
Could Canada really become the US's 51st state?
Canada's relationship with the United States is back in the spotlight after US President Donald Trump suggested that Canada could be annexed as the 51st American state. The comment has sparked political backlash and heightened tensions on both sides of the border.
So is this threat of annexation credible?
This week in UpFront, Redi Tlhabi speaks with Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae.

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How the Los Angeles protests unfolded: A visual guide
Parts of downtown Los Angeles were under a nighttime curfew on Tuesday after LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency to 'stop the vandalism' and 'to stop the looting'. The protests began on Friday after United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities conducted a series of immigration raids across the city. The next day, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to LA without California Governor Gavin Newsom's consent. Trump ordered the deployment of 700 Marines and an additional 2,000 National Guard forces on Monday. This provoked an ongoing battle between state and federal authorities, with Newsom calling Trump's order a 'blatant abuse of power' and Mayor Bass describing the deployment as an 'intentional effort to sow chaos'. On the federal side, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem referred to Los Angeles as a 'city of criminals' and accused local officials of inaction. Morning: ICE conducted coordinated raids across LA, targeting a Home Depot, garment factories, warehouses and street vendor locations. At least 44 individuals were arrested for 'immigration violations'. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said they included gang members and criminals. The raids quickly triggered protests and demonstrations blocked entrances and exits for the Edward R Roybal Federal Building in Downtown LA, where the detainees were being David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest and most influential labour unions in the country, was arrested outside a garment warehouse where protesters had gathered to oppose an immigration raid. Huerta was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Downtown LA, where protesters assembled in solidarity. Evening: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) declared the area an unlawful assembly, deployed tear gas, issued tactical alerts and made several arrests. Morning: The next morning, reports emerged of more immigration raids, this time outside a Home Depot store in Paramount, about 26km (16 miles) southeast of downtown LA, where day labourers often gather in hopes of being hired for short-term jobs. There, protesters clashed with security forces, who used tear gas and flashbang grenades to disperse the crowd. Afternoon: The protests escalated as demonstrators blocked streets, threw stones and set a vehicle on fire. The LA County Sheriff declares the gathering an unlawful assembly and uses tear gas to disperse the President Trump orders at least 2,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to Los Angeles, federalising them under Title 10 of the US Code, which allows the federal government to mobilise National Guard units without the consent of state governors. It marked the first time since 1965 that a president had deployed National Guard troops to a state without a governor's request. Morning: About 300 National Guard troops arrive in downtown LA, Paramount, and neighbouring Compton to secure federal sites, prompting anger and fear among many residents. On the most intense day of demonstrations so far, thousands of protesters gathered in downtown LA near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where they were met by National Guard troops deployed to support immigration officials. Afternoon: Large crowds march from City Hall to the Federal Detention Center. The LAPD once again issues dispersal orders and begins arrests. Protesters briefly block sections of the 101 Freeway, disrupting one of Los Angeles' busiest highways. Some demonstrators also set fire to several self-driving cars, escalating tensions further. In response, authorities deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbang grenades to disperse the crowd. Morning: After a relatively calm night, the fourth day begins with renewed ICE raids targeting workplaces across Southern California, including in suburban areas like Santa Ana and Paramount. Thousands gather for a large rally at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, organised by the SEIU. The demonstration, joined by local officials and members of Congress, calls for an end to the raids, the immediate release of the SEIU's Huerta, and the withdrawal of National Guard troops from the city. Huerta is later released on a $50,000 bond. Afternoon: The state of California files a lawsuit against President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, arguing that the Title 10 deployment of National Guard troops unlawfully oversteps state sovereignty. Trump doubles the number of National Guard troops from 2,000 to 4,000, while also deploying 700 Marines in a domestic deployment not seen in decades. Evening: Protests continue around the federal building, with a mix of peaceful rallies and sporadic clashes with police. Authorities deploy tear gas and rubber bullets, and hundreds of arrests are reported throughout the day. The protests entered their fifth day, with demonstrations remaining mixed, many peaceful, while others involved vandalism, looting, rock throwing and the use of crowd-control measures. Newsom and Bass continued to condemn the military presence as illegal and damaging, warning it tarnishes the city's image as it prepares for major events like the 2028 Olympics and the World Cup. A Pentagon official estimated that the deployment of Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles will cost about $134m. Despite mounting criticism, President Donald Trump doubles down on his decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines to confront protesters in Los Angeles. Mayor Bass announces a curfew for a portion of the downtown area, effective from 8pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday. The curfew covers an area of approximately 20sq km (7.7sq miles). The state of California has the largest Latino or Hispanic population of any US state, both in total numbers and as a share of its population, with nearly half of its residents identifying as such in the 2024 Census. Los Angeles is the United States's second-largest city, after New York City, with a population of some 3.8 million residents within its city limits. The city is home to more than 1.35 million migrants, which means that one in every three residents is a migrant, according to the LA city government in Angeles is one of many self-claimed sanctuary cities across the US, which limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, particularly US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to protect undocumented citizens from detention and deportation. Sanctuary laws differ from place to place. Some ban asking about immigration status, while others only refuse to hold people on ICE detainers. Being in a sanctuary city or state does not mean someone is safe from deportation. ICE can still operate and arrest people in sanctuary jurisdictions. The most recent protests in LA are part of a series of continuing demonstrations by civil society and various groups opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to the detention and deportation of community members. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), an organisation that tracks political violence and protests worldwide, at least 2,112 demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have occurred since January 2025. These protests are shown on the map below.


Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
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Is Trump right about a ‘migrant invasion' in Los Angeles? What facts say
US President Donald Trump has claimed that a 'migrant invasion' has taken over Los Angeles, in a bid to justify migrant arrests during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids since June 6. Others in his administration have echoed that rationale, after the raids triggered ongoing protests and Trump called the National Guard and Marines into the city to quell unrest, clashing with California Governor Gavin Newsom. But how accurate are these claims of an invasion by undocumented migrants? 'A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on June 8. Trump added that he is ordering his administration officials to 'take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots'. Three days later, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote in an X post: 'America was invaded by illegal aliens. Americans voted to end the invasion. Democrat rioters are now waging violent insurrection to overturn the election result and continue the invasion.' America was invaded by illegal aliens. Americans voted to end the invasion. Democrat rioters are now waging violent insurrection to overturn the election result and continue the invasion. — Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 10, 2025Miller shared an image from the Los Angeles riots, showing a rioter waving a Mexican flag. Miller wrote 'According to Governor Newsom, this is what the Founders were fighting for'. According to Governor Newsom, this is what the Founders were fighting for: — Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 11, 2025 No. In fact, the opposite is true. Data from the US Office of Homeland Security Statistics shows that the number of undocumented migrants has fallen significantly since 2010. In 2010, the population of undocumented immigrants in California was estimated to be 2.9 million. The population has dropped almost every year since then, and as of 2022, it was estimated to be 2.6 million. That trend is also pronounced among Mexican undocumented migrants, a principal target of the ongoing ICE raids. In recent years, a number of undocumented migrants from Mexico have also left the US to return to Mexico, research from the Center for Migration Studies of New York shows, based on US Census data. Between 2010 and 2018, 2.6 million Mexican nationals left the US undocumented population. While many were deported, 45 percent of people left voluntarily. In California, the number of undocumented migrants from Mexico declined by 605,000 between 2010 and 2018. While the Trump administration has been trying to encourage undocumented migrants to self-deport – even offering a $1000 cash award – the trend of Mexicans leaving the US to return to their home country long predates not just his current term, but even his first term. The voluntary return of Mexican immigrants began after the Great Recession, which was a period of significant economic downturn and financial crisis between 2007 and 2009, Anne Pebley, social demographer and professor of community health sciences at UCLA, found while researching immigration from Mexico and Central America. Pebley co-authored a research article with these findings, published in February 2023, alongside academics across the US. This voluntary return of Mexican migrants back then was due to there being better financial opportunities in Mexico. For the same reason, the arrival of undocumented migrants coming into the US also declined in the wake of the recession, Pebley was quoted as saying in a news release published on the UCLA website. Pebley added that since the Great Recession, greater economic stability in Mexico combined with worsening employment opportunities in the US seem to be the main motivating factor behind the voluntary return of Mexican migrants, albeit increasing anti-immigrant notions and laws over the last two decades may have contributed to their continued return. No. In fact, violent crime in the state dropped by 4.6 percent while property crime dropped by 8.5 percent in the state in 2024, compared with 2023, according to an analysis of Real Time Crime Index data by the Public Policy Institute of California. The data showed that in California, robberies, aggravated assaults, vehicle theft, burglary and larceny have decreased. Multiple studies have shown that migrants are consistently less likely to be imprisoned than people born in the US. One such research paper, published in July 2023, analysed 150 years of US Census data and used imprisonment rates as a proxy for crime. The economists found that in more recent years, migrants are 60 percent less likely to be jailed than citizens born in the US. Since the 1990s, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has carried out annual surveys of state residents on their perceptions of whether migrants bring benefits to the state – or whether they are a burden. The last survey was carried out by the PPIC in February 2024. Based on this, 60 percent of the state residents believed that migrants were a benefit to the state. However, the percentage of Californians who hold a favourable view about migrants has fallen in recent years. According to the survey PPIC carried out in 2023, 66 percent of Californians believed migrants were a benefit. In 2021, 78 percent of Californians held this view. On Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) imposed a curfew in the city's downtown and announced that they would carry out 'mass arrests' if people gathered in the designated curfew area. The curfew lasted until 6am (13:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Trump, meanwhile, claimed he would 'liberate' Los Angeles from 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy' – without specifying what he meant. A day earlier, the Trump administration deployed 700 Marines in LA and doubled the number of National Guard soldiers in the city to 4,000. The protests continue to deepen the rift between the Republican Trump administration and the Democratic state government. In an address on Tuesday, Governor Newsom called Trump's use of military power a 'brazen abuse of power'. 'He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder, and the president – he did it on purpose,' said Newsom. On Monday, the California governor announced that he had filed a lawsuit against Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'to end the illegal takeover' of the National Guard. On June 7, Trump federalised the National Guard, marking the first time in 60 years that a US president has activated the guard in defiance of a state governor's wishes.