashed with law enforcement sporadically for days, and Trump called in the National Guard, against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes, in an attempt to quell the violence and allow immigration enforcement to continue.
“You know, if we didn’t attack this one very strongly, you’d have them all over the country, but I can inform the rest of the country, that when they do it, if they do it, they’re going to be met with equal or greater force,” Trump continued.
The president’s threats come as California’s leaders and 22 Democratic governors decry Trump’s show of force as a breach of the state’s sovereignty and a provocative escalation.
Trump’s words were echoed in testimony given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill earlier in the day.
“So in Los Angeles, we believe that ICE, which is a federal law enforcement agency, has the right to safely conduct operations in any state, in any jurisdiction in the country,” Hegseth said. “ICE agents should be allowed to be safe and doing their operations, and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties, because we ought to be able to enforce … immigration law in this country.”
The president suggested he is open to invoking the Insurrection Act in response to the protests. The act authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or violence.
The National Guard and Marines, under Trump’s current authorization, are not allowed to act in a law enforcement capacity because of the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.
“There were areas of Los Angeles last night where you could call it an insurrection,” Trump said.
Trump repeated claims, without evidence, that the protesters are “paid insurrectionists.” He decried some protesters who were damaging streets and targeting members of the National Guard.
Despite claims from Trump that there were fires and “bad scenes” on Monday night, there wasn’t anything all that violent. ABC News observed police moved protesters using skirmish lines and less lethal rounds around the city for a few hours, but there was no widespread violence compared to the weekend.
And although Trump claimed that Los Angeles was “under siege,” the incidents had been confined on Sunday and Monday to a relatively small area of downtown Los Angeles — about a 10-block area.
So far, the National Guard’s presence and role in handling the protests appears to have been minimal.
ABC News observed National Guard troops standing outside of a federal building and the Los Angeles Police Department and other local agencies clearing the streets and interacting with protesters.
The administration has not immediately provided details about the guardsman’s actions from Monday.
Congressional Republicans — including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune — backed the president’s use of the military in the situation.
“Clearly, the local officials there, for whatever reason, didn’t seem up to the task of getting the job done there,” Thune told reporters Tuesday.
Although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “violence in the riots is outrageous,” he called Trump’s order to send in troops “provocative” and “dangerous.”
“It really threatens the bedrock of our democracy,” the New York Democrat said.
Trump said the National Guard will be in the Los Angeles area “until there’s no danger,” declining to put a timetable on ending the deployment.
“It’s easy. Look, it’s common sense. … When there’s no danger, they’ll leave,” he said.
ABC News’ Alex Stone, Lalee Ibssa, Isabella Murray and Kelsey Walsh and contributed to this report.
Maddy Marr/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was the Michael Jordan of drug-fueled sex parties — at least, according to himself.
That revelation was included in another day of testimony from Combs’ ex-girlfriend, who alleges she was forced to participate in degrading sex with male prostitutes for Combs’ voyeuristic gratification.
Testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” the ex-girlfriend has spent four days walking a federal jury in Manhattan through a life that was funded by Combs and centered on his sexual appetites. She said she spent so much time participating in sexual encounters that Combs compared her, himself and a male escort to well-known sports stars.
A male escort they frequently hired was, to Combs, “Shaquille O’Neal.” Jane was compared and labeled “Kobe Bryant.” Combs considered himself to be “Jordan,” Jane testified.
The athletic comparisons capped off the 24th day of the rap mogul’s sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial, as defense attorneys tried to cast doubt on Jane’s claims that she was coerced to participate in the sex parties. Jane is a critical part of the authorities’ case against the onetime cultural icon, who has been locked up since his arrest last September.
Prosecutors have argued that Combs used his wealth and influence to pressure women like Jane into sex, then used his money and violence to keep them quiet to protect his reputation. Combs has pleaded not guilty and claims he has never coerced anyone into sex.
