LOS ANGELES (BN24) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will begin withdrawing 2,000 National Guard troops from Los Angeles, weeks after they were dispatched to help federal agents respond to protests against immigration raids.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the decision in a statement but did not specify how long the remaining forces would remain in Southern California. About 4,000 California National Guard members and 700 active-duty Marines were originally mobilized in early June under orders from President Donald Trump. Their mission was to protect federal buildings and assist immigration authorities carrying out arrests.
The deployment, which was expected to last 60 days, quickly drew criticism from California’s Democratic leadership. Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit to block the deployment, arguing Trump had overstepped his authority by sending troops over the state’s objections. While a district judge initially ruled the president acted unlawfully, a federal appeals court allowed the deployment to continue while the case proceeds.
Newsom sharply criticized the operation as a political stunt, accusing Trump of using National Guard members as “pawns.”
“While nearly 2,000 of them are starting to demobilize, the remaining guardsmen continue without a mission, without direction, and without any hopes of returning to help their communities,” Newsom said in a statement. “We call on Trump and the Department of Defense to end this theater and send everyone home now.”
The protests that triggered the deployment erupted across Los Angeles and surrounding cities after immigration enforcement raids led to hundreds of arrests. Demonstrators accused federal agents of targeting immigrant communities and called for an end to the sweeps.
It remains unclear how soon the remainder of the troops and Marines will depart the region.
