The Pentagon announced late Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration is dispatching an additional 2,000 California Army National Guard members to the Los Angeles area under federal command.
This new wave of troops comes even as protests against federal immigration enforcement across the city appear to be waning.
A representative from the Los Angeles Police Department stated on Wednesday that no arrests related to the protests have occurred since Saturday night.
This latest military deployment raises the total number of federal troops in the Los Angeles area to 4,800, composed of 700 U.S. Marines and 4,100 members of the California Army National Guard.
According to U.S. Northern Command, the troops will “support the protection of federal functions, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area,” as outlined in a statement.
During a Senate hearing on Wednesday in Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the actions taken by federal troops in Los Angeles.
Hegseth emphasized that the marines and National Guard units have displayed “the utmost professionalism” in safeguarding federal agents during their deployment, as noted in a discussion before the Armed Services Committee.
When queried about whether he would adhere to a court ruling deeming the troop deployment to U.S. cities illegal, Hegseth responded, “I don’t believe district courts should be determining national security policy.”
He later added, “If the Supreme Court rules on a topic, we will abide by that,” as he addressed further inquiries.
Hegseth also justified the administration’s troop activation in Los Angeles, asserting that Trump “had all the authorities, and the Defense Department happily supported, defending our ICE agents in the conduct of their job.”
However, he refrained from responding directly to Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., when repeatedly asked if he would endorse deploying troops to more U.S. cities. “It’s a complete hypothetical lacking any context at all,” he stated.
This unprecedented mobilization follows earlier deployments by the Trump administration, which sent thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to respond to rising tensions between demonstrators and law enforcement in Los Angeles.
The deployment has faced significant pushback from California Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic state leaders, who had not requested additional troops, a step that typically precedes federal military action.
The legal ramifications of these deployments have set off a contentious dispute between the state of California and the Trump administration. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard arguments regarding the legality of the federal government’s deployment strategy and seemed poised to favor Trump’s position in the ongoing conflict, according to reports from POLITICO.
This latest troop addition occurs as the protests—initially sparked by opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies—have begun to subside.
In her remarks on Tuesday, Mayor Bass noted that “the curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, have been largely successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential communities from bad actors who do not care about the immigrant community,” emphasizing the rationale behind the deployment and curfew measures.