After three days of testimony about the trauma she said she endured during her relationship with Combs, Jane was challenged during a full court session Tuesday by Combs’ defense team. They repeatedly tried to highlight Jane’s apparently loving messages sent to Combs and her apparent willingness to engage in his sexual fantasies.
“I wish you were here. We can play our videos on tv and lock each other in the room all day,” Jane texted Combs. “I never c— so hard like that in my life.”
The cross examination took on a sharper tone as defense attorney Teny Geragos argued the lavish gifts undercut Jane’s allegations of trauma, coercion and force.
“No, I only got trauma,” Jane fired at Geragos when asked about Combs’ giving another girlfriend a Chanel handbag.
When Geragos asked about another luxury handbag Bottega Veneta, Jane fired at the attorney, “I’m sure you have one,”
“How much do Bottega bags run?” Geragos asked Jane.
Jane snapped: “How much does my body cost?”
The testimony is set to resume on Wednesday afternoon with additional questioning by Combs’ lawyers. Defense attorneys told the judge overseeing the case that they would likely conclude their questions for Jane on Thursday.
Jane said she believed Combs was a ‘cuckold’
Jane told jurors that she was regularly jealous of Combs for spending more quality time with other women. She said she believes Combs was “polyamorous.”
“What was hard for me was the imbalance in treatment,” Jane said. “I didn’t sign up to date a man who was in a public relationship.”
Though she said she was frustrated that the majority of her time with Combs was dominated by prolonged sexual encounters with other men that Combs observed, Jane told jurors that she sought to understand why Combs enjoyed watching her have sex with other men.
Jane explained to the jury, “I was trying to deep-dive on all the reasons why they drew such pleasure watching their woman with other men.”
She told the jury she came upon the word “cuck,” which she described as a “man who is in a relationship and is turned on by watching a woman have sex with another man.”
Geragos asked, “What did that word mean to you?”
Jane answered, “I was just like this is spot on.”
The testimony about Combs’ sexual desires comes as defense attorneys seek to highlight what they argue is Jane’s willingness to participate in sex acts with Combs by learning what he liked sexually, potentially undercutting the prosecution’s claim that she was coerced into the drug-fueled encounters she called “hotel nights.”
Jane also testified that there were parts of the orgies she enjoyed and that the evenings satisfied Combs’ sexual desires.
“I loved when we would make love and said he wanted me,” Jane said. “He would say things like he never wanted me to leave and so many nice, loving things.”
Jane distances Combs’ employees from alleged sex trafficking
Defense attorney Geragos peppered her cross examination with questions about the role of Combs’ employees during their three-year relationship, seemingly trying to distance the rap mogul’s assistants and security from the alleged illegal acts at the center of the prosecution’s case.
“It was important that none of his employees knew about the entertainers from these nights?” Geragos asked about the male escorts Combs hired for “hotel nights.”
“Right,” Jane said, emphasizing how Combs began hosting the sex parties in private residences insead of hotel rooms to ensure the events would be secretive.
Despite testifying that Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram functioned as Combs’ “right brain” and was generally apprised of his activities, Jane told the jury that Combs tried to keep her out of the process for booking and paying escorts for the sexual romps.
“Did [Khorram] have any knowledge that escorts were joining the hotels?” Geragos asked.
“I don’t think so,” Jane answered.
By distancing Combs’ employees from the rap mogul’s alleged crimes, the testimony could help defense attorneys as they try to cast doubt on the prosecutors’ allegation that Combs used his business empire to carry out his crimes. To convict Combs on racketeering conspiracy, jurors would need to find that Combs relied on others, like his security guards or assistants, to commit at least two related crimes.
(LOS ANGELES) — Demonstrations have gripped Los Angeles for several days in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the sanctuary city, with some protesters clashing with police.
Tensions escalated after President Donald Trump called up the National Guard over the objections of state and city leaders to address what the White House referred to as the “lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.”
Solidarity protests against ICE have broken out in other cities in the wake of the federal response, which has also included deploying hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles.
