National guard troops sent by Trump arrive in LA following protests against immigration raids – US politics live | US news
National guard troops arrive in LA
National guard troops have arrived in Los Angeles, according to footage broadcast by news network ABC7.
The video showed troops in the downtown area of the city, ahead of an expected demonstration near City Hall.
They were also seen making their way through the Paramount area of LA, near Alondra and Orange.
Key events
Immigration officers could be in California for a month, a Democrat congresswoman has been told.
Nanette Barragán, who has Paramount in her constituency, said she has been told to prepare for a large presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“We’ve been told to get ready for 30 days of enforcement. Thirty days of ICE enforcement,” Barragán told CNN’s Dana Bash today, adding that the presence of national guardsmen is “going to escalate the situation.”
“We haven’t asked for the help. We don’t need the help. This is [President Trump] escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It’s only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement,” she said.
She joined the calls for calm – but said protests on Saturday night were peaceful. She said: “Last night, when I talked to the sheriff, he had told me the situation in Paramount was under control, the people that were peacefully protest have left.
“The situation was now across the street into the Compton area and this was the unruly folks – that Saturday night crowd – the people that were there to actually protest immigration were gone.
“We agree that if you’re being violent, you should be arrested, you should be prosecuted.”
President Trump is expected to meet senior members of his administration today at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
“The White House has organized what will become a regular off campus retreat of principals attended by the President and vice-president,” a White House official told CNN.
They’ll meet on a number of issues and topics, the official said.
Attendees are expected to include vice-president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and secretary of defense Pete Hegseth, according to another person familiar with the meeting.
Trump is expected to stay at Camp David tonight and return to the White House tomorrow, according to the White House official.
As Los Angeles wakes up, people in the city will be waiting to see if a third day of protests gets underway.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities on Friday, including in LA’s fashion district and at a Home Depot, as more than 100 people have been arrested in the city in the last week.
A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
The White House announced that Trump would deploy the national guard to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.” Troops have begun to arrive in LA on Sunday morning.
Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post on the social platform X that it was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.” He later said the federal government wants a spectacle and joined calls by the city’s mayor Karen Bass for demonstrations to stay peaceful.
In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, defense secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy the US marines.
Trump’s order came after clashes in Paramount and nearby Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.
Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention centre, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
Here’s a video of events yesterday, during the second day of protests in Los Angeles sparked by an immigration crackdown on Friday.
Protesters and authorities face off for second day in LA over Ice raids – video
National guard troops arrive in LA
National guard troops have arrived in Los Angeles, according to footage broadcast by news network ABC7.
The video showed troops in the downtown area of the city, ahead of an expected demonstration near City Hall.
They were also seen making their way through the Paramount area of LA, near Alondra and Orange.
California’s governor Gavin Newsom has said the potential deployment of US marines would be “deranged”, after it was threatened by the secretary of defence.
“The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior,” Newsom wrote on X.
Earlier Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial and hardline defense secretary, had raised the possibility of deploying US marines onto the streets of the Democrat-run state amid the protests that had erupted in the wake of Ice raids in the state.
You can find more from our report from Edward Helmore and Lauren Gambino at the link below
One person was arrested overnight in connection with the protest in Paramount, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
The New York Times reported two officers had been treated in hospital for injuries and discharged.
It added that one car had been burned and a fire at a local strip mall had been extinguished.
President Trump appears to have used federal law to order the national guard to go to Los Angeles, rather than the 18th century Insurrection Act.
The national guard is a hybrid entity that serves both state and federal interests. Often, it operates under state command and control, using state funding. Sometimes national guard troops will be assigned by their state to serve federal missions, remaining under state command but using federal funding.
The law cited by Trump’s proclamation places national guard troops under federal command.
The law says this can be done under three circumstances: when the US is invaded or in danger of invasion; when there is a rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the US government; or when the president is unable to “execute the laws of the United States”, with regular forces.
But the law also says that orders for those purposes “shall be issued through the governors of the States”. It’s not immediately clear whether the president can activate national guard troops without the order of that state’s governor – especially pertinent given the order has been made despite the objections of California governor Gavin Newsom.
We have a broader explainer available here:
Trump praises national guard, though troops have not arrived
President Trump has praised the efforts of the national guard in calming the protests in Los Angeles, despite the city’s mayor saying troops have yet to arrive.
In a post on his social media platform TruthSocial, Trump said:
Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes and unrest. We have an incompetent Governor (Newscum) and Mayor (Bass) who were, as usual (just look at how they handled the fires, and now their VERY SLOW PERMITTING disaster. Federal permitting is complete!), unable to to handle the task.
These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED. Also, from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why??? Again, thank you to the National Guard for a job well done!”
However just an hour after Trump’s post, Bass tweeted: “I want to thank LAPD and local law enforcement for their work tonight. I also want to thank Gavin Newsom for his support.
“Just to be clear, the National Guard has not been deployed in the City of Los Angeles.”
About 2,000 troops could be deployed to the city in California, after an immigration crackdown led to protests that have run into two days.
The time in LA is approaching 5am, and it is still yet to be seen whether the unrest will run into a third day.
We’ll be bringing you the latest, including the political reaction to the protests and Trump’s decision.