Month: June 2025

SOME FACTS RELATIVE TO IMMIGRATION AND ICE

• All persons residing in the U.S. are supposed to fall into one of three categories; that is, a U.S. citizen or those with a Green Card permanent resident status or temporary inhabitants with Visitor or Student Visas. 
• An estimated 20-plus million inhabitants exist outside those three categories and we do not know who they are or where they reside. 
• The Biden Administration opened the U.S./Mexican border with the intent to flow millions of immigrants into the U.S., gain their political allegiance, thereby add another democrat identity group and seek to dominate the U.S. political scene.
• Biden and VP Harris were committing the most egregious national security offense in our nation’s history. For example, it became common knowledge that Venezuela’s Dictator was emptying his prisons and integrating the convicts by the thousands into the masses of immigrant’s crossing into the U.S. per day.
• The Biden/Harris open border allowed tons of fatal drugs to flow into the U.S. from the Mexican Cartels which resulted in over 400,000 drug overdose deaths by mostly young Americans.  Do the math; 400,000 divided by 1460 days in office equals an average 2,740 deaths per day.
• During the Biden/Harris term 10.4 million immigrants that we know about crossed the border illegally; an average of 7,123 per day. Processing, transportation, debit card, cell phone, housing, food, medical etc. cost the tax payers hundreds of billions of dollars.
• When entering the U.S. not all of the illegals sought out a border agent to be processed.  There was a group referred to as the “gotaways.” Many of them were seen on cameras and other sensors but not apprehended. The gotaways did not want to be engaged and processed because they are trans-national gang members, criminals, drug dealers, cartel operators, human traffickers, terrorists and other undesirables. In the first three Biden/Harris years there were 1,592,132 gotaways “seen” on sensors but not apprehended. The head of the Border Patrol, Paul Ortiz testified that the number of gotaways could be underreported by at least 20 percent; the real number could be 1,910,558. Then consider the number of criminals and terrorists who were not detected at all.  Bottom line, Biden and Harris set in motion a border situation in which several millions of criminals and terrorists entered into our society and are still here today. Yes, we desperately need for ICE to be free to be all they can be. 
• It is against a federal law to be a member of a criminal street gang.  The FBI estimates there are about 33,000 gangs in the U.S. with a total of about one million members. The Biden/Harris open border has paved the way for the growth of transnational gangs which are known to be particularly vicious; for example, Tren de Aragua from Venezuela and MS-13 from El Salvador.
• ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is a U.S. federal agency whose mission is, “To protect America from national security and public safety threats by enforcing immigration and customs laws” to include detaining unauthorized immigrants and removing them from our country.
• ICE federal agents move around the county to arrest and then deport illegal alien criminals. Working against ICE, mayors, law enforcement, city officials, etc. are guilty of announcing the agents’ arrival and plans thereby alerting the criminals and giving them an opportunity to evade.
• A group of liberal House democrats have introduced legislation to abolish ICE and all its federal agents. 
• Candidate Trump understood these facts and campaigned hard on immigration reform and fixing national security. The democrats countered with the idea that immigration could not be fixed without legislation to do so and blamed the republicans for not passing the appropriate bills. 
• President Trump took illegal immigration and crime on as his number one priority without help from Congress. In his first full month in office, the Trump administration’s proper enforcement of laws and deletion of Biden/Harris policies reduced illegal immigration from 189,913 February 2024 to 8,326 in February 2025 and by May 2025 that number dropped to zero.
• The border is now closed. How?  One, President Trump told the world they are no longer welcome under the Biden/Harris rules.  Two, he stationed about 10,000 U.S. soldiers on our side of the border and third convinced Mexican President Sheinbaum to deploy an additional 10,000 soldiers on the Mexican side.

DEPORTATION ISSUES

The millions of inhabitants who are here uninvited have broken a federal law, are therefore a criminal and should therefore be considered for deportation.  The President has chosen to begin with a “worst first” concept of operations. That is, seek out and deport first the criminals who have committed crimes beyond just being an illegal alien. 

But that is not going well as the democrats, fake media and out-of-control federal judges hammer away at all his deportation policies thereby making it harder and slower than it should/could be.

