The Trump administration says it will send 2,000 National Guard to Los Angeles after two days of isolated clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters.
Officials say security guards will support operations related to Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants. Many questions remain unanswered, but here is what we know:
When will the troops arrive?
Officials said the troops had arrived in LA on Saturday night, although it is unclear when the 2,000 staff members will be set up.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses said security guards at X “will be deployed quickly to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles, and if violence continues, active-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.”
What does the National Guard do?
Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s “border emperor,” told Fox News that he was “trying to deal with violence and destruction near the attack location where protesters gather.”
They will provide backup during future immigrant raids, and it is possible that a detention center in downtown LA will prove protections of several federal facilities, including scenes of protest and some vandalism.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Sid Local law enforcement has already been mobilized, with the move to send the troops being “deliberately inflammatory” and “just escalate tensions.”
“[T]There are no unmet needs at the moment,” Newsom said.
What are the legal issues?
In a memo from the Defense and Homeland Security, Trump said he is calling on the National Guard for federal service under a provision called Title 10, “Temporarily protecting ice and other U.S. government officials performing federal functions.”
Title 10 stipulates the revitalization of the National Guard for the Federal Army. Such Title 10 orders can be used to deploy members of National Guards in the United States or overseas.
What do experts say?
Irwin Kemenski, dean of the Berkeley School of Law, California, told the Times text that Trump had authority under the Rebellion Unit of 1807 to federalize the National Guard unit of the National Guard to the Federal Government to restrain the “rebellion, domestic violence, illegal combinations, or conspiracy” that “distress the enforcement of law.”
Has this happened before?
Yes, the National Guard has been deployed in Los Angeles many times amidst civil unrest and natural disasters.
Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, said it was because when the National Guard was sent to LA earlier, California requested it and the response was coordinated.
In 2020, the widespread criminal activity that has led to the murder of George Floyd urged Mayor Eric Garcetti to seek National Guard troops from Newsom. Garcetti sought a unit of 1,000 people. Security guards totting the M-4 rifle could be seen patrol the streets between Skidrow and Bunker Hill. In combat equipment they were protected outside the crushed storefront and doodle tagged buildings. There, windows were crushed and littered down the streets. The city had Humvees and military trucks.
In 1994, a 6.7 earthquake destroyed more than 1,000 buildings and made 20,000 residents homeless, security guards were brought in. He ran around the San Fernando Valley, patrolled minimalls and parks to supply water, raising a city of looters, direct traffic and 6,000 displaced people.
In 1992, thousands of National Guard and US troops patrol La amid riots following the trial of Rodney King. Mayor Tom Bradley called for help when LAPD failed to quell the anxiety.
In 1965, 13,000 troops were sent to LA amid the Watts riots.
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