Sustainable Switch: The LA protests and the ‘S' in ESG
This is an excerpt of the Sustainable Switch newsletter, where we make sense of companies and governments grappling with climate change, diversity, and human rights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here.
Hello,
Today's newsletter focuses on the days of unrest seen in California, United States, over President Donald Trump's immigration policies after the White House deployed National Guard troops and 700 Marines to California after days of protests by hundreds of demonstrators against immigration raids.
The military and federal enforcement operations have further polarized the United States' two major political parties as Trump, a Republican, threatened to arrest California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, for resisting the federal crackdown. Click here to keep up with all the latest Reuters stories on immigration.
California sued the Trump administration to block deployment of the National Guard and the Marines, arguing that it violates federal law and state sovereignty.
Los Angeles is also a sanctuary city, which means that it adopts policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, aiming to protect undocumented migrants from deportation.
The LA protests intersect with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in several ways – particularly through themes of social justice, human rights, equitable treatment, and workers' rights – all of which are central to the 'Social' pillar of ESG and align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, opens new tab, especially SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
What happened?
For context, the Trump administration sent federal agents who usually hunt down child abusers and diverted them from their regular duties to bolster the president's immigration crackdown, Reuters reported exclusively in March. Click here to re-visit the full story.
California National Guard troops and Marines were deployed to the streets of Los Angeles due to the protests which flared up after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers stepped up their raids.
Trump pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, setting ICE a goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants a day.
Census data suggests a significant number of the population in Democratic-run Los Angeles is Hispanic and foreign-born.
The Trump administration's immigration enforcement measures have also included residents who are in the country legally, some with permanent residence, spurring legal challenges.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the U.S. government over the immigration raids and National Guard deployment.
"The phenomenon will not be addressed with raids or violence. It will be by sitting down and working on comprehensive reform," Sheinbaum said at a public event.
The last time the military was used for direct police action under the Insurrection Act was in 1992, when the California governor at the time asked President George H.W. Bush to help respond to Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King.
Was it legal?
Trump has tried to justify the use of the National Guard troops and Marines, saying that the protests interfered with federal law enforcement and framing them as a possible 'form of rebellion' against the authority of the U.S. government.
He cited Title 10 of the U.S. Code, a federal law that outlines the role of the U.S. Armed Forces, in his June 7 order to call members of the National Guard into federal service. The law is used if the U.S. is invaded, there is a 'rebellion or danger of rebellion', or the president is 'unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.'
Title 10 also says the "orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States."
California's lawsuit said the deployment of troops in the state without the governor's consent violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment, which protects states' rights.
An 1878 law, the Posse Comitatus Act, generally forbids the U.S. military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to assembly, freedom of speech and the press.
Legal experts have said that Trump's decision to have U.S. troops respond to protests is an ominous sign for how far the president is willing to go to repress political speech and activity that he disagrees with or that criticize his administration's policies.
ESG Lens
Humanitarian crisis: Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, the day after the country's navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza.
The British-flagged yacht, Madleen, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had aimed to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there.
Today's Sustainable Switch was edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also subscribe here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
28 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Will TikTok be banned? Trump says there's a new group of buyers
"We have a buyer for TikTok by the way," Trump said in the interview, which was released June 29. "I think I'll need probably China approval, and I think presidency will probably do it." He said the buyer is "a group of very wealthy people" without providing additional details. Ten days ago, Trump signed a 90-day extension preventing a TikTok sell-or-ban law from going into effect after it was passed by Congress. Lawmakers have said they're worried the company was using the mega-popular video platform to spy on Americans. The latest delay was the third time Trump has moved to keep the law from going into effect using an executive order. Congress approved the ban of the app if was not sold to a non-Chinese company last year, and former President Joe Biden signed it into law. The Supreme Court has since upheld the potential ban's constitutionality, but since returning to office, Trump has directed the Department of Justice not to enforce it. His executive orders have kept the app from going dark.