There is a way to bring more clarity to the entire deportation concept and perhaps take some pressure off of ICE. That is, segregate the illegal aliens into two distinct categories; those whose only crime is illegal entry and those who are also a threat to society.

The best way to distinguish the two groups is to issue a form of documentation for the good folks and the lack thereof for all others.

There are millions of illegals who have a job, are law-abiding, are valued/necessary employees or self-employed, are respected neighbors, have been here for years, perhaps pay taxes, are not on welfare and should be considered for future citizenship.

THE DOCUMENTATION PROCESS

The intent of this Immigration Reform Plan is to get a documentation card into the hands of the “keepers.”  The card will be called the Illegal Alien Card, IACard.   

PHASE ONE, JUL, AUG, SEP 2025

The President prepares a 10-page law based on the procedures explained herein followed by Congressional passage of the Immigration Reform Plan.  The language in the law must be very specific and not subject to interpretation or change by States or local authorities or rogue federal judges.

Additionally, in Phase One, each State will get a head start by setting up IACard registration sites.  A logical solution is to temporarily add many new positions to every DMV office. 

Furthermore, in Phase One, every law enforcement agency in the United States will forward information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on every felony committed by an undocumented inhabitant (who, what, when and where).  The FBI will establish and maintain a national database of these cases which allows for an immediate check against an application for an IACard.

PHASE TWO, OCT, NOV, DEC 2025

Every undocumented inhabitant in the U.S. will have the opportunity to report to an IAC registration site in the state where they reside in accordance with a published alphabetical schedule (last name beginning with A, B, C, or D report during a period in October, etc.). 

• If the applicant has a felony conviction or is a known gang member, they will NEVER be eligible for an IACard.  This is an example of the specificity of the language that must be in the Immigration Reform Law; one strike and out. 
• Prior to appearing at the IACard registration site, each applicant must download a Federal Form, Statement of Employment. fill it out and have it signed by their employer or if self-employed signed by a local official. The form must contain a statement of strong penalties for any employer signing a false statement.  Registration fee for the IACard is $50 per year.
• The IACard processing office will check with the FBI data base to determine if the applicant has a criminal record. If so, no card.
• The sophistication of the card will be similar to that of the Real ID card currently issued to U.S. citizens with the addition of an illegal ID number, similar to a social security number. Every illegal ID number will be sent to the IRS which will maintain the nation-wide list for tax purposes.

PHASE 3, 1 JANUARY 2026

Phase 2 registration is one-and-done and will never be repeated.  That is, every illegal immigrant in the U.S. on 1 January 2026 will be either a documented legal holder of an IACard or they are deportable.  Holding an IACard is a pardon from the crime of being in the U.S. illegally.

On 1 January 2026, any employer who employs an undocumented worker (no IACard) will be subject to a fine of $25,000 for each worker, first offense; $50,000 each worker, second offense. No exceptions, no excuses. No employer is going to risk their livelihood over the employment of an illegal alien. Laws change behavior and add accountability of employers into the immigration solution.   

This simple act of requiring illegal aliens to carry an IACard will have four positive and immediate results:

• First, employers will protect themselves from potentially heavy fines by only hiring inhabitants who have a valid IACard.

• Second, undocumented inhabitants who choose not to apply for an IACard or were denied an IACard will not be able to find an employer who will take them on.  They will therefore be unemployable, will be constantly liable for deportation if detained for any reason and many will likely return to their country of citizenship.

• Third, foreigners contemplating illegal entry into the United States in order to work will soon learn that no employer is going to hire them and illegal entry will be futile. This inevitable behavior change will, by default, reduce illegal immigration to a trickle.    

PHASE 4, 1 OCTOBER 2026 

This phase begins the twelve-month reissue of IACards; $50 fee.  The card color will change each calendar year.  ONLY (again, specificity in the law) those inhabitants holding an IACard can receive a renewal card.  Additionally, they will be denied renewal if they have been unemployed and made less than $5000 or if they have been convicted of a felony.  Once denied, they will be detained, deported and never receive another card. Any IACard that is not renewed by the annual renewal date will automatically be moved to the government’s deportation list.

