Over the weekend, Donald Trump signed an order deploying 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles, where thousands of people have gathered to protest ICE raids. Around 300 troops actually arrived in downtown L.A. on Sunday, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened that “if violence continues,” active-duty Marines were on “high alert” and prepared to mobilize. Several notable California politicians have voiced their opposition to the Trump administration’s highly militarized reaction to the protests — law enforcement has used tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets to break up demonstrations — including former vice-president Kamala Harris.
Harris, who lives in L.A. and is reportedly weighing a 2026 bid for California governor, shared on X that she was “appalled at what we are witnessing on the streets of our city.”
“Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos,” she wrote. “In addition to the recent ICE raids in Southern California and across our nation, it is part of the Trump Administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.” Harris added that sending in the National Guard — something usually done by the governor, not the president — was about not public safety but “stoking fear.”
Harris noted that the protests had been “overwhelmingly peaceful” and that she supports “the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Joining Harris in condemning the president was Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move “purposefully inflammatory.” On Sunday, Newsom sent a letter to Secretary Hegseth formally requesting the administration rescind its “unlawful deployment of troops.” Later that day, Newsom said that Trump was “putting fuel on this fire” and that California would be suing him for “commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state.” On Monday morning, Newsom reiterated that he planned to sue the president, saying that Trump had “illegally acted to federalize the National Guard.”
On Monday, L.A. mayor Karen Bass told CNN that Trump and ICE were to blame for the unrest in the city. “If immigration raids had not happened here, we would not have the disorder that went on last night,” she said. “Los Angeles was peaceful before Friday.”
“What was the reason that the president had to take the power from the governor and federalize the National Guard?” she asked. “The night before this action was taken, there was a protest that got a little unruly late at night. It was 100 people. Twenty-seven people were arrested. There wasn’t a reason for this.”
Speaking to the Washington Post, California representative Nanette Barragán said ICE would be conducting immigration raids in L.A. County for the next 30 days. Per Barragán, law enforcement was told during a briefing with the Department of Homeland Security that “they should expect ICE [enforcement and removal operations] every day for the next 30 days.”
Barragán’s district includes Paramount, a majority Hispanic city just south of L.A. and the site of some of the weekend’s protests. The congresswoman told the Post that due to the protests, there were no immigration raids in Paramount on Saturday. “We were told that the immigration enforcement did not occur,” she said. Because of the protest, “the operation did not move forward.”