US President Donald Trump has authorised the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 active-duty US Marines to Los Angeles, intensifying the federal response to ongoing protests against immigration raids across the city.
The Pentagon confirmed the unprecedented move on Monday evening, marking the fourth consecutive day of demonstrations sparked by widespread Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations targeting undocumented residents.
The mobilisation — highly unusual for domestic law enforcement — has drawn fierce backlash, particularly from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who branded the president “deranged” and “dictatorial”. The governor accused Trump of violating the US Constitution by dispatching federal forces without first obtaining state approval, and pledged legal action in response.
Posting on X, Newsom said: “US Marines shouldn’t be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfil the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president. This is un-American.”
The deployment has escalated tensions in Los Angeles, where protesters have been met with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and other non-lethal weapons. Demonstrations began on Friday in downtown LA, after reports emerged of ICE agents conducting raids across the city.
LA Mayor Karen Bass criticised the president’s actions, accusing him of “causing chaos” while ICE continues its operations. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon, however, called for her arrest, further inflaming the political rhetoric surrounding the crisis.
President Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, vowed that protesters would be “hit harder” than ever, defending the military deployment as a necessary measure to maintain order.
New rallies against the raids and the federal government’s response have since broken out across major US cities, with civil rights groups warning of a dangerous precedent being set for military involvement in civilian affairs.
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