FUNDING IMMIGRATION REFORM

In order to fund the Immigration Reform Law, a provision in the law will require IACard holders to pay 10% Federal income taxes on earned income.  Employers must issue a 1099 using the individual’s IACard number to identify them to the IRS.  The IRS will establish a National Registry of Card numbers and the data base will list earned income and taxes paid for the previous year.  During the IACard renewal process, the registration center will immediately access the IRS data base to determine if the applicant has in fact been employed, made at least $5000 and paid taxes.  No tax records, no renewal and the applicant will be detained and deported.  The Federal Government will retain 2% of the tax revenue to fund three national data bases for The Immigration Reform Plan. The remaining 8% will be returned to the States in proportion to the number of IACard holders to fund the processing centers.  

Any IACard holder convicted of a felony will have their card pulled, be detained and deported.  That person’s file and IACard number will be annotated at the national registries to ensure that any future attempts to reapply will be denied.

An IACard holder who loses his or her job may immediately place an employment application to a National IACard holder registry website maintained by the Department of Labor.  This database will describe the IACard holder’s skills and be broken down by zip code.  An employer seeking to hire, for example, a carpenter has two options. One is to make direct contact with an IACard holder; second is to review the Department of Labor national data base of unemployed IACard holders.

THREE NATIONAL DATA BASES

-One maintained by the FBI of all illegal aliens with a criminal record.

-The data base of active IACard holders maintained by the IRS. 

-The jobs-availability register at the Dept of Labor. 

 IACARD HOLDER PRIVILEGES

• One, they may apply for a state vehicle operator’s license and will be tested in English. A provision of the law will be that every state must prominently display the individual’s IACard number on the State Driver’s License.  Additionally, every applicant must show proof of auto insurance.

• Two, a current IACard will authorize the holder to legally cross U.S. borders. 

• Three, legal holders may apply for an IACard Dependent Card (using the sponsor’s IACard number with a suffix) for their spouse and children (no extended family members).  If granted, the sponsor will be authorized to escort the dependents across the U.S. border.

• Four, after legally holding an IACard for five consecutive years, that person is eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship for themselves and their immediate family (spouse and children).

• Remember, these people are here illegally.  Therefore, they will NOT be eligible for social security, welfare payments of any kind, food assistance programs, Medicaid, or social services.  This will save hundreds of billions of dollars per year in federal and state assistance payments.  

CONCLUSIONS

• Is this plan doable? Yes, it’s simple and it’s funded by the illegal aliens.

• This plan will readily identify illegal inhabitants who are currently a drain on Federal and State support systems and provide for their deportation. 

• If employers want foreign workers, they must become involved and accountable. Their only requirements are to hire IACard holders and to report employee earnings to the IRS.

• For current ICE deportation operations, all illegal aliens can be easily segregated, those documented and those not.

• This will assist in silencing the ignorant citizens and politicians who are currently interfering with and threatening ICE federal agents who are legally working to accomplish their specified mission.

• For this immigration reform to work two things have to happen.  First, the Congress has to pass a pure, non-watered down, straight-talk law with specificity that is not subject to interpretation by bureaucrats at the Federal, State or Local levels.  Secondly, the FBI, IRS and Department of Labor, will need to develop high-speed, simple, secure, data bases that are immediately accessible by State and Local officials.  We cannot afford to create a bungling bureaucratic morass like the current Immigration and Naturalization Service.

BOTTOM LINE

Any attempt to deport all 20+ million illegal aliens is neither essential nor desirable. For example, I live in the “horse country,” a 10-12,000-acre area outside Southern Pines, North Carolina. Owners of the 700+ horse farms have nothing but praise for the work ethic and community spirit of the hundreds of Latin farm employees. I’m sure there are many similar work examples across the nation.

Immigration reform is not about democrat’s amnesty or republican’s closing the borders, it is about accountability and changing behavior. 

Yes, deportation of the “worst of the worst” is a valid and essential concept of operations.  But, also is setting up the “best of the best” for eventual citizenship.

The deportation issue needs greater definition.  It is the right thing to do.

Sorry, on the last blog, Mr. President, speak to the world. On the last page, beginning of para 2. The bomb is not 3,000, it is 30,000.

please fix, thanks

marv

Mr. President, Iran has us dangerously close to World War III. Whatever decisions you make with regard to Iran and Israel must be put in perspective and completely understood. Along with making the decisions, it is equally important that we-the-people are knowledgeable enough to understand why you are doing what you are doing. 

