The administration of President Donald Trump announced that it would send out 2000 National Guard troops on Saturday as federal officials in Los Angeles engaged a few hundred protestors in a second day of demonstrations after immigration raids.
The Pentagon is ready to deploy active-duty troops “if violence continues” in Los Angeles, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding that the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were “on high alert “
On Saturday, federal security officers engaged protestors in the southeast Los Angeles neighbourhood of Paramount, where some of the protestors were holding Mexican flags. About 60 people attended a second demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, chanting “ICE out of L.A.”
The National Guard troops would be sent in to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester,” according to a statement released by the White House after Trump signed a presidential memorandum.
The demonstrations pit Trump’s Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a trademark
of his second term, against Democratic-run Los Angeles, whose census data indicates a sizable share of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born.
Vice President JD Vance said on X late Saturday, “One half of America’s political leadership has decided that border enforcement is evil, while insurrectionists flying foreign flags are attacking immigration enforcement officers.”
The military was trying to obtain the 2000 men, and National Guard troops can deploy rapidly– sometimes in as little as 24 hours.
The 1807 legislation gives a president the authority to use American forces to uphold the law and quell public unrest. It was last used at the governor of California’s request during the riots in Los Angeles in 1992.
As small canisters erupted into gas clouds, dozens of green-uniformed security guards wearing gas masks were seen in a queue on a road packed with overturned shopping carts in the video footage of the Paramount protest.
Los Angeles police posted on X that “multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued.” It did not give further details.
There was no official information on any arrests. “Now they know that they cannot go anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people — they cannot do that without an organised and fierce resistance,” said protestor Rob Gochez, 44.
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested at least 44 people on suspicion of immigration violations during enforcement operations in the city, the first round of protests began on Friday night. Approximately “1000 rioters” attended the demonstrations on Friday, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
