( CNN ) -- President Obama needs to send U.S. marshals to Southern California . They can protect the Central American women and children whom the federal government has sent out West , with more due to arrive every 72 hours under an immigrant redistribution plan hatched by the Obama administration . The next group of immigrants is expected to arrive on July 7 . The marshals could ensure that nobody interferes with this federal law enforcement operation , as was done last week by angry protesters in Murrieta , California , a small town in southwest Riverside County , about 70 miles north of San Diego . It was there that the Border Patrol had planned to process about 140 women and children who had , just a few hours earlier , arrived on a plane from South Texas . More than 52,000 unaccompanied minors have been caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border since October . I 've written about immigration for 25 years and , from my many visits to the U.S.-Mexico border , and the tours I 've taken with Border Patrol agents in Arizona , Texas and California , I know this much : The war against immigrant smugglers is a battle of wits and a contest of wills . In managing the border children crisis , the Border Patrol recently showed wits . Now , by sending in the marshals , Obama can demonstrate the will . Last week , on the Fourth of July , Border Patrol agents avoided some unpleasant fireworks by outsmarting dozens of those who are against the buses and those who are n't . Both crowds had descended on Murrieta anticipating a repeat of what had happened three days earlier , when the group protesting the arrivals blocked and turned around three Department of Homeland Security buses carrying the women and children . In both protests , Murrieta police officers were on the scene . But during the first one , they were worthless . They should have arrested those protesters who blocked Border Patrol buses and forced them to retreat . They were better during the sequel , and , in fact , arrested a handful of people . While the dueling crowds were facing off in Murrieta , the Border Patrol took a detour from the airport and transported the immigrants to another processing center in San Ysidro , about 15 miles south of San Diego . There will likely be more protests in California over the next few weeks . If things get out of hand , someone could get hurt . That 's why we need U.S. marshals , to prevent that from happening . I should n't have to make federal case out of this , because it already is one . It 's a federal policy that lets these children stay in the United States with relatives . They 're in the custody of a federal agency , in a federal law enforcement vehicle , driven by federal law enforcement officers . It 's the federal government 's job to protect its personnel and the people being transported and to ensure that this operation is not sidetracked by mob rule , even if that means arresting those who get in the way . The images coming out of Murrieta reminded me of another group of protesters intent on defying an order from the federal government : white Southerners in the 1960s . They also terrorized children , African-Americans who sought to attend desegregated public schools , much as the children on the bus were terrorized by the angry mob . It 's not a perfect comparison ; the children on the bus were undocumented immigrants , many of whom might qualify for refugee status if they can show `` credible fear '' of returning to their home countries . The African-American children were U.S. citizens . Still , I was n't the only person in America thinking that we had seen this movie before . `` This green-eyed and blond-with-gray woman who is 74 years old can not believe that 'my fellow citizens ' have n't learned anything over the last 50-plus years , '' wrote one reader . `` I remember college friends who went to Alabama and Mississippi to help register voters , teach people to read , march for civil rights for ALL of us , no matter what color or race or socioeconomic status . Opinion : The right fate for immigrant kids . `` The screaming and hateful people in ( Murrieta ) reminded me of the people who screamed at little black kids walking to schools ( accompanied by law enforcement ) , who treated James Meredith and Autherine Lucy and so many young people horribly . It is so sad that after all these years , so many people have n't gotten a clue about decency and kindness . '' In 1956 , Lucy was the first African-American to attend the University of Alabama . In 1962 , Meredith became the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi . Both students were tormented by classmates . Once Meredith enrolled at Ole Miss , rioting broke out on the Oxford , Mississippi , campus . Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent 500 U.S. marshals to maintain order and protect the civil rights pioneer . By trying to thwart the intent of the federal government , the Murrieta mob seems to want to relive the '60s . Fine . Let 's go back to the '60s . Send in the marshals .
Ruben Navarrette : Obama needs to send U.S. marshals to protect immigrants , especially at border . Federal law enforcement relocation operation met with protests in Murrieta , California . On July 4 , Border Patrol avoided the anti - immigration protesters by moving somewhere else . The faces in Murrieta reminded them of white Southerners blocking desegregation .