Politics and views in the United States.

Military deployments in L.A. spark debates over federal overreach, with echoes of Kent State. Protests seem to be spreading, and critics warn that Medicaid cuts could shutter rural hospitals.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

All you hear is rhetoric about ICE being racist, and ICE being Nazis and terrorists, and Governor Newsom feeds that.

Borders are Tom Homan is defending immigration enforcement and the White House decision to deploy thousands of National Guard troops and active duty Marines to Los Angeles.

Homan says he has no intention of arresting California Governor Gavin Newsom after he and President Donald Trump floated the idea.

Newsom accuses the administration of intentionally provoking demonstrations with a heavy-handed response.

The state is suing for the troops to be withdrawn.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass says the deployments are unjustified.

Those of us in Los Angeles understand that the unrest that has happened are a few blocks within the downtown area.

The visuals make it seem as though our entire city is in flames, and it is not the case at all.

She adds that violence and property damage are unacceptable and will be prosecuted.

The protests have spread to other cities, including Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

Police say they have arrested 350 people nationwide.

Trump has previously said he could use an 1807 wartime emergency law to avoid the ban on deploying the military inside America.

A former Marine in California who asks to go by his first name calls that worrying.

Hart says they're armed and trained for war, not civilian law enforcement.

Marines are trained to use lethal force.

Policing does come with a risk.

Innocent people could get in the way.

There's no indication that they're not going to get struck.

I mean, it is a very dangerous situation.

A museum director at Kent State compares it to 1970, when four students at an anti-war protest were killed by the National Guard.

Allison Kaplan heads the May 4 Visitor Center at the University in Ohio.

We encourage people to explore our website and visit the museum to learn more and make their own connections.

The administration has tried to use a different wartime law to deport nearly 140 Venezuelans to El Salvador.

Federal courts have ruled the migrants have to be granted due process, but the Department of Justice is asking an appeals court to pause that ruling.

Senate Republicans say they have adjusted the huge budget and policy bill enough to avoid a filibuster.

Removing provisions not related to taxes and spending.

Meanwhile, new projections from the Congressional Budget Office say cuts in the bill could push 16 million people off of Medicaid, including 140,000 in Colorado.

Josh Bivens with the Economic Policy Institute warns that would devastate the state's rural hospitals.

Lots of them are going to be forced out of business and there's going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties.

Republicans say the $700 billion in cuts would target fraud and waste without reducing coverage.

Cuts point out that would go to extend tax breaks for the wealthy.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.