Here’s a look at how the protests began and what demonstrators are calling for.
How did the LA protests start?
On Friday, federal agents executed search warrants authorized by a Los Angeles federal judge at four businesses suspected of unlawfully employing undocumented immigrants and falsifying employment records, according to a criminal complaint.
On social media, “word quickly spread about ‘ICE raids’ taking place throughout Los Angeles,” according to the complaint.
Video showed federal agents conducting the operations, including at a Home Depot in Westlake and the clothing manufacturer Ambiance Apparel in downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was “deeply angered” over the raids.
“These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city,” she said in a statement on Friday. “We will not stand for this.”
Local activists and family members of the workers showed up at the locations, confronting agents about the arrests. A prominent union leader — Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta — was arrested on Friday outside Ambiance Apparel and charged with conspiracy to impede an officer following an altercation with a law enforcement officer, according to the complaint. SEIU President April Verrett told ABC News that Huerta was “exercising his constitutional right to peacefully protest and be an observer on a sidewalk in the city of Los Angeles.”
Following the raids, protesters also gathered outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles that are home to an immigration court and a detention facility, holding signs that said “ICE out of LA!”
“Our community is under attack and is being terrorized,” Angelica Salas, the executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said during a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. “These are workers, these are fathers, these are mothers, and this has to stop. Immigration enforcement that is terrorizing our families throughout this country and picking up our people that we love must stop now.”
Hours later, amid ongoing protests in downtown LA, the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly Friday evening following reports that a “small group of violent individuals are throwing large pieces of concrete,” and officers in riot gear moved in to disperse the crowd.
‘We’re going to keep showing up’
Protests against immigration raids continued into the weekend in downtown LA, as well as Los Angeles County cities including Compton and Paramount.
“We have a very beautiful community, a very strong community. And this is why we show up and we’re going to keep showing up,” Paramount demonstrator Nabil Shukir told ABC Los Angeles station KABC over the weekend. “It is an obligation and a duty for each and every one of us to be here and fight against the oppression and these kidnappings.”
On Saturday, the White House said Trump signed a memorandum deploying thousands of National Guardsmen to Los Angeles after “violent mobs” attacked ICE officers — over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The following day, some protesters were seen hurling scooters and bottles at patrol vehicles and several of the self-driving car company Waymo’s vehicles were set on fire.
Amid the protests, LAPD said officers have arrested dozens of people for failure to disperse, as well as looting. Other charges have included attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail and assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
Bass has condemned the violence while noting in a call with KABC on Monday that the majority of people protesting have been peaceful and that the more-violent protesting and vandalism were happening “late at night.” She added that she assumed violent protests weren’t being led by people supporting immigrants, but rather by “fringe groups.”
Bass has also blamed Trump for the escalation and has continued to call on the Trump administration to stop immigration raids in the city, saying the fear and uncertainty they have created have led to the unrest.
“It makes me feel like our city is actually a test case, a test case for what happens when the federal government moves in and takes the authority away from the state or away from local government,” she told reporters during a news conference Monday. “I don’t think that our city should be used for an experiment.”
Newsom has called the deployment a “complete overreaction.” He and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Monday that they have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the “illegal and unnecessary takeover” of the California National Guard that has “needlessly escalated chaos and violence in the Los Angeles region.”
“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” Bonta said in a statement.
Protests over the federal response and continued ICE raids in the Los Angeles area have been ongoing. Demonstrations have also been held at Los Angeles International Airport against Trump’s new travel ban, which went into effect on Monday and bars nationals of 12 countries from entering the U.S.
SEIU held a large rally in downtown LA on Monday in support of Huerta, who was released from federal custody on a $50,000 bond that day.
Bass said Tuesday it is unclear how many people have been detained by ICE.
