Mayor Karen Bass calls for an end to National Guard troops' deployment in Los Angeles

CBS News

a day ago

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is calling for an end to the "unnecessary deployment" of National Guard troops in the city after the federal government had them sent to the region in response to immigration enforcement protests.
Ultimately, the Trump administration had roughly 4,000 California National Guard members and around 700 Marines deployed to Los Angeles as part of an effort to protect immigration agents and federal property.
The Trump administration initially deployed at least 2,000 California National Guard troops as "numerous incidents of violence and disorder have recently occurred and threaten to continue," according to a June 7 Presidential Memorandum.
Both the Los Angeles mayor and Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the deployment order was unnecessary. Newsom said earlier that the "move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions."
Bass called the deployment of the National Guard a "chaotic escalation" of the situation, in a June 8 post to X.
The President invoked Title 10, which states that the President can call Guard troops into federal service to deal with a "rebellion" or if "the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."
The federal government also accused local law enforcement of not doing enough to protect ICE, which local officials denied.
By July 15, roughly six weeks since immigration enforcement operations and protests began in the Los Angeles area, the Trump administration released around 2,000 Guard troops from their Los Angeles mission.
"Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement at the time.
Newsom said earlier that the remaining 2,000 Guard troops in Los Angeles "continue without a mission."
Since operations began in June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have arrested 2,792 people in the L.A. area, according to the Department of Homeland Security.