On Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m., Congressman John Garamendi held a town hall on Zoom. During the discussion, questions arose about ICE, his opinions on the Trump administration, and a question from The Solano Pulse regarding if Travis Airforce Base will become a detention facility.
John Garamendi is a lifelong Californian and has been representing California in congress since 2009. Before his time in Congress, he was elected to the California State Legislature, served as the California Insurance Commissioner and was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Interior in the Clinton administration.
He represents the 8th congressional district, which covers most of Contra Costa and Solano County, including Solano Community College and Travis Air Force Base.
The meeting was introduced by a member of his staff, who reported they had an “enormous turnout,” later confirmed by Garamendi to be more than 1,200 people.
Garamendi appeared on screen, behind him a dark blue wall on which hung the House of Representatives Seal in the upper right corner, slightly cut out of frame. He started by talking for a couple minutes about issues such as Healthcare, ICE, high cost of living and the growing concern of an authoritarian government.
“We are living in an extraordinarily dangerous and concerning time in the history of this nation. We have a president that is seeking to become a tyrant,” said Garamendi.
Near the end of the event, The Solano Pulse asked if Trump was able to make Travis Airforce Base into a detention facility.
The Congressman staunchly said, “Hell no.”
He explained that a couple months ago, Travis Airforce Base was notified that they were being reviewed and surveyed for the creation of a detention center.
As soon as the base was notified, so was Garamendi, and with his seniority on the Armed Services Committee, he shut it down immediately.
“The Department of Homeland Security… they simply gave up. And I continue to watch this all the time and no, there will be no facilities, ICE facilities at Travis. So, there you have it.”
While considering recent actions by the executive branch overreaching its power, it’s not out of the question that the Commander In Chief of the military might try it anyway.
Throughout the whole meeting he was condemning Trump at every possibility, even outwardly comparing him to Hitler.
“This entire system is modeled after the Nazi system in Germany in the 1930s. […] Authoritarian governments create a domestic police force to terrorize and subjugate the citizens, and cower them into obedience.”
In an early question, he was asked about personal rights if a community member is stopped by ICE. He asked his staff member to put a link in the chat about individuals rights, and then said this about protesting ICE:
“I would be very, very deferential to all police. Don’t challenge them, […] They’re just plain looking for trouble, and quite happy to bust your window and grab you and throw you on the ground. So be very, very deferential. […] be courteous […] Maybe just something short of obedience, but don’t bad mouth them. Don’t argue back.”
When asked for other ways to fight back, he encouraged contacting your local representatives. He said he has gotten upwards of 10,000 correspondence from his constituents voicing their opinions, and that representatives pay attention to direct correspondence.
“I will tell you, we keep track of the incoming calls. We keep track of the letters that we received, emails and the like, and they’re numbered in the tens of thousands. And I know the other members, Democratic, Republican, do also. That will have an effect.”
Overall, there was a lot of concern from constituents about the legitimacy of the Presidential branch, and the safety of American citizens.
The full recording of the Town Hall can be seen on Representative Garamendi’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ELuRV7X8k