The intent of the following information is to provide a blueprint for your speech writers.  This is also time sensitive; providing the information after-the-fact is of no value.

Mr. President, you must understand the reality in our country is that whatever you decide to do, you will be opposed by oppressive, ignorant media even if they know you are correct; by those under the age of thirty just because they have demonstrated they have almost zero knowledge of recent history or accurate understanding of current foreign affairs; and by Democrats in general and especially Democrat leaders who just do not want you to get a win, no matter if it is in the best interest of all Americans and the world. 

Hear are some of the irrefutable facts they should hear directly from you and understand.

UNINFORMED AMERICANS:

Anti-Israel, pro-Hamas/pro-Palestine university students and college professors have been demonstrating on campuses across America with help from all democrats and our media.  They believe Israel is the aggressor when their entire existence as a nation has been one of defense.

How does one defend Hammas’ actions when on 7 October 2023 they attacked Israel brutally killing about 1,300 mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages.

Wikipedia: “Since 2001, Palestinian militants have launched tens of thousands of rockets and missiles from the Gaza Strip as part of the continuing Israel-Palestinian conflict. The attacks, widely condemned for targeting civilians, have been described as terrorism by the United Nations, the European Union and the Israeli officials and are defined as war crimes by human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. 

Hamas attacks: In the first year of the Hamas invasion, they killed 728 Israeli Defense Force IDF troops and fired over 26,000 rockets and missiles into Israel, mostly at civilian targets. The IDF has killed an estimated 17,000 terrorist operatives in Gaza. 

Hezbollah invades: The following day, on 8 October 2023 Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon at the Israeli northern border attacked with artillery, rockets and missiles. In the first year of the war, they fired over 8,000 rockets into Israel at civilians displacing nearly 100,000 Israelis from their homes.

By November, 2024 the IDF had counter attacked and defeated Hezbollah.

Iran attacks: During April, 2024, Iran also attacked Israel with 170 drones and more that 120 ballistic missiles into Israel.

Houthis attack. During the latter half of 2024 and into 2025 the terrorist group Houthis located in Yemen have attacked Israel civilian targets with missiles and drones. The Houthis’ slogan calls for, “Death to America, Death to Israel.” More on that popular assertion later.

In spite of the above facts, there are at least thousands of you Americans who are speaking out and demonstrating for terrorists and against Israel.

ISRAEL’S HISTORY OF DEFENSE:

In 1947 the United Nations voted to partition the Eastern Mediterranean Sea region into separate Jewish and Arab states. The State of Israel was proclaimed in 1948, and Egypt, Transjordan (later Jordan), Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq immediately declared war on it. Israel won that war as well as the 1967 Six-Day War. 

Another war with its Arab neighbors followed in 1973. Peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab states and Palestinians began in 1991. Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO agreed in 1993 to a five-year plan to extend self-government to the Palestinians of the occupied territories. Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994.

Israeli soldiers and a Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, clashed throughout the 1990s. In an effort to stem the fighting, Israel in 2005 withdrew its soldiers and settlers from parts of the West Bank and from all of the Gaza Strip, which came under Palestinian control. In 2006 a Hezbollah operation against Israel resulted in a month-long war in Lebanon.

The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians came to a near halt during most of the 2010s, and tension between Hamas Terrorists, who took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and Israel escalated to open fighting several times between 2012 and 2021. Hamas Terrorists  began the war on 7 October 2023 that killed more than 1,200 people, primarily Israeli citizens, making it the deadliest day for Israel since its independence.

THE IRAN REGIME:

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi took over Iran in 1941. He ruled until the Iranian Revolution in 1979 when the Shah was forced to leave Iran on 16 January 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile and officially seized power on 11 February. In March Iran became an Islamic Republic. The Constitution then adopted invested ultimate power in Khomeini which led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic which exists today. The revolutionary Muslim clerics were led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

The second leader of Iran, present-day Khamenei, has led since 1989, 36 years. As Supreme Leader he has either direct or indirect control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and media. All candidates for the Assembly of Experts, the Presidency and the Parliament are vetted by the Guardian Council whose members are selected directly by the Supreme Leader.

