National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles early Sunday under the direct orders of US President Donald Trump, marking an extraordinary move to assert federal authority amid escalating protests against immigration raids and triggering fierce political and legal pushback.Trump deployed 2,000 troops from the California National Guard without Governor Gavin Newsom’s request, the first such action since 1965, according to the New York Times. That year, President Lyndon B. Johnson federalised the Guard to protect civil rights marchers in Alabama.“This move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions,” Newsom said, calling the order a misuse of military power that erodes public trust. He later warned on X, “Federal authorities want a spectacle. Don’t give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully.”As per news agency AFP, helmeted troops carrying long guns and travelling in armoured vehicles were seen in Compton and downtown Los Angeles, areas where protests had intensified after federal immigration agents carried out sweeping raids, arresting over 100 people in majority-Latino neighbourhoods.Confrontations broke out in Paramount and Compton on Friday and Saturday, with federal officers firing tear gas and flash-bang grenades at demonstrators. In Compton, a protester holding a Mexican flag stood in front of a burnt-out car spray-painted with anti-ICE slogans.The unrest prompted US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem to defend the action, telling CBS’ Face the Nation, “The National Guard are specifically trained for this type of crowd situation.” Meanwhile, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth warned that active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton were on high alert and could be deployed if violence escalated.Trump justified the federal activation of the Guard under Title 10, USC 12406, which allows such deployment if there is a “rebellion” against federal authority. “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion,” his directive stated.But critics see the move as an overreach. “For the federal government to take over the California National Guard, without the request of the governor, to put down protests is truly chilling,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, as quoted by The New York Times.California Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, speaking on CNN, accused the administration of targeting peaceful protests. “We are having an administration that’s targeting peaceful protests… The president is sending the National Guard because he doesn’t like the scenes.”Republican leaders backed Trump’s actions. House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed concerns on ABC’s This Week, saying Newsom had shown “an inability or unwillingness to do what is necessary.” He added that the potential deployment of Marines was not “heavy-handed.”The deployment drew comparisons to Trump’s handling of protests during his first term. In 2020, military helicopters were used to disperse demonstrators in Washington, DC, protesting police violence.As per news agency AP, protests continued late into Sunday evening outside federal buildings and near the Metropolitan Detention Centre. Police declared unlawful assemblies in some areas and made arrests, while authorities in Paramount erected barbed wire to prevent crowd surges.Fernando Delgado, a 24-year-old protester, was quoted by AFP as saying, “These are injustices. Those detained are human beings just like any.”Senator Bernie Sanders posted on X, “Conduct massive illegal raids. Provoke a counter-response. Declare a state of emergency. Call in the troops… Unacceptable.”Despite the backlash, a CBS News poll conducted prior to the unrest showed that a slight majority of Americans still supported Trump’s immigration crackdown.
