Additional 2K CA National Guard troops deployed to LA amid anti-ICE protests

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump ordered the mobilization and deployment of roughly 2,000 California National Guard troops, later bolstered by an additional 700 U.S. Marines, to help defend federal property and personnel under threat of attack and obstruction by anti-ICE protesters and rioters in Los Angeles.

Now, per orders from the president, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and U.S. Northern Command, another 2,000 California National Guard troops have been similarly called up and deployed to join the mission in L.A., as Newsmax reported.

The new deployment comes as the disruptive and threatening anti-ICE protests and riots in L.A. have largely gone quiet, as well as while federal courts continue to determine whether such deployments of federal troops in U.S. cities are lawful and should be controlled by the federal or state government.

Trump mobilizes, deploys National Guard troops

In early June, and in reaction to multiple raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to apprehend illegal aliens in the L.A. area, anti-ICE protesters and rioters attacked, obstructed, and threatened the agents as they came and went from a detention facility in the large complex of federal buildings in downtown L.A.

Within a couple of days, and despite howls of protest from local and state leaders, Trump issued a memo that federalized more than 2,000 California National Guard troops under Title 10 authority, to be deployed defensively around the federal buildings and to help ensure that federal agents could safely come and go.

The protests, riots, and threats continued for nearly a week after that initial deployment but have since largely died down thanks to a nighttime curfew — which was just lifted — and the work of the L.A. Police Department and other nearby law enforcement units to apprehend agitators and disperse the crowds.

Another 2,000 National Guard troops deployed

None of this means that the risk of more protests, riots, and threats of violence has completely disappeared, however, and on June 9, while the chaos was at its peak, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced in an X post, “At the order of the President, the Department of Defense is mobilizing an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties.”

Fast-forward one week, and USNORTHCOM announced in a Tuesday press release that “2,000 additional California Army National Guard soldiers have been activated in a Title 10 status to support the protection of federal functions, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area.”

Those troops hail from the 49th Military Police Brigade and will join the already deployed members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat team and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, which comprise Task Force 51 and now includes approximately 4,100 National Guard soldiers and 700 active-duty Marines.

Members of Task Force 51 “will not directly participate in civilian law enforcement activities,” and instead are completing training on “de-escalation, crowd control, and use of the standing rules for the use of force in advance of joining the federal protection mission,” for the purpose of ensuring “adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency.”

Undoubtedly in response to the criticism of local and state officials, the USNORTHCOM press release stressed, “Title 10 military members will not conduct law enforcement activities such as arrest and search and seizure. Their focus is the safety and continuity of federal functions.”

Courts consider who is in charge of domestic deployments

Meanwhile, according to NBC News, the announcement of the new deployment coincided with a hearing at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether the federal government has the authority to deploy troops to U.S. cities or whether those troops must be under the control of the state government.

That stems from a lawsuit filed by local and state officials to challenge the initial deployment of federalized National Guard troops, which resulted in a district judge declaring the deployment unlawful, though that ruling was paused by the appellate court and, at least for now, President Trump retains command and control of the troops guarding federal property and personnel.

“Tuesday’s hearing considered whether the most recent order can stand as the case proceeds through the courts,” the media outlet reported. “The three-judge panel seemed unlikely to be interested in lifting the pause that the appeals court imposed.”