Khamenei is hated by a large segment of his population. Major protests have been put down by his military in 1994, 1999 student protests, the 2009 presidential election protests, the 2011-2012 general elections, 2017-2018 general strikes, the 2019-2022 general protests. It is not unusual for journalists and bloggers to be imprisoned for insulting Khamenei or for women improperly wearing their head dress.

“DEATH TO AMERICA” AND “DEATH TO/DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL”

On 4 November 1979, when Iranians seized the U.S. Embassy, they surrounded the embassy shouting “death to America.” When the embassy prisoners were released on 20 January 1981, students formed parallel lines and shouted “death to America as they departed.

Throughout the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran the slogan has formed a pillar of their values. It is regularly chanted at Friday prayers and other public events, often accompanied by burning of the U.S. flag. In 1987 leaders declared the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy seizure a national holiday called “Death to America Day.”

“Destruction of Israel” chant and burning of Israeli flags has for years been a part of the Islamic Republic anniversary since 1979 as well as being an important part of what Iran is attempting to do to Israel this week with their 3,000 missiles.

THE UNITED NATIONS:

Their mission is, “The maintenance of international peace and security.” That is also the mission of the all-powerful UN Security Council.

We have to face the fact that the UN has been and continues to be a massive, expensive, bureaucratic disorganized failure. 

Had they been active and successful in their mission to maintain international peace and security, we would not have had the Khamenei Regime in power for nearly the last four decades. We would not have had Israel invaded almost continuously over the past four decades.

A NUCLEAR IRAN:

The UN nuclear watchdog, known as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is responsible for promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and preventing its miliary use including nuclear weapons. It exists to monitor nuclear programs and ensures compliance with international safeguards to verify that nuclear materials are not diverted for military purposes.

The U.S. signed on to the 2015 Nuclear Deal with Iran in which all nuclear activity was to be “exclusively peaceful.”  OK so far.  Then the UN’s IAEA was refused entry into the nuclear facilities by Iran to inspect their process, purpose and expected completion date. And the UN let them get away with it.

This is another 100% failure on the UN’s part.  They just didn’t make the inspections happen.

IRAN’S FRIENDS:

RUSSIA: While it is clear Iran and Russia do not have a formal specific defense assistance agreement, their 2025 treaty requires the two nations to exchange information, hold joint military exercises and “ensure regional security. “

CHINA:

Through strategic military agreements and joint exercises, Iran and China are cementing their ties amid rising tensions with Western nations

Iran, Russia and Chin naval forces just recently March 2025 completed a joint exercise in Iran’s territorial waters off the Gulf of Oman.

China has allegedly shipped missile components to Iran and its proxies. China and Russia celebrated the anniversary of the Ukraine war by reaffirming their “no limits partnership.”

Such cooperation will allow the three nations’ militaries to feel more comfortable operating together if a regional crisis emerges.

CONCLUSIONS:

• Iran cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything.
• Iran is the center of gravity for world-wide terrorism.
• Iran has been the leading sponsor of world terrorism for about 40 years. Iran trains their leaders, provides their financing, provides firearms, ammunition, and tens of thousands of rockets, missiles and drones.  
• The Iranian people may well accept a peaceful successive Iranian government that will blend into a peaceful Middle East and cut ties with Russia and China.
• Shame on the U.S., the collective nations of the world and especially the United Nations for ignoring Iran’s actions for the past 4 decades and thereby actually advancing death and destruction around the world.
• Nothing changes in Iran until the current Khamenei Regime ceases to exist.

SOME ALTERNATIVES:

1. Silently and within a few days fill the Persian Gulf, the Straights of Houmous and the Gulf of Oman with combat naval ships from many nations and then call Khamenei and tell him unless he immediately shuts down all nuclear operations, shuts down 100% of all terrorist assistance and if terrorists in the middle east commit one single combat action, Iran’s oil shipping will cease to exist immediately to include the 3 million barrels per day provided to China.  Iran will quickly go broke and we will promise the Iranian people that as soon as they overrun and take down the Khamenei Regime, he and existing subordinate leaders and organizations must be replaced by a freedom-loving president ready to join the other peaceful Middle Eastern nations.
2. Send the U.S. 3,000-pound bunker busters then support the Iranian people to take down the Khamenei Regime as described in paragraph 1 above.
3. The Israeli air attacks take out Khamenei then demand a complete and unconditional surrender by the remainer of the Regime who will immediately step aside and be replaced by a new peaceful government. 