“On Thursday of last week, Los Angeles was peaceful. There was nothing going on here that warranted the federal intervention that took place the very next day,” she said during a press briefing. “If we want to look at the cause of what is happening here, I take it back to raids that took place on Friday, and the uncertainty and the fear and the fact that families across the city are terrified that they don’t know if they should go to work, they don’t know if they should go to school.”
Trump on Tuesday defended his decision to send in the National Guard and Marines, saying the situation in LA was “out of control.”
“All I want is safety. I just want a safe area,” he told reporters. “Los Angeles was under siege until we got there. The police were unable to handle it.”
Trump went on to suggest that he sent in the National Guard and the Marines to send a message to other cities not to interfere with ICE operations or they will be met with equal or greater force.
“If we didn’t attack this one very strongly, you’d have them all over the country,” he said. “But I can inform the rest of the country that when they do it, if they do it, they’re going to be met with equal or greater force than we met right here.”
Why are people protesting ICE?
Since Friday, other demonstrations have broken out across the country in solidarity, protesting ICE activity in their communities and the federal response in Los Angeles. On Monday, protests were held in cities including New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Dallas, and, in California, San Jose and Santa Ana.
Protesters turned out in San Francisco on Sunday outside of an Immigration Services building to rally in solidarity against ICE raids and deportations.
“We’ve been watching what’s going on in LA, and we’re like, no,” protester Nancy Kato told ABC San Francisco station KGO. “The whole thing about going after immigrants and people who are undocumented, the most vulnerable of our populations, that is so wrong.”
Nellie Wong told KGO she was there “to protest the outrageous attacks on undocumented immigrants.”
“This has been going on for some time, but the events that have been going on in Los Angeles, I just find horrifying,” another protester, Amy Gray-Schlink, told KGO. “We need a united front of everyone who wants to oppose the scapegoating of immigrants.”
In San Diego County, protesters gathered near the main gate of Camp Pendleton on Sunday to stand against any military activation.
“We want to show our support to the military members that work here. We want to kind of remind them of what their duty is to us,” one of the demonstrators, Air Force veteran Patrick Saunders, told ABC San Diego affiliate KGTV. “But additionally, we want to make it very publicly known that we condemn any sort of action by the administration of using active duty or National Guard troops on U.S. citizens.”
(WASHINGTON) — A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers outside of an immigration detention facility last month, officials announced Tuesday.
The three-count indictment charges the Democratic congresswoman with “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers” at the facility, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said in a post on X.
“As I have stated in the past, it is my Constitutional obligation as the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for New Jersey to ensure that our federal partners are protected when executing their duties,” Habba said. “While people are free to express their views for or against particular policies, they must not do so in a manner that endangers law enforcement and the communities those officers serve.”
The indictment is a standard procedural step after Habba’s office charged McIver via a criminal complaint last month.
McIver has vowed she will fight the charges and plans to plead not guilty.
“The facts of this case will prove I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation,” she said in a statement on X. “This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump’s administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do. But it won’t work — I will not be intimidated.”
On May 9, McIver and a few other members of Congress were at Delaney Hall, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, to conduct oversight.
Tensions escalated when a federal officer ordered Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to leave a secured area of the facility or face arrest, and pushing and shoving allegedly occurred, according to prosecutors.
“During her continued attempts to thwart the arrest, McIver slammed her forearm into the body of one law enforcement officer and also reached out and tried to restrain that officer by forcibly grabbing him,” the Department of Justice said in a press release on Tuesday. “McIver also used each of her forearms to forcibly strike a second officer.”
Following the charges via criminal complaint, McIver alleged in a statement that the decision was politically motivated.
“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” McIver said.
Top House Democrats also released a joint statement last month defending McIver, vowing to “vigorously” respond to what they say is an illegitimate abuse of power.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on the American people. House Democrats will respond vigorously in the days to come at a time, place and manner of our choosing,” the leaders said.
If convicted, the maximum penalty for the charges in the indictment ranges from one to eight years, Habba said.
Baraka was arrested at the facility and charged with trespassing, though Habba later dropped the charge.
