In Washington, the current political climate is witnessing President Donald Trump’s assertive endeavor to implement stringent immigration laws and ensure order, as he previously promised during his campaign for the presidency. This approach is visibly unfolding in the city of Los Angeles.
In response to the escalating protests against his administration’s immigration tactics, Trump has deployed hundreds of National Guard soldiers to the streets. This deployment has sparked controversy, with state and city representatives expressing concern that it could heighten tensions. Despite objections from Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, Trump has called upon the California National Guard, marking the first presidential invocation of this kind in six decades, and has also orchestrated the arrival of active-duty troops to reinforce the National Guard.
By effectively bypassing Newsom’s authority, Trump is charting an unprecedented path that extends beyond his 2020 stance during the Black Lives Matter protests, where he had remarked that he couldn’t call in the National Guard without a governor’s request. Now, however, Trump has demonstrated a swift and forceful resolve to test the boundaries of his executive power as he moves towards achieving his goal of widespread deportations. The success of this initiative will depend on the American public’s reaction once it gains momentum nationwide, as Trump is simultaneously seeking substantial funding from Congress to expand the country’s detention and deportation systems. As it currently stands, Trump appears confident that Americans will support his actions.
President Trump, in addressing the situation, stated, “If we didn’t do the job, that place would be burning down,” emphasizing his belief that federal intervention was necessary to manage the situation in California. He justified his controversial actions by suggesting that inaction could lead to chaos reminiscent of previous national disturbances.
The protests erupted last Friday following federal authorities’ arrest of immigrants in various parts of Los Angeles, such as the fashion district and Home Depot. The discontent quickly spread beyond California to cities like Chicago and Boston, with protests enduring in southern California at the start of the week. In response, Trump and his officials continued to lean into the narrative of maintaining law and order, leveraging images of violent protest imagery to strengthen their position.
California’s government has responded with defiance. State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the troop deployment undermined state sovereignty and seeking a court order to halt it. The initial deployment of 300 National Guard personnel could potentially escalate to the authorized 4,000 soldiers requested by Trump. Similarly, Senator Alex Padilla criticized the president’s intervention, labeling it as a crisis of Trump’s making and argued that the introduction of military presence only served to aggravate the situation. He also highlighted that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was uninformed before the federalization of the National Guard took place, bringing into question the clarity of the operation’s mission as understood by the Pentagon.
This development was not unforeseen. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump had vowed to undertake the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, echoing the military-style raids of President Eisenhower’s era. His plan aimed at aggressively utilizing federal power to cement his comprehensive immigration and public safety objectives. The swiftness of troop deployment in California, with individuals referred to as “insurrectionists” by Trump on social media, starkly contrasts with his inaction during the U.S. Capitol’s insurrection in January 2021, an event where Trump maintained that he had suggested deploying troops despite substantial evidence to the contrary.
Trump is now surrounded by advisors less inclined to limit his authority, a significant departure from 2020 when Trump faced criticism from his Pentagon chief for proposing to invoke the Insurrection Act. The current Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, communicated on social media his endorsement of deploying troops, emphasizing a united front with ICE. The Defense Department announced on Monday the positioning of approximately 700 active-duty Marines to bolster the forces in Los Angeles addressing the protests.
The tensions escalated following protestors blocking freeways and damaging automobiles, prompting police to use crowd control measures. Trump’s decision to activate the California National Guard came after sustained clashes in Los Angeles, despite assurances from Newsom and local officials that the situation was under control. In defense of his directive, Trump criticized Newsom’s management of the unrest, accusing him and his team of fostering anti-ICE sentiment and failing to quickly declare the situation as unlawful assembly.
Critics from Trump’s own camp, like Ileana Garcia who spearheaded Latinas for Trump in 2016, have expressed disapproval, calling the administration’s actions “unacceptable and inhumane.” Highlighting a departure from a strategy focused solely on criminal aliens, Garcia cited concerns that current measures indiscriminately target individuals complying with legal proceedings and those contesting their deportation due to credible fear.
The evolving situation appears to be a prelude to potential future actions, particularly given the Republican-led Congress’s ongoing efforts to push through a comprehensive package addressing taxes and border security. This initiative, championed by Trump, seeks extensive financial resources to augment the workforce of Border Patrol and ICE and aims for the deportation of a million immigrants annually, alongside housing substantial numbers in detention facilities.