BOTTOM LINE:

Doing nothing is not an advisable alternative.  We have enough senseless death and destruction. End this one within a few days.

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of two books, Vision to Execution and Fix the Systems, Transform America as well as the author of a blog, WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

BACKGROUND:  March, 1991 the nation saw, on film, five white LA police officers brutally beat a black gentleman, Rodney King. 

While all of us had viewed the taped beating over and over in great close-up detail, a year later those five police officers were found not guilty by an all-white jury.  That verdict was announced at 3:15 pm 29 April, 1992. 

Three hours later, by 6 pm, riots were breaking out all over Los Angles, but primarily in South-Central LA. It escalated like a wild fire and the final tally was as follows: 55 killed, over 2000 injured, about $1 Billion dollars in damages ($2.2 billion in today’s value), over 10,000 rioters were directly involved in looting, burning and destruction, over 1000 buildings seriously damaged or destroyed, the fire department responded to more than 4000 fires. This was not taking place at 5^th and Main, it covered an area of about 100 square miles of built-up urban terrain; by far the most difficult terrain in which to perform a military operation. 

Largest riot in U.S. history.

President George H.W. Bush dispatched 1000 Federal riot-trained law enforcement officials, FBI SWAT teams, special riot control units of the US Marshals Service, Border Patrol, Bureau of Prisons personnel and other Federal law enforcement agencies.  Governor Pete Wilson was on the scene full-time with a small staff.  The California National Guard began rolling towards LA.  On scene was the LA Chief of Police Daryl Gates and the LA County Sherriff, Sherman Block.  Gathered in outlying areas was most of the California Highway Patrol.  A brigade of Marines from Camp Pendleton had been alerted. 

But, no ONE was in charge and there was no plan.

At about the 36-hour point, May the first at about 2 a.m. my command, 7^th Infantry Division located at Fort Ord, CA about 300 miles north of LA, received a call from our military higher headquarters in Atlanta, and were told, “a military force may be needed in LA but don’t do anything yet.”  Dumb order, we, by design the most rapidly deployable infantry Division in the world, immediately began to plan for a rapid deployment.  Six hours later at about 0800 we received a second call, “there will be a military deployment but it will not be the 7^th ID.”  CNN was following everything related to the riots live and continuously.  Thirty minutes later we watched President Bush, live on TV, walk into the White House Briefing Room and announce, “I have decided to deploy elements of the 7^th ID to LA.”  Game on.

We just happened to have two C-141 Air Force transport aircraft on the ground for deployment training at nearby Monterey airport.  The “ready brigade” began immediately to move and the airlift to LAX began. 

By noon I was on the ground in LA with a planning staff. All I could see and sense was chaos. And most concerning was that the California National Guard continued to stream into the city with no deployment plan in place.

No one in my chain of command up to and including General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, knew President Bush was going to make that deployment announcement.  I had no guidance and never did get any. Old saying, “when in charge, take charge.”

GET CONTROL, the first essential element of planning. A dozen of the Division’s best majors (I called them my iron majors) were flown in immediately and I assigned them as my personal liaison to the Governor, Mayor, Chief Gates, Sherriff Block, Highway Patrol, all the Federal Agencies, the CA National Guard and the Marines. Before dispatching them, I looked them in the eye and told them exactly what they were to do. “You stay about 3 feet from your principal at all times and tell me everything they do, everything they say and who they communicate with. There can be only one boss of this mess and it’s me.  You understand?”  Their mission was to get their principal on a conference call with me at 8 a.m. every day wherein I would give them an overall assessment of the night’s activities and what was to be accomplished in the next 24 hours.  Principals only on the conference call.

