How an ex-US Marine became vital in the fight against Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement
Source: The Guardian
How an ex-US Marine became vital in the fight against Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement
When Trump began deploying troops to US cities, Janessa Goldbeck’s Vet Voice Foundation was ready – now they’re preparing for what may be next
David Smith in Washington
Fri 26 Dec 2025 12.00 GMT
Last modified on Fri 26 Dec 2025 12.06 GMT
Whatever the worst case scenario, Janessa Goldbeck has probably imagined it. In 2023 the US Marine veteran consulted on a documentary that war-gamed a presidential candidate staging a military coup. Last year she advised local leaders on the hypothetical of troops being deployed to their streets for immigration enforcement.
Then Donald Trump won and Goldbeck’s nightmare came true.
“It’s a little surreal to see something that we’ve been talking about and thinking about and stressing out about,” the chief executive of Vet Voice Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy organisation, says via Zoom from her home in San Diego, California. “When we first did War Game, the film, some folks would ask during our press tour, ‘Do you think you’re scaring people? This feels a little hyperbolic?’ It doesn’t feel good to say I told you so in this moment.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has sought to politicise the military like no other commander-in-chief before him and use it as a cudgel against Democratic-led states and cities. He has deployed thousands of national guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans and Washington DC, triggering protests from local officials and residents.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/26/janessa-goldbeck-vet-voice-foundation-trump
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