By John Moses
Tensions are escalating in California as hundreds of National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles over the weekend, sparking outrage from state leaders and reigniting national debate over federal overreach and immigration policy.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has publicly denounced the deployment, calling it a “serious breach of state sovereignty” after President Donald Trump authorised the movement of 2,000 National Guard personnel to assist federal immigration authorities. The action came without the governor’s consent – a move unprecedented in six decades.
“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” Newsom wrote in a letter to U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, shared via the social platform X. “Rescind the order. Return control to California.”
The deployment followed widespread protests triggered by a series of raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday. Demonstrators took to the streets, blocking freeways and gathering outside the Metropolitan Detention Centre in central Los Angeles. Police described the protests as unlawful after reports emerged of objects being hurled at officers and vehicles set alight.
According to U.S. Northern Command, around 300 National Guard troops have already been stationed at three key sites across the Los Angeles area. Their mission, officials say, is to “protect federal property and personnel.”
But critics, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, accuse the Trump administration of using military force to stoke fear and disorder. “Deploying federalised troops on the heels of these raids is a chaotic escalation,” she warned. “The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real – it’s felt in our communities and within our families.”
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, characterised the unrest as an uprising led by “Illegal Aliens and Criminals” and defended the troop deployment as part of an effort to “liberate Los Angeles from the migrant invasion.”
He also hinted that regular armed forces could be sent in, a move that Defence Secretary Hegseth echoed. In response to Newsom’s protests, Hegseth suggested U.S. Marines stationed in California were on standby, declaring “ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job.”
An expert cited by The New York Times noted that the last time a U.S. president mobilised National Guard forces without a governor’s approval was in 1965, during the civil rights movement under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Despite pleas from local leaders for calm, protests showed no sign of abating as of Sunday evening. Governor Newsom urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and not “take the bait,” cautioning against violence that might legitimise the federal response.
