United States President National Guard has ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, California, amid ongoing protests and clashes between demonstrators and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The White House stated that Trump is deploying the guardsmen to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester” in the city.
The decision comes after a second day of protests and clashes in Los Angeles, where ICE agents conducted immigration raids and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. Protesters gathered outside a federal detention center, chanting “Set them free, let them stay!” and holding signs with anti-ICE slogans. Some protesters also scrawled graffiti on the building.
During Saturday’s protests, security personnel in riot gear confronted hundreds of protesters in the Paramount area of southeast Los Angeles, deploying tear gas on a street strewn with overturned shopping carts. Some protesters waved Mexican flags and hurled rocks, bottles, and fireworks at security forces, while a car was set ablaze.
California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized Trump’s decision, calling it “purposefully inflammatory”. Newsom stated that Trump is deploying the National Guard “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle”. He urged citizens to “never use violence” and to “speak out peacefully”.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday to “bring order” and “enforce the law”. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that the Pentagon is prepared to mobilize active-duty troops “if violence continues” in Los Angeles, with Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton on “high alert”.
The deployment has raised legal questions, with civil and human rights attorney Robert Patillo describing it as “unprecedented” in recent history. Patillo argued that using soldiers as law enforcement poses a “grave danger” to the people in the area and is detrimental to the US’s constitutional norms.
The immigration crackdown is part of Trump’s pledge to deport record numbers of people in the country without documentation and lock down the US-Mexico border. The White House has set a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day. However, people living in the country legally, including some with permanent residence, have also been caught up in the sweeping immigration crackdown, leading to legal challenges.