Armed National Guard troops are accompanying immigration agents as they carry out mass deportation raids on the streets of Los Angeles.
The troops, who were mobilized by President Trump, are providing “operational security” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after they faced attacks and threats from anti-ICE rioters, sources told The Post, which first broke the story.
It’s “in case s–t hits the fan,” said a federal law enforcement source.
… some are concerned that their presence could make the federal immigration agents an even bigger target, the first source said. “They’re showing up with Humvees and uniforms,” the source said.
Armed National Guard troops stand guard for ICE agents as they make immigration raids in LA
It’s “in case s–t hits the fan,” said a federal law enforcement source.
The military’s deployment of almost 5,000 National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests will cost around $134 million and last 60 days, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller told lawmakers in a hearing Tuesday.
That funding will come from the Defense Department’s operations and maintenance budget and cover travel, housing, food and other incidental expenses, Bryn MacDonnel said at a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing. Together, the description gives the clearest sense yet of the military’s bill for the administration’s controversial deployments to the city.
And it’s only “necessary” because ICE thugs insist on showing up in a militarized convoy instead of doing their raids professionally and discretely. You put on a show, you get an audience, you got what you asked for, suckers!
LA deployments to cost $134 million and last 60 days, Pentagon says
The cost estimate came during a feisty exchange as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the House on Tuesday.
In true Bay Area fashion, Monday night’s protest had its own rhythm.
An estimated 9,000 protesters gathered for a rally and march that started at San Francisco’s 24th & Mission BART Plaza around 6 p.m. to protest the recent raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement across California. Tracks like YG’s “FDT” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” rang out on Mission Street, along with chants like “Move ICE, get out the way!” echoing through the crowd in a nod to Ludacris. Protesters rolled through on scooters and skates, some draped in keffiyehs, others wearing face masks and clothing scrawled with anti-fascist messages. Many were waving upside down American flags and cardboard posters bearing anti-ICE slogans, lambasting the agency’s actions as unlawful and illegal.
Galvanized by mounting unrest across California and large-scale demonstrations in Los Angeles — where, after three days of protest, President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of 700 Marines and over 4,000 National Guard troops, bypassing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s authority — Bay Area residents took to the streets in a show of solidarity, advocating for immigrants of all nationalities, ethnicities and creeds.
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“And by epic battle, I mean a battle that is going to have consequences for many years, for a long time to come,” Baker said. “And you know that the Trump regime has a strategy to wear us down, to shock and awe, coming at us from so many different directions. That’s their idea, that we will give up and go home.“
“The people rising up is the only thing that’s going to stop them now,” he concluded.
Thousands gather in SF for ‘epic battle’ against ICE amid Calif. raids
The demonstrations spread to other cities including Boston, Houston and Philadelphia on Monday. In Dallas, hundreds of protesters gathered for a rally which police declared was “unlawful.” Authorities said one person was arrested.
Immigration protests spread from LA to new cities, tear gas thrown in Dallas
The President sent another 2,000 National Guard troops to confront immigration protesters in LA, as the demonstrations spread to other US cities
Rallies protesting ICE raids and the government’s immigration policies have been planned across California and beyond this week. A series of so-called No Kings demonstrations is planned nationwide for Saturday.
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Since Monday, NBC News counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast. Some involved only a few dozen participants, while others attracted thousands to make a stand against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.
Lots more …
California and the West Coast
New York and the East Coast
Texas, the South and the Midwest
As immigration raids continue, anti-ICE protests spread coast to coast
Activists plan more events Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. A curfew covering a compact area of downtown Los Angeles is likely, the city’s mayor said.
Pentagon budget official estimated LA troop deployment to cost $134 million.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump have the power to send National Guard and active-duty troops anywhere in the country to ensure Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can enforce the law, an assertion that — if carried out — would open the door to a historic clash between Trump and Democratic governors.
“We believe that ICE, which is a federal law enforcement agency, has the right to safely conduct operations in any state, in any jurisdiction in the country,” Hegseth told the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee.
“ICE ought be able to do its job, whether it’s Minneapolis or Los Angeles,” he added.
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President Donald Trump also opened the door for possible military deployments elsewhere, telling reporters on Tuesday that if protests break out in other states “they will be met with equal or greater force.”
Civil War II is really here. 🙁
Hegseth asserts Trump can send troops anywhere to protect ICE agents conducting raids
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says President Trump has the right to send troops to “any state, in any jurisdiction in the country,”
In a leaked letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem asked the military to start arresting rioters in Los Angeles.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to instruct soldiers deployed to Los Angeles to help arrest rioters, even though the military is generally barred from domestic law enforcement.
