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National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles early Sunday following President Donald Trump's unprecedented decision to federally deploy state military forces against California officials' wishes, marking the first such action without gubernatorial consent since 1965.
The deployment comes after two days of confrontations between federal immigration agents and protesters opposing enforcement raids in the nation's second-largest city. Helmeted troops carrying automatic weapons and camouflaged vehicles were visible in the Compton neighborhood Sunday morning, hours before organizers planned a "mass mobilization" at City Hall.
Trump signed a memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Saturday, according to the White House. The action followed clashes during which federal agents used flash-bang grenades and tear gas against crowds protesting the arrests of dozens of migrants in a city with a substantial Latino population.
California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the deployment as "purposefully inflammatory," while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened Saturday to send active-duty Marines in addition to Guard forces. Newsom called Hegseth's threat "deranged" and urged protesters on social media: "Federal authorities want a spectacle. Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully."
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the administration's actions on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, saying Newsom "has shown an inability or unwillingness to do what is necessary there, so the president stepped in." When asked about deploying Marines, Johnson said he did not consider it "heavy-handed," adding, "We have to be prepared to do what is necessary."
Democratic Representative Nanette Barragan of California disputed characterizations of the protests as violent, telling CNN Sunday that "this is not what's happening." She accused the administration of "targeting peaceful protests" and said Trump deployed the Guard "because he doesn't like the scenes."
The unrest began Friday when masked immigration agents conducted high-profile workplace raids across Los Angeles, drawing angry crowds and triggering hours-long standoffs. An AFP photographer documented overnight clashes featuring fires and fireworks, while a protester holding a Mexican flag stood before a burned vehicle marked with anti-ICE slogans.
"It's up to us to stand up for our people," said one Los Angeles resident whose parents are immigrants, declining to provide her name as emergency vehicles operated nearby.
Fernando Delgado, 24, called the raids "injustices," saying those detained were "human beings just like any." Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders characterized the situation as demonstrating "Trump's authoritarianism in real time," writing on social media: "Conduct massive illegal raids. Provoke a counter-response. Declare a state of emergency. Call in the troops. Unacceptable."
Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, noted on social media that this marked the first presidential National Guard deployment without state consent since 1965, accusing Trump of "creating a spectacle so he can continue his immigration raids."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS' "Face the Nation" that Guard troops are "specifically trained for this type of crowd situation," though she declined to specify deployment locations within the city.
The Los Angeles protests represent the largest sustained resistance to Trump's immigration enforcement policies since he took office in January. The president has promised aggressive action against undocumented migrants, whom he has described as "monsters" and "animals." While ICE raids in other cities have sparked smaller demonstrations, the Los Angeles unrest marks the most significant challenge to the administration's approach.
A CBS News poll conducted before the protests showed a slight majority of Americans still supported the immigration crackdown.
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