Tensions Soar in LA as Trump Deploys National Guard Over Immigration Protests
President Trump has deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles following three days of unrest triggered by federal immigration raids. The deployment of the National Guard, which California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned as “unlawful” and “purposefully inflammatory,” comes amid protests across the city, with crowds clashing with law enforcement and chanting against ICE operations. Demonstrators lit Waymo self-driving cars on fire, blocked the 101 Freeway, and gathered outside federal buildings, prompting police to declare multiple rallies “unlawful assemblies”.
The Trump administration claims the troops are there to protect federal buildings and officers from what it called “violent mobs” attacking ICE agents, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Marines at Camp Pendleton are on “high alert” if things escalate. Trump, who posted online “They spit, we hit,” has not yet invoked the Insurrection Act but says it’s on the table. His critics, including Mayor Karen Bass, say the administration is manufacturing chaos. "I don't want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily," she said.
Meanwhile, ICE operations have detained over 100 people in the past week, with some immigrants hiding in local businesses out of fear. Community leaders accuse Trump of using the raids to stir conflict. “These are workers. These are fathers. These are mothers. And this has to stop,” said Angelica Salas from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. As LA braces for more protests, Governor Newsom said he would sue over the deployment, calling Trump's actions “those of a dictator, not a president.”