In a leaked letter, [Bimbo #2] Noem asked Hegseth on Sunday to have the Pentagon give “direction to [Department of Defense] forces to either detain, just as they would at any federal facility guarded by military, lawbreakers under Title 18 until they can be arrested and processed by federal law enforcement, or arrest them,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
ICE Barbie Asked Hegseth to Give Bombshell Order to Troops in L.A.
In a leaked letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked the military to start arresting rioters in Los Angeles.
President Donald Trump’s moves to deploy US troops to Los Angeles and hold a splashy parade on the Army’s 250th birthday fulfills his longtime goal of leaning on the military for a show of force and political power.
Stymied in his first term by cabinet members who resisted the use of soldiers on American soil, Trump has a more compliant team around him this time. After sending in the National Guard this weekend, he escalated his showdown with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday by mobilizing 700 active-duty Marines, a decision that Newsom called a “provocation.”
Late Monday, Trump went even further, authorizing an additional 2,000 National Guard members to deploy there, bringing the total to 4,000, not including the Marines.
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David Leopold, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the presence of the National Guard and Marines was a “shocking” development meant to deliberately spread chaos, confusion and fear. “What we’ve seen is people exercising their First Amendment rights,” Leopold told Bloomberg Television. “That is what these troops are being sent out to suppress.”
Unrestrained Trump Turns to Military in Second-Term Power Play
The Trump White House has been demanding many, many more deportations, but hasn’t been getting enough of the “worst of the worst” it is supposedly targeting.
So, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resolved to target the more abundant “not so bad.”
Going after whatever murderers and rapists actually did cross the southern border was one thing most people can applaud. Going after people who are just seeking to make an honest living was sure to trigger protests.
But Donald Trump always welcomes any opportunity to justify his fearmongering about chaos in the streets—and what better place than a deep-blue state like California, which is headed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom (whom Trump always calls Newscum)?
Even relatively minor disturbances could be hyped into a pretext for Trump to deploy active-duty military, as he wanted to do when Black Lives Matter staged protests outside the White House during his first term. He was dissuaded from doing so in 2020 by the combined objections of Attorney General William Barr and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, but always expressed regret about not sending in troops—even though the peaceful D.C. protesters were cleared with unnecessary brutality by federal law enforcement officers.
Trump is now getting another chance, this time with an attorney general and secretary of defense who only know to utter variations of, “Yes, Sir! Only you can save the nation, and thereby save civilization!”
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A number of white ICE vehicles that exited the area were pelted with rocks by protesters. Video of that prompted Trump’s new FBI director to further hype the disorder by putting a rock-thrower on the agency’s 10 Most Wanted List.
Rock thrower wanted? Dead or alive? LOL!!!
On Saturday, Trump issued an executive order deploying a state’s national guard without the governor’s approval, which has not been done in more than half a century. Trump ignored Newsom’s warning that it would only inflame the situation. Trump said he was sending in 2,000 California guardsmen and women, but only around 300 were immediately dispatched. Trump went online to declare that he and his team had saved the day.
“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations — But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve. I am directing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, in coordination with all other relevant Departments and Agencies, to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots. Order will be restored.”
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“We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,” Trump said. “If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”
He went on, insisting “Newscum” and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass should be saying, “THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.’”
The guy is off in Lala Land!
A senior law enforcement source who had dealt firsthand with Trump suggested to the Daily Beast that the commander–in-chief was excited by the very possibility of being able to send active-duty military against protesters.
“That’s what gives him a boner,” the source said.
Opinion: How ICE’s L.A. Raids Spiraled Into the ‘Riot’ Trump Thirsted For
The Trump White House has been demanding many, many more deportations, but hasn’t been getting enough of the “worst of
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state of California is suing Donald Trump over his response to the violent riots in L.A. Tensions exploded between the two over the weekend and into Monday
California Democrat Adam Schiff also accused Trump of wanting a reason to justify martial law in the region. The president lobbed several attacks against Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass on his Truth Social on Sunday night.
The Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will work with the roughly 2,100 National Guard troops on the ground to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, U.S. Northern Command says.
The Marines are moving from their base at Twentynine Palms in the California desert on Monday.
The troops have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, and they will be armed with the weapons they normally carry.
Kent State Reprise is just around the corner.
Immigration protests spread from LA to new cities, tear gas thrown in Dallas
The President sent another 2,000 National Guard troops to confront immigration protesters in LA, as the demonstrations spread to other US cities