(LOS ANGELES) — A brush fire burning near homes in Los Angeles County prompted evacuation orders Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities.
The Burbank Fire Department said Tuesday evening it managed to stop the forward progress of the Bethany Fire, which was burning near a residential area in Burbank, California.
Fire crews remained in the area for several hours cleaning up, advising people to stay clear of the area, police said.
“If you are on or near the hiking trails or in these recreation areas in the Burbank hills, please leave the area immediately,” the Burbank Police Department said.
All hiking trails remain close through the evening, police said.
(CHESTER, NY) — A 68-year-old woman is in stable condition after being rescued from a vehicle fire that engulfed her car when it flipped over during a crash on a highway in New York, police said.
The incident occurred shortly after 4 a.m. on Sunday morning when units from the Chester Police Department in New York were dispatched along with other emergency service units to “a report of a motor vehicle on Kings Highway near Knapps View Park,” according to a statement from the Chester Police Department.
When authorities arrived on scene, they discovered that the driver was still trapped in the vehicle that had been consumed by flames, police said.
“Officer Nicholas Contino was the first police officer to arrive on scene,” authorities said in their statement. “He gave his fire extinguisher to a passing motorist and worked to locate the operator in the vehicle. He was able to break the sunroof glass and free her from the vehicle. With the assistance of two passing motorists and a paramedic from Empress EMS, she was removed from the vehicle and away from the fire.”
The woman who was driving the car has not been named by authorities, but officials did say that she was a 68-year-old resident of Warwick, New York, and that she suffered burns to about a third of her body.
The woman was immediately taken to Westchester Medical Center’s Burn Unit and currently remains in stable condition.
“Officer Contino’s effort greatly increased the motorist’s chances for survival and he is commended for a job well done,” police said.
(NORFOLK, VA) — A 21-year-old Navy sailor who mysteriously disappeared in Virginia has been found dead, and another sailor is in custody, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said.
Angelina “Angie” Resendiz was last seen on the morning of May 29 at her barracks in Miller Hall at Naval Station Norfolk, according to the Virginia State Police.
Resendiz’s body was found in a wooded area in Norfolk on Monday; the remains were confirmed to be the missing sailor on Tuesday, NCIS said.
Another Navy sailor “has been placed in pretrial confinement” in connection with Resendiz’s death, NCIS said. The sailor was not named.
“Charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are pending,” NCIS said in a statement. “NCIS remains committed to uncovering the facts surrounding the tragic death of Seaman Resendiz to ensure accountability and justice.”
Resendiz, a Texas native, was a culinary specialist assigned to the USS James E. Williams, the Navy said.
Resendiz joined the Navy in 2023 after high school “because she felt it was something that called her,” her mother, Esmeralda Castle, wrote to ABC News last week.
As a culinary specialist, “She thought that one day she might be able to cook for the president and other world leaders,” Castle said. “She worked really hard on her ship.”
“People that care about Angie shared with me that the last person she was with was missing with her,” and “that person showed up [on June 2] but not Angie,” Castle said.
“There are no answers for me,” she said. “I just want my kid.”
(SALINAS, Calif.) — The family of a 16-year-old track star is threatening to take legal action after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) disqualified their daughter and stripped her of her gold medal after she celebrated her win in the state final by spraying her feet with a fire extinguisher – an homage to Olympic champion Maurice Green.
Clara Adams, a North Salinas High School sophomore, said that CIF officials told her that she was disqualified for “unsportsmanlike” behavior after the 400-meter state final and was prevented from standing on the podium to claim her number one spot or competing in the final race.
ABC News reached out to CIF representatives but requests for comment were not returned.
Adante Pointer, an attorney representing Clara Adams, told ABC News that the family is “certainly” planning on taking legal action if the CIF doesn’t reverse its decision.
“That was the championship, she would have been the fastest sprinter in the state of California – she is, she won, but she doesn’t have the title nor the medal,” Pointer said. “She’ll never have that moment.”
