CA Democrats Call for Removal of National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), and other Democrat lawmakers from across California all called for the removal of the remaining National Guard troops and Marines from Los Angeles on Monday, with the latter lawmakers going so far as to file a legal brief on the matter.

For over a month, around 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 U.S. Marines have been deployed in Los Angeles to help keep the peace following large anti-ICE protests in the city. In addition to helping quell protests and riots, the troops also assisted in helping carry out arrests, protecting federal buildings, and guarding federal agents. Overall, deployments were set for 60 days, to help ensure that additional help would be there through most of the summer.

However, these plans changed somewhat last week when the Pentagon announced that 2,000 of the roughly 4,000 California National Guard troops currently deployed in Los Angeles to assist with protests and other immigration actions will be withdrawn. As protests died down and local law enforcement able to tackle any violent or illegal instances that have come up, federal agents in ICE, the Border Patrol, and other agencies dealing with illegal immigrants no longer needed their assistance.

Despite this, many of the troops remained as backup and to be on standby in case something did go wrong. The massive increase of ICE actions and arrests have been cited as a major reason for the troops to stay for the time being, as some assistance could be needed with federal agents spread thinner than usual. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that all Marines would be redeployed from L.A. leaving federal agents with the National Guard solely as on the ground backup.

“Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered the redeployment of the Marines. Their presence had sent a message that lawlessness will not be tolerated,” explained Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell. “Their rapid response, unwavering discipline and unmistakable presence were instrumental in restoring order and upholding the rule of law.”

Even with Marines now leaving as well, many lawmakers aren’t happy about some of the National Guard staying the full deployment, leading to major calls for total removal on Monday.

“The administration, we know, has retreated some of the forces, but we need all the troops to return home and to not be here, to not be used as political stunts, to not be used to intimidate Angelenos, and to not be used as pawns,” Mayor Bass said Monday.

“This is another win for Los Angeles but this is also a win for those serving this country in uniform,” added Bass in a later statement on the withdrawal of the Marines. “Just this morning I stood with Veterans, families of active duty officers, and business leaders to show the impact of this unnecessary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional assault on our city. We took the administration to court and won, now we continue that momentum with today’s news. Los Angeles stands with our troops, which is why we are glad they are leaving.”

State, Federal response

“Now that legacy shares a space with what the `battle of L.A. against people of color’,” exclaimed Menjivar. “This is why it was so personal and infuriating to me to see 700 of my brothers and sisters in the corps deployed to my backyard because we did not sign up to intimidate and potentially take military action against Americans on American soil, who are exercising their constitutional right to protest.”

Up in Sacramento, Governor Gavin Newsom also called for full troop withdrawals from the city.

“The women and men of the California National Guard deserve more than to continue serving as puppets in Trump and Stephen Miller’s performative political theater. There was never a need for the military to deploy against civilians in Los Angeles,” stated Newsom. “The damage is done, however. We, again, call upon them to do the right thing and end the militarization once and for all.”

The response in the state Capitol Building was a bit different however. Rather than just call for the removal like other lawmakers, they instead filed an Amicus brief onto the state’s current lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration over federalizing and deploying National Guard troops. In their brief, the Legislature, led by Rivas and McGuire, asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the federal action. It includes personal accounts from residents across California, including testimony of immigrants fearful of going to work, shopping at stores, or taking their children to play in the park.

“President Trump’s federalization of the National Guard in California is unlawful, an overreach that’s resulted in significant and negative impacts on our residents’ well-being, and the effect on the economy and everyday life is real. Trump’s dangerous move also has diverted the National Guard away from crucial state duties like combating wildfires and preventing drug trafficking at the border. It’s time to demobilize the Guard and stop this abuse of power by the Trump administration” a joint statement from Rivas and McGuire says.

Despite all the statements and speeches on Monday, withdrawals still continued normally, with federal troops being redeployed out of Los Angeles as needed. The Marine withdrawals caught several lawmakers off guard on Monday, with many rapidly changing statements of calling for troop withdrawals to reflect this. Many simply didn’t anticipate the Department of Defense to continue moving more troops out organically. Bass needed to hastily release a second statement on Monday immediately following her speech this morning, while Newsom’s statement had to tack on the Marine withdrawal as well.

With only around 2,000 National Guard troops now still in L.A., and their deployment over in only a few weeks, the federal government is likely going to wait and see what federal agencies on the ground in L.A. want troop-wise, and move around the remaining troops to the agencies current needs. This includes withdrawal if it is determined they aren’t needed anymore.

The federal response won’t be because of pressure from state lawmakers, but will be based on federal need.