Friend,

The United States should not have a secret police force.

Federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service should not be stoking protests and unrest in cities across our country.

For weeks, Portland, OR, has seen demonstrations in favor of removing federal agents from their city. Donald Trump, instead of backing down from calls to remove these forces, is threatening to send agents to more places.

Let me be abundantly clear: I stand in solidarity with the thousands of you who have taken to the streets to demand that our government make meaningful progress in addressing the root causes of police brutality and systemic neglect of communities of color. And Trump needs to remove the federal agents from Portland immediately.

The murder of George Floyd has exposed a crumbling faith in government and mistrust of police that must be addressed immediately -- addressed with substantial, comprehensive reform of our criminal justice system, NOT by “sieging a city” with outside forces that local officials did not ask for.

Here in San Diego, I led the city council in taking swift action to fight discrimination by successfully banning police chokeholds and giving the voters a choice to establish an Independent Police Practices Commission to restore trust between communities and police.

Building trust between communities and law enforcement is just the beginning -- the public should have complete faith in police oversight -- we need to see more police oversight. We need to address the reality that many communities of color have been treated unfairly by police and have nowhere to turn to correct injustice.

The answer is certainly not by forcing secret police into cities -- that's why we're calling on Trump to remove these forces. Add your name to our petition telling Trump to put an end to mobs of secret police. Our broken criminal justice system is a civil rights issue. We need more community policing, more trust between neighborhoods and police, and real, meaningful, criminal justice reform. And as we’ve seen over the past few months, we won't stop until we achieve our plans.

Change will come from these mass mobilizations.

Change will come in numbers.

Let’s tell the Trump Administration to put an end to the mass mobs of secret police.

Sign the petition: Tell President Trump to put an end to mobs of secret police. My commitment to change is unwavering. I’m determined to continue doing the work to create a system that uplifts our communities of color, not a system where secret federal police.

The time is long overdue to create real dignity and respect for our communities.

Let’s keep up the good fight until justice is TRULY served.

-- Georgette Gómez