The commander-in-chief, who is responsible for the troops deployed in Los Angeles to respond to protests over immigration attacks, asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses whether 200 of them could return to the wildfire struggle, two U.S. officials told the Associated Press on Monday.
President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of around 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 active-duty Marines in early June, in response to a string of protests over immigration and customs enforcement raids in Los Angeles.
The domestic deployment of federal forces raised several legal issues, including whether the administration would seek to adopt emergency powers under the Rebel Act. Empowering these troops to enforce law enforcement in US soil. However, the Marines are primarily assigned to protect federal buildings.
Rebellion laws are not used. However, in at least one situation, Marines are temporarily detaining a Los Angeles civilian.
California is just entering its peak wildfire season, and Newsom warns that security guards are understaffed due to the Los Angeles protests.
General Gregory Guillott, the commander-in-chief of these units, recently submitted to Hegses to return the 200 National Guard forces, a California State Guard wildfire unit, to the joint task force rattlesnake, officials said.
Authorities spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not yet been made public.
Trump claims there was “invasion” by immigrants entering the country without legal permission. At the height of the development, some members of Congress questioned the forecast that would extend the nationwide deployment during an annual budget hearing with their secretaries. Hegseth did not provide a direct response.
At the time, Senator General Dan Kane told lawmakers, “We don’t see any invasions of foreign countries sponsoring people, but we’ll keep in mind the fact that there are some border issues.”
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