The Herald Scotland
28 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
What to know about a vote-a-rama, the Senate's voting marathon
Few if any of the amendments are expected to win enough support to add or remove provisions from the bill. But it is still a rare occasion when senators can get votes on nearly any subject before the final vote to approve the entire legislative package. Here's what you need to know about a vote-a-rama. What is a vote-a-rama? A vote-a-rama is a legislative event that was born out of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, according to the Senate's website. Following a debate on a budget resolution or reconciliation bill, senators can introduce an unlimited number of amendments with each receiving a vote. Republicans on June 28 offered up different interpretations on the importance of the amendment process, with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, signaling she too had things she'd seek to revise that will go a long way toward helping her support the package. "There's some very good changes that have been made in the latest version, but I want to see further changes," Collins said. Collins' GOP colleague, Sen. Brian Moreno of Ohio, painted a different and more partisan picture on the amendment slog ahead. "I want everybody watching this to remember this as you listen to probably what's going to be 30-plus hours of complete nonsense from the other side," the freshman Republican said on the floor. The Senate previously defined a vote-a-rama as a piece of legislation voted on 15 times or more in a day. Daniel S. Holt, Associate Historian for the U.S. Senate Historical Office, told USA TODAY in an email that the change was made to align the chamber's definition with its connections to budget bills. "While the term is completely colloquial and has no firm definition in any official manner, we thought this was more in-line with the historical use of the term," Holt said. When was the first vote-a-rama? The Senate credits the first vote-a-rama to votes on a budget resolution taken on May 12, 1980. The chamber's website states that staff had been using the term as early as 1992. When Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi was quoted by United Press International in 1996 using the phrase to refer to the event, it stuck. How many vote-a-ramas have there been? The Senate counts 45 vote-a-ramas. Which vote-a-rama had the most votes? The vote-a-rama held on March 13, 2008, holds the current record for most amendments voted on: 44. How does a vote-a-rama work? Votes in a vote-a-rama work differently than during regular Senate order. Senate rules preclude debate on an amendment during the marathon of votes, though they can be waived to allow an opponent and a supporter of an amendment to speak for 30 seconds - according to former Senate aide Keith Hennessey. Votes are taken consecutively, and senators agree to shorten the window for votes from 15 minutes to 10 minutes, according to Hennessey. Can senators eat or drink during a vote-a-rama? Senate rules prohibit food on the floor. But the good news is they do not have to remain on the floor for the entirety of the proceedings. One quirk in precedent allows for members to drink milk while in the chamber. On January 24, 1966, then Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Illinois, asked the presiding officer if a page could go to a restaurant and return with a glass of milk while debating a bill to repeal a portion of the Taft-Hartly Act. The Congressional record from the day shows the presiding officer saying that there was nothing in the rules prohibiting it. Senators also do have access to candy throughout the proceedings through "the candy desk" currently held by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma. The tradition of keeping candy in the desk nearest to the busiest entrance in the chamber began in 1965 when then Sen. George Murphy, R-California, kept lozenges to help soothe his throat following surgery and shared them with members across the aisle, according to the Senate.
The Herald Scotland
28 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Mamdani knocks Trump criticism, hits back at communism accusation
When asked to respond to Trump's repeated assertions that he is a communist, Mamdani told "Meet the Press" on June 29 that he isn't, explaining that "I've already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am." "He wants to distract from what I'm fighting for," Mamdani said. "I'm fighting for the the very working people he ran a campaign to empower that he has since then betrayed." Several leading Republicans have also called for Mamdani, who immigrated to the United States as a child, to be deported. Earlier in the day, Trump called Mamdani a communist and a "radical left lunatic" on Maria Bartiromo's "Sunday Morning Futures" on Fox News. "He's a communist. I think it is very bad for New York. I don't know that he's going to get in. It is inconceivable that he is," Trump said. Mamdani is not a communist. He is a democratic socialist. A communist believes in collective ownership of all property and the end of capitalism. A democratic socialist doesn't believe in ending capitalism, but aims to reform it through democracy Mamdani also said that he is committed to keeping New York a sanctuary city. "Ultimately, we've seen that this is a policy that has kept New Yorkers safe for decades. It's a policy that had previously been defended by Democrats and Republicans alike, until the fear mongering of this current mayor," he said. Adams called for changes to sanctuary city laws that advocates say protect migrants in New York. He has also pushed for more cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a move that requires a vote from the city council. The changes came shortly after the Department of Justice dropped federal corruption charges against Adams. Democrats accuse him of cozying up to Trump to avoid the legal challenges. Trump said Mamdani would be "very unsuccessful" if he tries to keep New York a sanctuary city. "If he does get in, I'm going to be president and he's going to have to do the right thing or they're not getting any money. He's got to do the right thing," Trump said. Trump said he would not publicly back a candidate in the race, which along with Mamdani, Cuomo and Adams includes a third independent candidate and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. "Whoever is the mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially," Trump said.
