US marines deployed to Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump have not yet been called to respond to the city’s immigration protests. According to a commander, they are solely present to protect federal officials and property.
The deployment includes 700 marines and an additional 2,000 US National Guard troops sent to LA on Monday. This escalation of military presence is unwanted by local officials and Governor Gavin Newsom. The police chief also voices concerns, stating it complicates handling protests safely.
Marine Corps Gen Eric Smith stated during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill that the battalion has not been sent to any protests thus far.
He clarified that while the marines are trained for crowd control, they lack arrest authority. Their primary purpose is to protect government property and personnel.
Mr. Trump doubled the number of Guard troops shortly after the initial 2,000 began arriving on Sunday. This followed days of protests fueled by anger over what critics deem the President’s enforcement of immigration laws leading to the separation of migrant families.
The demonstrations continued on Monday but were less intense. Thousands peacefully attended a rally at City Hall, while hundreds protested outside a federal complex housing a detention center where some immigrants are held after workplace raids throughout the city.
The Los Angeles protests, taking place in a city of four million, have largely concentrated in several blocks of downtown and a few other locations.
On Tuesday morning, guard troops were stationed outside the detention center, but there was no visible presence of US marines.
Obscene slogans targeting Mr. Trump and federal law enforcement remained spray-painted across several buildings.
At the Walt Disney Concert Hall, workers were actively removing graffiti on Tuesday morning.
In nearby Santa Ana, armored vehicles blocked a road leading to federal immigration and government offices. Workers cleaned up plastic bottles and broken glass near buildings covered in graffiti.
Mr. Trump’s description of Los Angeles as being in “dire terms” is disputed by Mayor Karen Bass and Mr. Newsom, who assert it is inaccurate.
They claim his decision to add military personnel, despite police assurances they don’t require assistance, endangers public safety.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell stated that he is confident in the police department’s ability to manage large-scale demonstrations. He added that the Marines’ uncoordinated arrival would pose a “significant logistical and operational challenge.”
Mr. Newsom criticized the deployments as reckless and “disrespectful to our troops” in a post on the social platform X.
“This isn’t about public safety,” the governor said. “It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego.”
The protests originated on Friday after federal immigration authorities arrested over 40 people across Los Angeles. They continued over the weekend, with crowds blocking a major road and setting self-driving cars on fire.
Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.
On Monday, demonstrations extended to other cities nationwide, including San Francisco and Santa Ana, California, as well as Dallas and Austin, Texas.
Authorities in Austin appeared to deploy chemical irritants to disperse a crowd near the state Capitol.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on social media that over a dozen protesters were arrested.
The Pentagon estimates the cost of deploying the National Guard and Marines at 134 million dollars (£98.8 million).
This figure emerged subsequent to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth engaging in a heated exchange regarding the costs during a congressional hearing.
Mr. Hegseth affirmed that the department has a budget increase and sufficient funds to cover the costs. He defended Mr. Trump’s troop deployment decision, stating they are needed to protect federal agents carrying out their duties.
Meanwhile, Democratic members of California’s congressional delegation accused the President on Tuesday of fabricating a “manufactured crisis” with his orders to dispatch troops.
Nancy Pelosi contrasted Trump’s actions with his response to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, during which law enforcement officers were assaulted. “We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,” Ms. Pelosi stated.
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the deployment of National Guard troops after the initial wave, telling reporters that Mr. Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.
He sought a court order declaring Mr. Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful and requested a restraining order to halt the deployment.
The President asserted that the city would have been “completely obliterated” without the Guard deployment.
US officials stated that the marines were needed to safeguard federal buildings and personnel, including immigration agents. A convoy of buses with blacked-out windows, escorted by sheriff’s vehicles, arrived overnight at a Navy facility just south of LA.
Despite their presence, the engagement between the Guard and protesters has been limited, with local law enforcement taking the lead on crowd control.
