President Donald Trump has dispatched 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, California, as protests against aggressive immigration enforcement escalated into a second day of unrest in the nation’s second-largest city.

In a Saturday statement, the White House described the deployment as a response to “lawlessness” gripping Los Angeles, accusing local leaders of failing to curb the chaos. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that active-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton were on standby if clashes persisted.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, condemned Trump’s move as “deliberately provocative.” Posting on X, Newsom urged calm, stating, “Trump wants a spectacle, not a solution. Protest peacefully, not with violence.” He argued that local law enforcement had sufficient resources and that the deployment was unnecessary.

On Saturday, riot police clashed with hundreds of protesters in southeast Los Angeles’ Paramount neighborhood, where overturned shopping carts littered the streets and a car was set ablaze. Demonstrators, some waving Mexican flags and wearing masks, threw rocks, bottles, and fireworks at security forces, who responded with tear gas. The protests erupted after immigration raids near a local home improvement store, with crowds later gathering outside a federal detention center, chanting, “Free them, let them stay!” and defacing the building with anti-ICE graffiti.

The White House labeled the protesters “violent mobs” attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting “routine deportations” to stop an “invasion of illegal criminals.” Trump recently threatened on social media that if Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass failed to act, the federal government would intervene to address “riots and looters” decisively.

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, told Fox News the National Guard would arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday, though the exact timeline remains unclear. The deployment, authorized under Title 10, places the troops under federal control, bypassing Newsom’s authority. The governor criticized the move as “misguided” and warned it would undermine public trust.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, noted the deployment’s significance, recalling that Los Angeles last saw National Guard intervention during the 1992 Rodney King riots. “This marks a dramatic escalation,” she said.

The crackdown aligns with Trump’s campaign promise to deport thousands daily and secure the U.S.-Mexico border. ICE aims to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day, but the sweeps have also ensnared legal residents, including some with permanent status, sparking legal challenges.

Source: Al Jazeera

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