As if President Bush’s surprise deployment announcement at 0830 that morning wasn’t enough; he saved another one for later in the day.  At 6 pm CA time, 9 pm at the White House, President Bush presented an update briefing to the nation.  First topic of the speech was, “I have decided to Federalize the California National Guard.”  At that moment, with those words, I became the Commander of the CA National Guard and they all became federal U.S. Army soldiers.  That was actually a blessing because we immediately took charge of their rally points, established training stations (particularly to train rules of engagement) and integrated them into the overall deployment plan

The day we arrived on the scene the city was shut down, 24-hour curfew.  There was no public transportation.  All stores were closed.  People were running out of food. I tried to make it as clear as possible that we were there to create a safe and secure environment so the city could systematically resume all operations.  It worked.  Community support was outstanding.

We trained hard every day and night at Ft Ord to be able to rapidly “close with and destroy the enemy.”  No enemy in LA.  My first task was to solve that problem. How do you tell each individual soldier what he/she can and cannot do?  I wrote the Rules of Eengagement on the plane on the way down, called them back to my chief of staff who had printing people standing by.  Thousands of 3×5 cards printed with the ROE were soon available; one for every soldier and marine to have in his or her breast pocket.  

Soldiers flew into LAX, were loaded on the city buses and transported to an abandoned air strip in the middle of Central/South LA.  Every squad leader and his or her soldiers began at the head of the strip and moved from station to station observing scenarios that were being briefed and played out to illustrate the rules of engagement.  First rule, “everyone has the inherent right of self-defense”.  At the end of the air strip they were issued ammunition, got back on a bus and were deployed.  By the middle of the first night, we had all 12,000 trained and deployed. 

KEYS TO SUCCESS:

• UNITY OF COMMAND: Decisions made often and continuously from one source.  The Chief of Police, Daryl Gates was more of a celebraty than leader.  I met with him the first night; his greeting, “General, we don’t need you and we don’t want you.”  I won’t print my response. Sounds a little like the feelings of the Governor Newsome and Mayor Bass. 

• RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DELIBERATE PLANNING AND CRISIS PLANNING. In a crisis, time is the enemy. Think in terms of 24 hours ahead, constantly assess, change rapidly when required and execute in 6-hour cycles.

• DEFINE THE BATTLESPACE AND CREATE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. From what we can see on TV, each day the agitators, looters and rioters gather in mass in designated areas then the military and first responders form up in the streets and it is one big group facing off with another.  While the agitators fill the streets, they form a human barrier behind which the looters can break into and clean out the stores’ valuable merchandise.

The military is currently on defense.  They need to be on the offense and take complete control of the entire battle space. In this type of situation, the only way to do that is to begin with a 24-hour curfew. Why? Two reasons.

First, a 24-hour curfew levels the playing field and provided the military with an opportunity to “organize for action.”

Put a trained and ready team of soldiers on every street corner in the area of operations. They will provide continuous near-100% situational awareness.  Also, organize multiple rapid-reaction elements.  They would consist of a small tactical force mounted in vehicles standing ready to react to a near-by incident in seconds.

When a group begins to gather, they will be told by the two street-corner soldiers to immediately disperse and depart the area respecting the curfew. Most will not comply. A ready reaction force will immediately engage the group and because they are in violation of a lawful curfew they should be taken down, loaded on buses and hauled off to a central processing point. 

The” processing point” will need some special attention.  For example, because, “most of the police are needed on the street” there will be bare-minimum manning for processing. In fact, it should take all night to do so. You get the picture.  Make an example of those who disobey the law and keep them from forming up a large mass looting, destroying property, burning and attempting to harm those who oppose them.

The second advantage of the curfew is that it can be extended on a daily basis if necessary. Also, the curfew involves every person in the community.  Everything is stood down.  Everyone wanting/needing to get back to work will be creating pressure on the city leadership and by extension on the riot organizers to stand down.

• LEARN FROM THE PAST: Define what we are seeing on TV every day. Looks a lot like the “summer of love,” 2020, when across the nation rioters were battling law enforcement as Black Lives Matter, antifa leftist organizations and other agitator groups were gathering in the streets in cities across the nation night after night to loot, burn and attempt to harm first responders.  100 days.

BOTTOM LINE:

2025 is looking like deju vu all over again.  We should do better. We can do better.

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of two books, Vision to Execution and Fix the Systems, Transform America as well as the author of a blog, WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.