According to the CIF code of conduct on sportsmanship, student athletes are in part, not permitted to engage in or allow “taunting, boastful celebrations, or other actions that demean individuals or the sport.”
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors wrote a letter in support of Adams that the county is set to vote on Tuesday afternoon, urging CIF officials to reinstate her immediately.
“Clara’s celebration did not take place on the track itself, not was it directed at any of the competitors, the letter says, calling the punishment “disproportionate.”
Adams spoke out about the incident alongside members of the NAACP and her father, David, who is also her coach, during a press conference on Friday, saying that she was “crushed” by the CIF’s decision.
“I had to watch the girls get on the podium without me,” she said. “I had to watch somebody else get on the number one spot that I was supposed to stand on. And that wasn’t cool at all. That was wrong.”
Adams said that her father handed her the fire extinguisher after her win and instructed her to get off the field before spraying her feet in a nod to Greene, an iconic Olympian sprinter, who famously celebrated his 2004 Olympics win in the 100 meter race by taking off his shoes and having a teammate spray them with a fire extinguisher to put out the figurative fire on his feet.
Pointer said that Adams was “surprised” that she was punished because she was “paying homage to one of her icons.”
Greene, who spoke with ABC affiliate in Salinas, KSBW-TV, said he was happy to see Adams pay homage to him and suggested that she should be reinstated.
“When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me ‘This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration’ I was like huh? What?” Greene said. “If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.”
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic lawmakers will submit a bill in the Senate on Tuesday that would reverse the Pentagon’s new ban on transgender military service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria who now face being forced out if they had not previously self-identified as transgender.
The “Fit to Serve Act” would prohibit the Defense Department from banning transgender service members from serving in the military. If passed, the law would prevent the Defense Department from denying access to healthcare on the basis of gender identity, and it would also prohibit the military from forcing service members to serve in their sex assigned at birth.
It would also make it illegal for the military to discriminate against service members on the basis of gender identity.
The Defense Department’s policy was required by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office that banned transgender individuals from serving in the military. In outlining the policy in a memo issued in late February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote that ” individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”
“We recruit and train the best and bravest to protect our country — losing highly qualified service members, who meet strict standards to join the military, makes us less safe,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is the lead sponsor of the bill that is being filed in the Senate on Tuesday, which was first announced last month.
“By prohibiting this discrimination on the basis of gender identity, this legislation will help to ensure transgender individuals who are qualified to serve may do so” said Sen. Marie Hirono, D-Hawaii, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
Under the Pentagon’s new policy, transgender service members had until June 6 to self-identify and begin the process of voluntary separation. With the passing of that deadline, the Pentagon has begun a process of involuntary separation of service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria, which is defined as “psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.”
Ahead of that deadline, the Pentagon said more than 1,000 service members had self-identified as having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It is unclear whether that number increased ahead of the deadline or how officials had reached that estimate.
National Guard and Reserve service members have until July 7 to self-identify for voluntary separation.
The Pentagon’s new ban went into effect in early May shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military while legal challenges to the ban proceed in lower courts.
Navy Cmdr. Emily Shilling, who is a lead plaintiff in one of the legal challenges, told ABC News that she has chosen to voluntarily separate.
“Yes I am ‘volunteering’ to retire but I do want to make it clear that myself and most others I have spoken to in SPARTA feel it is under duress,” said Shilling who is the president of Sparta Pride, an organization advocating for 2,400 transgender people in the military.
“For me, it’s the only way I believe I can continue to uphold my oath,” said Shilling. “I’m stepping away from active duty service, but not service to my country. My fight is only beginning.”
Defense officials have said that as of last December, about 4,240 current active-duty, Guard and Reserve service members had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
There are more than 2.1 million military service members serving on active-duty, Guard and the Reserves. Advocacy groups have put the actual number of transgender service members as being much higher, at around 15,000.
