It’s a scene that has played out on the streets of Washington and Los Angeles since President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation's capital and ramped up deportations nationwide: Federal agents, some in masks, grabbing someone off the street, bundling the person into a car and driving away, ignoring questions from bystanders.
In an executive order signed this month, Trump said the District of Columbia government's “failure to maintain public order and safety has had a dire impact on the Federal Government’s ability to operate” and that it was his duty as president to use federal agents to restore order. He has threatened to expand those operations — law enforcement duties traditionally reserved for local police — to other cities.
