Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is urging calm as protests over aggressive immigration enforcement grow increasingly tense, with demonstrators clashing with security forces following President Trump’s decision to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to the city.
“Deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids is a chaotic escalation.” Bass said in an official statement issued on Sunday. “The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real – it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs, and I urge protestors to remain peaceful.”
Over the weekend, protests erupted across Southern California following mass Immigration Customs and Enforement (ICE) arrests and the federal troop deployment ordered by Trump. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the deployment “unlawful” and asked the White House to rescind the order, warning it would only inflame tensions.
The situation on the ground intensified Friday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested at least 44 people in Paramount, California, about 20 miles from downtown L.A. Federal agents used tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse demonstrators. By Sunday, National Guard troops arrived in the city, leading to further clashes.
According to POLITICO, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said 500 active-duty Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton were placed on “prepare to deploy” orders in case the violence continues. No final order to deploy them has been issued as of yet.
Newsom, in a statement emailed to his Super PAC supporters on Sunday, said the federal move was politically motivated. “They want a spectacle; they want the violence,” he wrote. “This is a president who failed to call up the National Guard when it was actually needed—on January 6—and then pardoned the participants as one of his first acts as president.”
California Rep. Nanette Barragán, who represents Paramount in Congress, echoed Newsom’s criticism during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
“There is no need for the National Guard,” Barragán said. “They have the manpower that they need. So this is really just an escalation of the president coming into California. We haven’t asked for the help. We don’t need the help. This is him escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It’s only gonna make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement.”
Barragán also warned the crackdown may last longer than expected. “We’ve been told to get ready for 30 days of ICE enforcement,” she said. “So, 2,000 troops to be there for that enforcement. It’s a concern.”
On social media Sunday morning, Trump congratulated the National Guard for “calming” unrest in Los Angeles. But Bass quickly clarified that no troops had been deployed to the city at that point.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers said are being denied access to federal detention facilities. Reps. Judy Chu, Gil Cisneros and Derek Tran told POLITICO that they were blocked from entering the Adelanto ICE Processing Center on Sunday.
“We’re standing right outside the gate of Adelanto with the gates locked with a chain,” Chu said. “So they have deliberately stopped us from exercising our legal right to enter and to inspect as members of Congress.”
A coalition of Democratic governors issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s move. “President Trump’s move to deploy California’s National Guard is an alarming abuse of power,” the statement read. “Governors are the commanders in chief of their National Guard, and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous.”
Still, Trump’s decision drew strong support from Republican leaders. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the deployment Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, saying, “Governor Newsom has proven that he makes bad decisions, the president knows that he makes bad decisions and that’s why the president chose the safety of this community over waiting for Governor Newsom to get some sanity.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., also rallied behind Trump in interviews on ABC’s This Week.“Gavin Newsom has shown an inability or an unwillingness to do what is necessary there,” Johnson said. “So the president stepped in. That’s real leadership. And he has the authority and the responsibility to do it.”
Johnson also backed Hegseth’s warning about sending in Marines. “We have to be prepared to do what is necessary, and I think the notice that that might happen might have the deterring effect,” he said.