Since 2014, the total number of diagnoses for gender dysphoria among service members was 5,773, with 1,000 of those having gone through gender-affirming surgery, according to a defense official. The total costs for treatments, hormones and surgeries during that time frame was $52 million, said the official.
With the end of the voluntary separation period, transgender service members now face what could be a lengthy process that could end with their separation from military service.
The process will begin with military commanders being told to identify people in their units who have a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria. Once they have done that, a referral to an annual health checkup will be initiated, beginning what could be a lengthy process that could lead to their removal from the military.
Pentagon officials have said those evaluations will be conducted during regularly scheduled annual physicals meaning it could be months before they take place.
The Pentagon incentivized service members with gender dysphoria to voluntarily separate ahead of the June 6 deadline by offering benefit payment packages that would be more than double what would be received if they were to separate involuntarily. Those who voluntarily separated would not have to risk paying back the recruitment or retention bonuses they may have earned during their military service.
The Democratic senators argue that instead of improving military readiness the implementation of the ban will have the opposite effect.
“This ban undermines our military readiness and national security by removing thousands of talented, experienced service members and signaling to potential recruits that the military does not respect them, their colleagues, their family, or their friends simply because of who they are,” said a description of the Fit to Serve Act. “It also wastes billions of taxpayer dollars invested in training these troops to become leaders to keep all of us safe.”
The bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Warren, Hirono, Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Ed Markey (Massachusetts), Ron Wyden (Oregon), Jeff Merkley (Oregon),John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Andy Kim (New Jersey), and Cory Booker (New Jersey). Congressmen Adam Smith (Washington) Mark Takano (California), Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania), Sara Jacobs (California), and Eric Sorensen (Illinois) are sponsoring the legislation in the House of Representatives.
“By prohibiting this discrimination on the basis of gender identity, this legislation will help to ensure transgender individuals who are qualified to serve may do so,” Hirono said.
It remains to be seen how much bipartisan support the legislation could gain and whether it will be able to clear Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House.
“If you are willing to risk your life for our country and you can do the job, it shouldn’t matter if you are gay, straight, transgender, Black, white or anything else,” said Duckworth who added that the ban “is disruptive to our military, hurts readiness and not only does nothing to strengthen our national security — it actively makes things worse.”
“The Fit to Serve Act is a declaration that we will not stand by while our courageous troops are under political assault. Transgender service members meet the same rigorous standards, deploy worldwide, put in the same hard work and demonstrate the same dedication as any of their colleagues” said Jennifer Pike Bailey, Government Affairs Director of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the advocacy groups supporting the legislation.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are taking away their jobs, cutting off their health care benefits, and disregarding the immense sacrifices these service members and their families have made. It’s a slap in the face to all who serve and puts our military readiness at risk,” she added.
“At a time when the United States faces growing threats around the world, banning them from the All-Volunteer Force will make Americans less safe,” said Luke Schleusener, CEO of Out in National Security.
“This legislation underscores that the fight to honor the service of thousands of transgender Americans in uniform — and to strengthen America’s national security — is far from over.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration says it will appeal a court order requiring it to allow hundreds of noncitizens who were deported in March to El Salvador to challenge their detentions.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last week ordered the Trump administration to give the hundreds of men deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act the right to challenge their detentions as unlawful.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal Tuesday, signaling plans to challenge a lower court’s decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The Trump administration touched off a legal battle in March when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that “many” of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States — but said that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson slammed Boasberg’s decision last week, saying in a statement that Boasberg lacks the authority to intervene in the deportations.
“Judge Boasberg has no authority to intervene with immigration or national security — authority that rests squarely with President Trump and the Executive Branch. His current and previous attempts to prevent President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens poses a direct threat to the safety of the American people,” Jackson said, referring to other recent rulings by the judge.
“Fortunately for the American people, Judge Boasberg does not have the last word,” Jackson said.
Boasberg, in last week’s ruling, said that the detainees — regardless of their alleged criminal status — deserve the right to challenge the government’s claims against them.
