The Trump administration says it will send 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles after two days of isolated clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters.
Officials say the Guard will assist in operations related to Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Many questions remain unanswered, but here is what we know:
When will the troops arrive?
Officials said the troops were arriving in L.A. as soon as Saturday night, though it was unclear when the full 2,000 personnel would be in place.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on X that the Guard was being deployed “immediately to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.”
What will the National Guard do?
Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s “border czar,” said on Fox News that officials were trying to “address violence and destruction occurring near raid locations where demonstrators are gathering. … American people, this is about enforcing the law, and again, we’re not going to apologize for doing it.”
It is possible they will provide backup during future immigration raids and prove protection of some federal facilities, including a detention center in downtown L.A. has was the scene of protests and some vandalism;
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sid local law enforcement was already mobilized and that sending in troops was a move that was “purposefully inflammatory” and would “only escalate tensions.”
“[T]here is currently no unmet need,” Newsom said.
What are the legal issues?
Trump said in a memo to the Defense and Homeland Security departments that he was calling the National Guard into federal service under a provision called Title 10 to “temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions.”
Title 10 provides for activating National Guard troops for federal service. Such Title 10 orders can be used for deploying National Guard members in the United States or abroad.
What are experts saying?
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, said in a text to The Times that Trump has the authority under the Insurrection Act of 1807 to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” that “so hinders the execution of the laws.”
Has this happened before?
Yes, the National Guard has been deployed to Los Angeles numerous times amid civil unrest and natural disaster.
Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, noted that when the National Guard was sent to L.A. before, it was because California requested it and the response was coordinated.
- In 2020, widespread criminal acts in the wake of the George Floyd murder prompted Mayor Eric Garcetti to seek National Guard troops from Newsom. Garcetti asked for 1,000 troops. Guardsmen toting M-4 rifles could be seen patrolling streets between Skid Row and Bunker Hill. In combat gear, they stood guard outside shattered storefronts and graffiti-tagged buildings, where windows had been shattered and the street strewn with trash. Humvees and military trucks were present in the city.
- In 1994, after a 6.7 earthquake left more than 1,000 buildings destroyed and 20,000 residents homeless, the Guard was brought in. Convoys rumbled through the San Fernando Valley, patrolling mini-malls and parks to deliver water, deter looters, direct traffic and raise tent cities for 6,000 displaced residents.
- In 1992, thousands of National Guard and U.S. military troops patrolled L.A. amid the riot following the Rodney King trial. Mayor Tom Bradley requested the help when the LAPD could not quell the unrest.
- In 1965, 13,000 troops were sent to L.A. amid the Watts riots.
